Sicilian Autusomal Scores by Region -- West, South, and Center.

[Sikeliot]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...yWTVheVE#gid=0

I only included the large percentages, i.e. I am not listing Nilotic, Cushitic, etc.

All of the scores are fairly similar, i.e. within 2% of one another. Thus, I am convinced that Sicily is fairly homogenous genetically except for minor pushes and pulls in each direction.

Historically, this is the presence in each area:

Western: Phoenicians, Moors/Arabs, Carthaginians, Normans, and an Anatolian group called Elymians
Central: Isolated with minor Greek and Carthaginian influences
South: Greeks


WEST SICILIAN (Palermo, Trapani):

North European: 9.76%
Caucasus-Near Eastern: 33.02%
North African: 3.29%
Gedrosia-Caucasian: 10.98%
Southwest European: 26.36%
Arabic: 8.58%


CENTER SICILIAN (Enna, Caltanissetta):

North European: 7.35%
Caucasus-Near Eastern: 35.39%
North African: 2.90%
Caucasus-Gedrosia: 9.39%
Southwest European: 25.37%
Arabic: 6.73%


SOUTH SICILIAN (Coastal Agrigento, Caltanissetta, and Ragusa):

North European: 8.67%
Caucasus-Near Eastern: 34.80%
North African: 3.03%
Caucasus-Gedrosia: 10.83%
Southwest European: 27.20%
Arabic: 8.01%


Each component in order from greatest to least within Sicily:

North European: West, South, Center (This makes sense because of Normans in Palermo)
Caucasus: Center, South, West (This makes sense if you assume central Sicily preserved the Neolithic genes)
North African: West, South, Center (This makes sense given where the Moorish influence was in the west)
Gedrosia: West, South, Center (This makes sense since the Elymians were Armenian-like)
SW European: South, West, Center (I couldn't say.. SW Europeans never were in Sicily)
Arabic: West, South, Center (This makes sense, again because of the west having more Arabic influence)

[Sikeliot]

So this puts a new question on the table -- if people from all parts of Sicily are very similar autosomally, despite being settled by different groups, does it mean that none of the groups had much impact at all and that most of their genetics are pre-historic and Neolithic?

Or, rather, does it mean that everyone basically "shuffled" around, and people moved around so much that everything eventually balanced out? I mean yes, western Sicilians do score both more Northern European and North African, Arabic but the percentages are really so close that it's a meaningless distinction.

[Sikeliot]

Here is mainland southern Italy for comparison:

North Euro: 12.70%
Caucasus-Near Eastern: 35.80%
North African: 2.09% (sorry, Oneandonly!)
Caucasus-Gedrosia: 10.89%
SW European: 25.56%
Arabic: 6.22%

[Constantine13]

So this puts a new question on the table -- if people from all parts of Sicily are very similar autosomally, despite being settled by different groups, does it mean that none of the groups had much impact at all and that most of their genetics are pre-historic and Neolithic?

Or, rather, does it mean that everyone basically "shuffled" around, and people moved around so much that everything eventually balanced out? I mean yes, western Sicilians do score both more Northern European and North African, Arabic but the percentages are really so close that it's a meaningless distinction.

I'd say the native dominant groups simply absorbed and "outbred" (or are still outbreeding) the invaders. Minority elements seem to disappear in a larger population through time due to less-chance selection, from what I've seen.

That's why Lisbon was once 10% African and now the African is pretty much gone.

[Sikeliot]

I'd say the native dominant groups simply absorbed and "outbred" (or are still outbreeding) the invaders. Minority elements seem to disappear in a larger population through time due to less-chance selection, from what I've seen.

That's why Lisbon was once 10% African and now the African is pretty much gone.

So what would you infer the native population of Sicily to be? I'd assume Greeks and Phoenicians had an influence, as well as the Neolithic populations beforehand.

The "SW European" is likely Italic, or something close, keeping in mind also Greeks score up to 18-20% of it on the same analysis. I don't think the Sicilian population is predominantly Italic, by any means.

The problem is that different parts of Sicily do have distinct "looks", with eastern Sicilians and the ones along the southern coast actually looking more Greek, and people in the western and central areas looking more West Asian, some having Norman influences though.

[Constantine13]

So what would you infer the native population of Sicily to be?

I don't know enough Sicilian history to comment.

[Sikeliot]

I don't know enough Sicilian history to comment.

Well there were three. Sikels, Sicanians, Elymians. The Sikels were Italic from the mainland, the Sicanians were of unknown origin and the Elymians were Anatolians, probably close to what Armenians are today. They each occupied their own part of the island.

Therefore, since there is no major division by region, I'd think their impact was small, or that they were originally one population that split off as other groups moved in and imposed new cultures and languages.

[Sikeliot]

I'll use the western Sicilian sample to demonstrate the different influences I can see in it.. based on what I know about history.


