SLOVENIAN ROOTS:  WHAT GENES REVEAL

(Korenine Slovencev:  Kaj razodevajo geni)

(J. Skulj (P. Eng.) The Hindu Institute of Learning, Toronto, Canada – 2004-3-30)

(Translation from Slovenian by Lillian Centa -- 8/04)

Summary:
In the year 2003, Malyarchuk et al. in collaboration with a Slovenian, Dr. K. Drobnic (M), published their research paper “Mitochondrial DNA Variability in Bosnians and Slovenians.”  The results made it possible for Slovenians to compare themselves, genetically, with other nations through genetic markers (haplogroups) inherited from the mother – mtDNA. – as was possible from the year 2000 with genetic markers from the Y-chromosome inherited from the father (SS).  From literature, I summarized the genetic data of various nationalities that would be of interest to Slovenians.  It is evident from the comparison that 90% of Slovenians have the mtDNA genetic markers that originated before or during the last ice age; whereas, only 75% of the 4,000 to 5,000 year old skeletons, excavated in the Basque country have genetic markers that are now that old; and the Basques of today have 70% of the genetic markers that originated before or during the last ice age.  Only 1% of the Slovenians have genetic groups 6,000 to 13,000 years old; their other genetic groups are all much older.

Archaeological finds:
Archaeologists maintain that man has lived in Europe for at least 800,000 years.  This early man was given the name Neanderthal, after the Neanderthal gorge near Dusseldorf in Germany where his bones were first discovered.  Even older bones, resembling human, believed to be 1.75 million years old, were discovered by archaeologists in Dmanisi in today’s Republic of Georgia(G).  The oldest remnants of tools were found by archaeologists in 1995 in Spain.  They estimate that these tools are about 789,000 years old.

Slovenia is also an interesting place for archaeologists.  The oldest trace of pre-historic man in Slovenia was found in Divje babe (“wild women”) above the Idrijca River in 1996, when a whistle made of bone was found dating from the period prior to 45,000 years ago, which they ascribed to the Neanderthal man.(TM)  As an engineer, I was surprised by the elaborate whistle on account of the workmanship involved in its production.  There is evidence that a drilling technique was used in its manufacture.  Of the four holes, two are not damaged, but all four show signs of drilling, since they are very symmetrical.  It is possible that even then, the Neanderthals used the same drilling techniques that were used by the Eskimos who used a bow and stone-tipped arrows for drilling, even after the arrival of Europeans.  Another sign of the developed primitive technological skill is the oldest, more than 5,000 years old, wooden wheel with an axle that was found in the swamplands near Ljubljana.  To make this wheel and transverse axle, the craftsmen had to use axes and probably also saws.  It is interesting that the wheel did not turn on the axle, but the axle with the wheel turned on bearings, similar to a system used, even today, on modern railway cars.  We are able to take the wheel with the integral axle as evidence of a relatively highly developed woodworking technology and also as a sign of metallurgy, since a mold for copper axes was found not far from the site of the pre-historic wheel.

Recently, in Croatian Zagorje, at Vindija and Velika Pecina, bone and stone tools were found.  It is believed that they belonged to Neanderthals who may have lived there more than 29,000 years ago.  Nearby, tools of stone and bone were also found, characteristic of modern man.  It may be that the Neanderthals made the tools themselves or acquired them through trade.  It was previously believed that the Neanderthal man became extinct more than 34,000 years ago.  This new evidence compelled scientists to change their theories.  Fred Smith, an anthropologist from Northern Illinois University, says that it is possible that the Neanderthal man and modern man lived in close proximity in central Europe for many thousands of years.  Erik Trinkhaus, an anthropologist from Washington State University, thinks that modern man in some places superseded the Neanderthals, elsewhere, he intermarried with them.  Between these two races, Trinkhaus sees very small distinctions.  In 1999, he announced that he found, in Portugal, the bones of a child from 24,500 years ago, which showed characteristics similar to those of both the Neanderthal man and of modern man.  Trinkhaus and Smith thus raised the new, controversial, hypothesis that Neanderthal man and homo sapiens intermarried.(NP)

