AIT, NEW genetic evidence

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

"David Salmon (Kettenpom)" <dsalmon at SALMON.ORG> wrote:

>Even so, one wonders what the ratio of women to men were in those "Aryan"
>tribal excursions into India.  Were they like the Greek onslaught on Troy,

That is precisely what the Aryan migrations into India were NOT, according
to contemporary scholars. If you search the archives of this list, you will
find that most of them deny a scenario where Aryan hordes made an onslaught
on the subcontinent. A natural extension of the search for new pastures is
more like it.

>composed almost solely of men?  Or if not, how many men originally does the
>DNA imply in total, if one assumes that most of them arrived in the
>centuries in which the "Aryans" came, however they did it?  I don't believe
>that data can say a thing about that.

Mitochondrial DNA is inherited solely from the mother, as they are found
only in ova, and not in sperm. The data in the said papers can say
absolutely nothing about how many men originally were involved. For that,
you will have to study something inherited solely from the father. However,
if you know biology, you will find there is no such thing. During production
of haploid reproductive cells, there is a phenomenon called cross-over,
where portions of DNA from complementary chromosomes are mixed up, in order
to ensure greater genetic diversity. In other words, the Y chromosome sperm
produced by a man is not identical to the Y chromosome sperm that produced
him. It carries genetic material inherited from both his father and his
mother. Mitochondiral DNA is insulated from such a phenomenon, so that the
only thing producing changes in it is the rate of mutation. Studies on Y
chromosomes have to worry about unknown variables other than rates of
mutation, which is why mitochondrial DNA evidence is inherently more
reliable.

>
>Much ado about very little, perhaps?

Actually, rather significant, I should think. Especially if you combine the
genetic evidence with the updated theories of when and how Aryans migrated
into the subcontinent.

Vidyasankar
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