Well I do think our phenotypes are informed by some Middle Eastern influences because I never get taken for Iberian in real life for instance or even Greek (despite that being fairly close) but I think it is just interesting. I take it as a compliment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alessio
Well except some ''exceptions'' from Sicily I have personally encountered that look North African/Tunesian influenced.Quote:
Originally Posted by Akragas
I do think in groups there are differences. I think some people in Campania look transitional to central Italians when compared to the other two regions, and Sicily has a minority of North African types (more Tunisian and Egyptian looking rather than Moroccan, I think). With Calabria, the distinction is they have a near absence of anything Northern/Central/Eastern European looking and basically look like Cypriots.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alessio
But if you took a random individual from any of those places, unless they stood out significantly in one of the aforementioned ways, you will not be able to guess. I do, however, think people in Apulia and Lucania look different, in the sense that they look more Balkan.
I agree and our genetics speaks for itself, we're basically mostly Middle Eastern/neolithic farmer + some later West Asian influence and it explains the variation in phenotypes present in Southern Italy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sikeliot
For some people I look extremely stereotype South Italian and for others a mix of (Germanic) European and Middle Eastern, or even Iranian. This all makes sense though.
I almost always get Armenian, Lebanese, and Iranian as guesses in that order.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alessio
I think if an autosomal DNA study was performed around all of Sicily, you're going to find genetic differences among social classes also, and from town to town. I have seen two individuals from the same town in Ragusa province: one of them was close to the North Aegean islands and to central Greeks and to Abruzzo, while the other was so outlying that they were almost plotting in Cyprus. I expect an even more pronounced divergence in Palermo, because some people definitely have elevated continental European mixture while I have seen others who are not too different from North African Jews.
With Sicily I do agree, only in case of Calabria not as much. I think there are noticable differences per comune and even families. You probably already know that cousin marriages were generally accepted in the south and that most villages didn't receive much input from outside, therefore the existence of the phenomenon named campanilismo. Some families have more West Asian looking types and some have more general South Euro types or even Central Euro types present in their family. A mix of these types is also possible in a lot of cases.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sikeliot
I do think that Calabria as a whole have more pseudo West Asian Med types/Cypriot than Campania but not as significant as you do.
I think if I had to group them together, I'd put Calabria with Sicily, Lucania with Apulia, and Campania on its own. Not that the latter doesn't overlap with the others but there is more diversity.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alessio
I have in-laws from Naples and Calabria and when the families get together for events you can't distinguish between the Sicilians . Years ago when we first met you had to ask where is your family from in Italy you could not tell if they were Neapolitan, Sicilian or Calabrese. However, there are suttle cultural diffrences mostly in types of cuisine and reginal customs but we all look the same.
I do think though that there are some differences in different parts of Sicily. I think the most Greek-like people are around Syracuse and Ragusa, and I think some people in Palermo and Agrigento look somewhat Levantine.Quote:
Originally Posted by Akragas
No aryan = no European!Quote:
Originally Posted by aherne
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