Testing Models of Genetic and Linguistic Change in the Caucasus Mountains

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Since the 1980's, researchers have observed correlations between genes, language families, and geography at continental and sub-continental scales. But all such patterns must originate from processes occurring at the community level. The goal of this project is to examine fine-scale patterns of genetic diversity to investigate how historical processes produce genetic, linguistic and cultural change. Specifically, this proposal will gather genome-wide polymorphism data from many of the populations representing different language families in the Caucasus Mountains. The ethnolinguistic groups inhabiting the highlands of the Caucasus speak Nakh-Daghestan (ND) languages that show a very high degree of differentiation given their geographic proximity. The Caucasus region is also of particular interest because it represents one of the first to be settled by expanding farming populations from the Near East, and there is no scientific evidence pointing to subsequent major migrations into the highlands. Thus, the great age and diversification of its populations may well reflect a long-term entrenchment after an initial colonization of a Mesolithic population. In contrast, nearby lowland populations have a history of contact with a variety of populations speaking non-ND languages. The resulting diversity provides a unique opportunity to investigate comparative histories, highlighting the interactive processes that produce a variety of types of genetic and linguistic differentiation. In collaboration with the Russian Academy of Sciences, this interdisciplinary project will produce a new body of high-density genetic data that will become publicly available, and develop new statistical tools that will be made freely available to the research community. Undergraduate and graduate students will be trained, and collaborators in Russia will share the results of the work through local television broadcasts in the Caucasus. For the local people of the Caucasus, knowledge of genetic ancestry is highly valued, as is an increasing scientific appreciation of their linguistic and cultural diversity.