Testing Models of Genetic and Linguistic Change in the Caucasus Mountains

自20世纪80年代以来，研究人员已经观察到基因，语言家族和地理之间的相关性，在大陆和次大陆的规模。 但所有这些模式都必须源自社区一级的进程。该项目的目标是研究遗传多样性的精细模式，以调查历史进程如何产生遗传，语言和文化变化。 具体而言，该提案将从高加索山脉代表不同语系的许多人群中收集全基因组多态性数据。居住在高加索高地的民族语言群体说Nakh-Daghestan（ND）语言，由于地理上的接近，这些语言表现出非常高的分化程度。 高加索地区也特别令人感兴趣，因为它是近东农业人口扩大后最先定居的地区之一，没有科学证据表明后来有大规模移民进入高地。 因此，其人口的巨大年龄和多样性很可能反映了中石器时代人口最初殖民化后的长期巩固。 与此相反，附近的低地人口有一个历史的接触与各种人口讲非ND语言。 由此产生的多样性提供了一个独特的机会，调查比较历史，突出了互动过程，产生了各种类型的遗传和语言分化。这一跨学科项目将与俄罗斯科学院合作，产生一批新的高密度遗传数据，供公众查阅，并开发新的统计工具，供研究界免费使用。本科生和研究生将接受培训，俄罗斯的合作者将通过高加索地区的当地电视广播分享工作成果。对于高加索地区的当地人来说，遗传祖先的知识受到高度重视，对他们的语言和文化多样性的科学认识也越来越受到重视。

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.