Dec 2, 2024
Ancient DNA Debunks Millennia-Old Armenian Origin Theory
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, genetics
The Armenians, a population in Western Asia historically native to the Armenian Highlands, were long thought to be descendants of Phrygian settlers from the Balkans. This theory, rooted primarily in the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus, stemmed from his observation that Armenians serving in the Persian army were armed in a manner similar to the Phrygians. Linguists have also bolstered this theory, noting linguistic connections between the Armenian language and the Thraco-Phrygian subgroup of Indo-European languages.
But the first whole-genome study is challenging this long-held belief, revealing no significant genetic link between Armenians and the populations in the Balkan region. The study compares newly generated modern Armenian genomes and published genetic data of ancient individuals from the Armenian highlands with both modern and ancient genomes from the Balkans.