Origin of the Armenians
Over the course of its long history, Armenia has acted as both a source of numerous indigenous cultures and as a recipient of foreign invasions. As a result of this complex history among populations, the gene pool of the Armenian population may contain traces of historically well-documented ancient migrations. Furthermore, the regions within the historical boundaries of Armenia possess unique demographic histories, having hosted both autochthonous and specific exogenous genetic influences.
In the present study, we analyze the Armenian population sub-structure utilizing 17 Y-chromosome short tandem repeat (Y-STR) loci of 412 Armenians from four geographically and anthropologically well-defined groups (Ararat Valley, Gardman, Lake Van and Sasun). To place the genetic composition of Armenia in a regional and historic context, we have compared the Y-STR profiles from these four Armenian collections to 18 current-day Eurasian populations and two ancient DNA collections.
Our results illustrate regional trends in Armenian paternal lineages and locale-specific patterns of affinities with neighboring regions.
Additionally, we observe a phylogenetic relationship between the Northern Caucasus and the group from Sasun, which offers an explanation for the genetic divergence of this group from other three Armenian collections. These findings highlight the importance of analyzing both general populations as well as geographically defined sub-populations when utilizing Y-STRs for forensic analyses and population genetics studies.
The origin of Armenians is a controversial subject for anthropologists, archaeologists, historians and linguists. Among several hypotheses on this point, one prevails. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus described the Armenians as Phrygian colonists because of their speech and the garments they wore.
Here, we tested the Balkan version of the origin of Armenians based on the Y-chromosomal markers. We used the results of high-resolution typing (applying 50-70 SNPs) in 1171 DNA samples representing 10 Armenian geographic groups covering the whole area of the Armenian plateau and the database of the Armenian DNA project at Family Tree DNA comprising a general Armenian population. As possible signals of Greek influence the presence of the E1b1b1a1-M78 haplogroup with its major sub-branches (E1b1b1a1b-V13, E1b1b1a1a-V12 and E1b1b1a1c-V22) were considered.
The frequencies of the E1b1b1a1-M78 clade in Armenians are quite low in nine out of ten geographic groups and in the general dataset, ranging from 0 to 3.8%. The highest rate (8%) of the supposed Balkan lineages is observed in a sample representing the south-eastern part of the Armenian Highland (currently north-west Iran).
The mean age of this haplogroup using 14 STR markers is 14.5 ky based on evolutionary mutation rates. This value is much higher than that shown for the Greek samples which indicates that the E1b1b1a1-M78 haplogroup among south-eastern Armenians is indigenous and clearly was not introduced by back-migration from Balkan region. Thus, the patrilineal genetic structure of modern Armenians groups does not support their Balkan origin.
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