Genetic data:
Geneticists such as Ridley and others, who are extremely interested in the study of human genes, have discovered that for the last four billion years, the human genome has been recording significant events in our biography.  There are genes with the help of which it is possible to track man’s migration during the last thousands of years.(RM)  Gutierrez and others theorize about the possibility, that some of the Neanderthal genes are also represented in the genetic structure of Europeans.  Gutierrez proved that genetically some Africans are more distant from Europeans, than three Neanderthals to whom they were compared using genetic technology.(G)  Calafell has observed that in today’s populations, there are more genetic distinctions in populations whose ancestors had a possible contact with Neanderthals in prehistoric times.(C)  Thus some geneticists also agree with anthropologists.

The year 2003 was a new milestone for Slovenian historical research, when a Russian geneticist, Dr. Boris A. Malyarchuk published his paper, “Mitochondrial DNA Variability in Bosnians and Slovenians”.  This paper shows the genetic profile of Slovenians based on genetic markers inherited on the mother’s side-the mtDNA.  This is a big step forward, since we now have the possibility of genetically comparing Slovenians with other nations, not only on the basis of genetic groups from the Y-chromosome inherited from the father, but also on the basis of ancestral groups inherited on the mother’s side.  This will have far-reaching consequences for the re-writing of Slovenian prehistory, because this is additional, unbiased evidence, that Slovenians are an ancient people, living in their own land continuously for thousands of years.

In the tabulated list below, I took the mtDNA haplogroup data from literature of other nations and their ages, and compared them with Slovenians.  Included in this comparison, in addition to contemporary people, are also genetic groups from people, who 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, lived in the Basque region of Spain.(BSK1)  If we statistically analyze data from the tabulated list and consider the weighted averages, we see that the average genetic age of Europeans is 26,710 years.  With Slovenians, the average calculated age of mtDNA genetic groups is about 750 years older at – 27,460 years.

Abbreviations:
In the Hg column are the haplogroups: ‘Other’ means other non-enumerated genetic markers; (α) indicates a source in the references below; BSK1 is mtDNA from teeth and skeletons – 4,000 to 5,000 years old from the Basque country; BSK2 is mtDNA of present-day Basques; VEN are Italians from the province of Veneto; SLO are Slovenians; POL are Polish; RUS are Russians; SWE are Swedes; EU avg. is the European average; IND are East Indians.

Genetic comparison:
Geneticists have, with the help of mtDNA, an insight into prehistory, past the ice age, to the first settlements in Europe 50,000 years ago.  From the tabulated list, it is evident that 90% of Slovenians carry the mtDNA haplogroups (inherited from the mother) averaging 20,000 years old or more.  These genetic markers originated before the ice age.  Carriers of these genetic markers survived the ice age and later spread out from the ice age shelters as the climatic conditions permitted.  If we genetically compare Slovenians with the Basques of 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, we see that the Basques had only 75% of genetic markers that are now 20,000 years of age or older.  This means that Slovenians not only speak an archaic language (SS), but also are genetically very old.

Genetic markers, haplogroups H, I, J, K, T, U, V, W and X, are present in all Europeans at relatively high percentages.  Geneticists believe that they originated after the Caucasians separated themselves from Africans, since they are mostly found in Europeans.  They are also found in India, although the percentages are considerably smaller than in Europe; people there have these ‘European’ haplogroups, except for V (K).  Nevertheless, in India, there are more than 200,000,000 people who have the European genetic markers.  Also, in Africa, and even in North America, an occasional specimen of these genetic markers is found in the original inhabitants. (T1)  These specimens are challenges for archaeologists, linguists, and historians to search for the reasons as to how, why and when the carriers of these genetic markers arrived there.