North European: 9.76% <-- Indo-European (not substantially more than in other parts of Sicily to consider it Norman, and this is even a lower amount than Cretan Greeks get)
Caucasus-Near Eastern: 33.02% <-- Neolithic Anatolian or Levantine, is common in SE Europe, the Levant, Caucasus, Turkey etc.
North African: 3.29% <-- Prehistoric migration from North Africa -- there is some even on mainland Italy so it is likely not Moorish, but a small amount of it could be since western Sicily has more than anywhere else except for Iberia.
Gedrosia-Caucasian: 10.98% <-- Another Neolithic West Asian component, peaking in Iranians and the Caucasus.
Southwest European: 26.36% <--Paleolithic Southern European -- all Southern Europeans get it at least at 20% although it peaks in Iberia.
Arabic: 8.58% <-- Southwest Asian -- the "Arab" component

[Sikeliot]

I also realized, there was no grouping for people from the eastern part of the island.. and they are the most isolated and possibly the most different from the others. So until I see that, we can't say for sure how homogenous the whole island is.

[Sicilianu101]

MOracle2("South-Sicilian",k=30)
[,1] [,2]
[1,] "South-Sicilian" "0"
[2,] "West-Sicilian" "3.2281"
[3,] "Center-Sicilian" "5.0873"
[4,] "South_Italian" "5.6408"
[5,] "Center-Italian" "5.9095"
[6,] "Sephardic_Bulgaria" "6.8151"
[7,] "SephardicBul" "7.272"
[8,] "Romanian_Jew_" "7.532"
[9,] "Tuscan" "10.4276"
[10,] "Morocco_Jew" "10.4881"
[11,] "Ashkenazi" "10.6867"
[12,] "SephardicTurk" "10.7332"
[13,] "Toscani" "11.819"
[14,] "Island-Greek" "11.9924"
[15,] "North-Italian" "12.8599"
[16,] "Greek" "13.5579"
[17,] "Cretan" "13.7834"
[18,] "Romanian_Jew" "14.3691"
[19,] "Center-Greek" "14.5249"
[20,] "Corsican" "15.2986"
[21,] "South-Greek" "15.6505"
[22,] "Cypriot" "17.094"
[23,] "Kosovar" "18.8651"
[24,] "North_Italian" "19.0994"
[25,] "North-Greek" "20.4203"
[26,] "Greek_Azov" "22.89"
[27,] "Tatar_Crim" "23.4887"
[28,] "Lebanese" "23.5681"
[29,] "Turk" "24.527"
[30,] "S1" "25.2384"

MOracle2("West-Sicilian",k=30)
[,1] [,2]
[1,] "West-Sicilian" "0"
[2,] "South-Sicilian" "3.2281"
[3,] "Center-Italian" "4.5814"
[4,] "South_Italian" "5.151"
[5,] "Center-Sicilian" "5.9124"
[6,] "Romanian_Jew_" "7.0805"
[7,] "Sephardic_Bulgaria" "7.2312"
[8,] "SephardicBul" "8.1188"
[9,] "Tuscan" "9.5364"
[10,] "Morocco_Jew" "10.5361"
[11,] "Ashkenazi" "10.5376"
[12,] "SephardicTurk" "10.8706"
[13,] "Toscani" "10.9902"
[14,] "North-Italian" "11.764"
[15,] "Island-Greek" "12.4483"
[16,] "Greek" "12.511"
[17,] "Romanian_Jew" "13.1601"
[18,] "Center-Greek" "13.4612"
[19,] "Cretan" "14.0269"
[20,] "South-Greek" "14.5391"
[21,] "Corsican" "15.0616"
[22,] "Kosovar" "17.6738"
[23,] "Cypriot" "17.9529"
[24,] "North_Italian" "18.1761"
[25,] "North-Greek" "19.0777"
[26,] "Greek_Azov" "21.9726"
[27,] "Tatar_Crim" "22.0153"
[28,] "Lebanese" "23.4413"
[29,] "Turk" "24.016"
[30,] "Romanian" "24.4371"

MOracle2("Center-Sicilian",k=30)
[,1] [,2]
[1,] "Center-Sicilian" "0"
[2,] "South-Sicilian" "5.0873"
[3,] "West-Sicilian" "5.9124"
[4,] "Sephardic_Bulgaria" "6.3926"
[5,] "SephardicBul" "6.8527"
[6,] "South_Italian" "7.1171"
[7,] "Center-Italian" "8.0144"
[8,] "Romanian_Jew_" "8.0562"
[9,] "Ashkenazi" "9.7839"
[10,] "Morocco_Jew" "10.0236"
[11,] "SephardicTurk" "10.2212"
[12,] "Island-Greek" "11.9564"
[13,] "Tuscan" "12.212"
[14,] "Cretan" "12.9925"
[15,] "Romanian_Jew" "13.7776"
[16,] "Toscani" "13.7915"
[17,] "Greek" "13.9799"
[18,] "North-Italian" "14.6825"
[19,] "Center-Greek" "14.897"
[20,] "South-Greek" "15.884"
[21,] "Cypriot" "16.1868"
[22,] "Corsican" "16.973"
[23,] "Kosovar" "19.4372"
[24,] "North_Italian" "20.8175"
[25,] "North-Greek" "20.916"
[26,] "Lebanese" "22.5258"
[27,] "Greek_Azov" "22.579"
[28,] "Tatar_Crim" "23.0846"
[29,] "Turk" "23.9326"
[30,] "Georgian_Jew" "24.5555"