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The Impact of Genetics Research on Archaeology and Linguistics in Eurasia

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Abstract

This article attempts to outline the current impact that genetics is having on the fields of archaeology and historical linguistics across the Eurasian continent. It positions the relationship between all three disciplines by reviewing the earlier history of their interactions. In the area of archaeology, there has been a long history of research into the subject of human migration. We briefly review the application of such techniques as craniometry, pigmentation, dermatoglyphics, classical markers and the retrospective reconstruction of population movements from the modern DNA of human populations. We then turn to the revolution created by the application of ancient DNA in three separate areas: Early Man dispersals and legacies, the spread of agriculture and the massive expansion of populations during the Early Bronze Age. Examples are provided of how aDNA is impacting on the study of the origin and dispersals of ethno-linguistic groups. In addition to human migrations, genetics is also impacting on the reconstruction of past lifeways and examples are drawn from research on palaeodiet, palaeopathology and palaeodemography. Genetics is also contributing to major issues of historical linguistics involving the origins and dispersals of the major Eurasian language families. It provides evidence that helps distinguish between instances involving significant migration from those effected by language shift with a minimal genetic trail. Two cases, the Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Altaic homelands are reviewed along with some of the methodological problems of synchronizing genetic and linguistic evidence.

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Funding

This study was carried out within the state assignment of Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation for the Research Center for Medical Genetics (impact of genetics on archaeology) and by the Russian Science Foundation project 17-14-01345 (impact of genetics on linguistics) and by the Russian Science Foundation project 18-18-00501 (collection and analysis of the Altaic linguistic materials).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queen’s University, Belfast, BT7 1NN United Kingdom, Northern Ireland

    J. Mallory

  2. Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Science, 125009, Moscow, Russia

    A. Dybo

  3. Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies, Higher School of Economics, 105066, Moscow, Russia

    A. Dybo

  4. Laboratory of Linguistic Anthropology, Tomsk National State University, 634050, Tomsk, Russia

    A. Dybo

  5. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Science, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    O. Balanovsky

  6. Research Centre for Medical Genetics, 115522, Moscow, Russia

    O. Balanovsky

  7. Biobank of North Eurasia, 115201, Moscow, Russia

    O. Balanovsky

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Mallory, J., Dybo, A. & Balanovsky, O. The Impact of Genetics Research on Archaeology and Linguistics in Eurasia. Russ J Genet 55, 1472–1487 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1022795419120081

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