Torroni postulated that haplogroups H and preV, originated before the ice age in Europe and later spread out, from the east towards the west (T2).  In his study, Malyarchuk studied haplogroup H and resolved it into subhaplogroups (haplotypes and lineages) for a more precise comparison of populations.  Thus he ascertained that H lineage 16189-16356, present in all European populations that he analyzed, was not present in the Slovenian sample.  On another hand, Slovenians have a relatively high percentage, at 5%, of H lineage 16162 that is found in central and eastern Europe.  However, in the Bosnian sample it is not present.  In people from Veneto it is also present at 6%.  Rare H lineage 16263 is present only in Slovenian, German and French speaking inhabitants.  H lineage 16223 is present in Slovenians, in southern Germans, and in Ukrainians, but not in Bosnians. (M)  However, it has also been found in the 2,500 year old Venetic skeletal remains from Adria located in the Roman province of Venetia et Histria (V).

Groups J and T may have originated in the Middle East and were later brought to Europe.  Thus, 25% of Bedouins in Arabia have the genetic group J (R).  If we compare the 5,000-year-old Basques, we see that the percentage in these Basques is close to people from Veneto, Slovenians, and other Slavs.  It is very unlikely that Romans brought this genetic group into Eastern Europe.  Inhabitants from the Italian province of Veneto have an extraordinarily high percentage of the T genetic group – 22% -- while Slovenians have only 6%.  However, Swedes also have 22%; and it is possible to make an inference that this is also a legacy of the arrival of ancient people from the Middle East, before the Roman era, since the Romans stopped in central Europe and did not conquer Scandinavia.  The Tuscans, who now live in the territory of historic Etruscans, have 10% of this genetic group T, which is close to the Slav average.  Malyarchuk ascertains that the sequence 16069-16126 of genetic group J, is present in 8% of Slovenians.  This could also be a sign of migratory people from the Middle East during the Stone Age (M).

Haplogroup U, which is very frequent in Europe and India, is also found in Africans south of the Sahara.  Geneticists ascertain that it is 51,000 to 67,000 years old. (T)  This haplogroup U is very frequently found in Slovenians at 20%.  The European average is 16%.  British geneticist Martin Richards has concluded that the U haplogroup has been present in the Balkans for 44,000 years, since it is the only one that is as old as archaeological finds which, in Europe, area the oldest in the Balkans and in the central river basin of the Danube, which are, more than 44,000 years old (R1).

Malyarchuk ascertains that the U5 subhalogroup lineage 16114A is relatively frequent in Slovenians, at almost 4%.  Until now, such a high percentage was found only in the Finns.  In Bosnians, he did not detect this subgroup.  As he compared the genetics of Bosnians and Slovenians, he noticed the differences, and ponders that perhaps this may be a sign of two different Slavic migrations (M).

This hypothesis is in agreement with the results of analyses of genetic markers on the Y-chromosome, which is inherited on the father’s side.  Semino et al., are of the opinion that the Y-chromosome haplogroup Eu7, is presently very frequent in Croatians and Serbs; Rootsi et al. find it almost equally frequent in Slovenians at 38%, with the Slovenians having a higher percentage of the older lineages particularly M170 and M253 mutations comprising the haplogroup.  This haplogroup is to have originated in the territory of Epi-Gravettian culture in the territory of present-day Austria, the Czech Republic and northern Balkans 20,000 to 25,000 years ago in the descendants of people who came from the Near East.  Another genetic group, Eu19, which is the most frequent in Slavs, then in northern India, and in Pakistan, probably originated in the ice age refuge in the Ukraine and spread out after the ice age (SO), (RZ), (Y), (RO).

Certainly, during the last 50,000 years, there must have been many military comings and goings.  This has occurred many times even in the last 200 years; French were in Moscow under Napoleon and then Russians in Paris under the czar; Germans near Moscow under Hitler and then Russians in central Europe under Stalin.  And, if we consider human nature, such as it is, surely there were some genetic exchanges along the way.  However, the majority of people wanted “stati inu obstati” i.e., to stay and remain in their own homelands.

MtDNA haplogroup K was very frequent in 4,000 to 5,000 year old Basque skeletons, at 20%.  This haplogroup K is now present in Swedes at 16%; in Slovenians with 4%.  This genetic marker is also carried by the 5,300 year old mummy Oetzi – the man from the glacier.  Thus, Slovenians or Slavs cannot be excluded when attempting to determine to what language group Oetzi belonged.  Perhaps, with time, it may be possible to get Y-chromosome data, which would enable the researchers to determine to what present-day language family he would belong.

In North Africa, in Morocco, on the south side of the Atlas Mountains, is the town of Zagora; nearby the river Draa runs when it rains.  The Berbers living there have more than 25% of genetic groups V, H, U, and X, which point to European origin (RA).  Genetic lineage 16298, which falls under genetic group V, is present in Berbers in Morocco (RA).  This 16298 lineage is also present in Slovenians and Bosnians (M).  Types 16343 and 16390 are present in Morocco (DA); type 16390 is also present in Slovenia (M).  The question is how did these genetic types come into Africa?  Torroni speculates that European genetic influx may be from the Neolithic age, or may be due to the influenced of the Vandals, Portuguese, and Spaniards (RA), (T).  Here, surely, the Vandals come into consideration, since they, in the years 428-429 AD, under the leadership of Genserik, invaded northern Africa.  Although some defend the view that the Vandals were of Germanic origin, it is unlikely that Germans would give Slavic names to those Berber regions of Africa where Vandals were present.  Canadian anthropologist, Satiroff, with the help of linguistics and old historical sources, finds Slavic origins of the Vandals (SG).  Also, a Russian historian and linguist, Tulajev, cites historical sources which show that Vandals were Slavs (TP).  Now genetic research also shows that predecessors of some Berbers could have been Slavs.

On the basis of their research, geneticists speculate that central Europe was the cradle of the eastern Slavs (M), (B).

MtDNA lineages 16189, 16192, 16270, 16230, belonging to European subhaplogroup U5, are found here and there in inhabitants south of the Sahara.  Senegal type 16145, 16222, and 16311, belong to haplogroup H (RA).  Lineage 16311 is more frequent in Bosnians than in Slovenians (M).

Indians of North America have of the principal genetic groups, groups A, B, C, D; only the Ojibwa Indians also have group X (T), which is very frequently found in the inhabitants of the Veneto province and is present also in Slovenians.  Dennis Stanford, paleoarchaeologist at the Smithsonian Institute of America, is of the opinion that group X was brought across the North Atlantic more than 15,000 years ago.

Conclusion:
From the genetic studies, it is evident that Slovenians and other Slavs have ancient genetic roots.

Direction of new research:
Presented here is some new data that should be a challenge to Slovenian anthropologists, archaeologists, ethnologists, linguists, and historians.  They should not glibly dismiss the genetic evidence as coincidence, as it is their tendency, when presented with new evidence which does not fit into the framework of their outdated theories.  They should get to work and answer some pertinent questions:
          1.   Why is there linguistic affinity between the languages of Basques and Slovenians? (TM)

          2.   Who named the toponyms in North Africa that are understood by the Slovenians and when did this take place?

          3.   How and when did genetic groups present in Slavs come to Africa?

References:
(B) Belyaeva, O., et al. (2003).  Mitochondrial DNA Variations in Russian and Belorussian Populations. Human Biology October, v.75, no.5, pp. 647-660.
(C) Calafell, F., et al. (1996).  From Asia to Europe: Mitochondrial DNA sequence variability in Bulgarians and Turks. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 60:35-49.
(G) Gutierrez, G., et al. (2002).  A Reanalysis of the Ancient Mitochondrial DNA Sequences Recovered from Neandertal Bones. Mol. Biol. Evol. 19(8):1359-1366.
(I) Izagirre, N., et al. (1999).  An mtDNA Analysis in Ancient Basque Populations:  Implications for Haplogroup V as a Marker for a major Paleolithic Expansion from Southwestern Europe. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 65:199-207.
(K) Kivisild, T., et al. (1999).  Deep common ancestry of Indian and western-Eurasian mitochondrial DNA lineages. Current Biology 9:1331-1334.
(MM) Maca-Mayer, N., et al. (2003).  Molecular Characterization of Pasiegos from Cantabria (Spain). Annals of Human Genetics 67:312-328.
(M) Malyarchuk, B.A., et al. (2003).  Mitochondrial DNA Variability in Bosnians and Slovenians. Annals of Human Genetics 67:412-425.
(P) Poloni, E. S., et al. (1997).  Human Genetic Affinities for Y-Chromosome P49a, f/Taql Haplotypes Show Strong Correspondence with Linguistics. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 61:1015-1035.
(RA) Rando, J.C., et al. (1998).  Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Northwest African populations reveals genetic exchange with European, Near-Eastern, and sub-Saharan populations. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 62: 531-250.
(R) Richards, M., et al. (2000).  Tracing European Founder Lineages in the Near Eastern mtDNA Pool. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 67:1251-1276.
(R1) Richards, M., et al. (1997).  Reply to Cavalli-Sforza and Minch. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 61:251-254.
(RM) Ridley, M. (2002) trans. Pajer, U. GENOM: Biografija človeške vrste (Tržič, Slovenija, Učila International) p.16.
(RO) Rootsi, S. et al. (2004).  Phylogeography of Y-Chromosome Haplogroup I Reveals Distinct Domains of Prehistoric Gene Flow in Europe. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 75:128-137.
(RZ) Rosser, Z. et al., (2000).  Y-Chromosomal Diversity in Europe Is Clinal and Influenced Primarily by Geography, Rather than by Language. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 67:1526-1543.
(S) Smith, F.H., et al. (1999).  Direct radiocarbon dates for Vindija G1 and Velika Pećina Late Pleistocene hominid remains. PNAS October 26, 1999 vol. 96 no. 22:12281-12286.
(Š) Škof, L. (2003). STA. Glasilo Kanadskih Slovencev
(ŠS) Škulj, J., Sharda, J.C. (2001).  Indo-Aryan and Slavic Affinities. Zbornik prve mednarodne konference: Veneti v etnogenezi srednjeevropskega prebivalstva. ed. Perdih A.& Rant J. (Ljubljana, Slovenija, Jutro) pp.112-121. ISBN 961-6433-06-7
(SG) Sotiroff, G., (1971).  Phoenicians, Vencyans, Heneti, Veneti and Wendi. Anthropological Journal of Canada. Vol. 9, No. 4: 5-10
(SO) Semino, O., et al. (2000).  The Genetic Legacy of Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in Extant Europeans. Science vol. 290 10 November 1156-1159.
(TM) Tomažič, I., (1999).  Sledovi iz davne preteklosti. Slovenci: Kdo smo? Od kdaj in odkod izviramo? ( Ljubljana, Slovenija, Editiones Veneti) pp. 11-12.
(T1) Torroni, A., et al. (1996).  Classification of European mtDNAs From an Analysis of three European populations. Genetics 144:1835-1850 (December, 1996).
(T2) Torroni, A., et al. (2001).  A Signal, from Human mtDNA, of Postglacial Recolonization in Europe. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 69:844-852.
(T3) Torroni, A., et al. (1998).  mtDNA Analysis Reveals a Major Late Paleolithic Population Expansion from Southwestern to Northeastern Europe. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 62:1137-1152.
(TP) Tulajev, P., (2000).  Vandali. Veneti:  Predki Slavyan / Veneti:  Predniki Slovanov (Moskva, Beliye al’vy) pp. 155-157 ISBN 5-7619-0111-0.
(V) Vernesi C., et al. (2004).  The Etruscans:  A Population Genetic Study. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 74: 694-704.
(Y) The Y-Chromosome Consortium (2001).  A Nomenclature System for the Tree of Human Y-Chromosomal Binary Haplogroups.

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Last Updated: July 10, 2005
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