PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF Y-CHROMOSOME LINEAGES IN POPULATIONS FROM SVANETI AND MINGRELIA/SAMEGRELO (WEST GEORGIA)

RAMAZ SHENGELIA; THEODORE G. SCHURR; DAVIT CHITANAVA; ARAM YARDUMIAN; LIANA BITADZE; SHORENA LALIASHVILI; LEVAN JOJUA; ANATOLE KLYOSOV

RAMAZ SHENGELIA Ph.D. Direction of the Medical Humanities, Tbilisi State Medical University, Tbilisi, Georgia Vazha-Pshavela Avenue N. 33, 0186 Tbilisi, Georgia, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3985-8536
THEODORE G. SCHURR Ph.D. Professor and Graduate Group Chair Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania 432 University Museum, 3260 South Street Philadelphia, PA 19104-6398 USA http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9323-9237
DAVIT CHITANAVA PhD in History, The institute of History and Ethnology Ivane Javakhishvili State University 0186, University St. N 2, Building 11 http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2610-2094
ARAM YARDUMIAN PhD, Anthropology is Assistant Professor at Bryn Athyn College, Department of Anthropology University of Pennsylvania University Museum Bryn Athyn College Bryn Athyn, PA 19009 http://orcid.org/0009-0002-1603-8022
LIANA BITADZE PhD in History The institute of History and Ethnology Ivane Javakhishvili State University 0186, University St. N 2, Building 11 http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0863-7965
SHORENA LALIASHVILI PhD student The institute of History and Ethnology Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University 0186, University St. N 2, Building 11 http://orcid.org/0009-0001-8229-7236
LEVAN JOJUA PhD student in Ancient World Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Chavchavadze Avenue 2 http://orcid.org/0009-0003-7907-9048
ANATOLE KLYOSOV Ph.D. and D.Sc. in physical chemistry American Chemical Society, Harvard University, Harvard University Medical School, Lomonosov Moscow State University http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0669-3448

Abstract

Given the ethno-cultural diversity of the Caucasus, the issue of the ethnogenesis of the populations living there remains an outstanding scientific problem. To investigate this issue, DNA sampleswere collected during scientific expeditions conducted in North-West Georgia (Svaneti and Samegrelo) between 2012-2017. They were analyzed for Y-chromosome diversity from a population genetic perspective and the results were published. A subject of interest remains the phylogenetic history of the paternal haplogroups identified there. The present work is an attempt to elucidate this history using these Y-chromosome data.

Materials and Methods.Y-chromosome STR data for 93 men living in Svaneti (northwestern mountainous region of Georgia, total population of about 12,000) and 364 men living in Samegrelo (northwestern region of Georgia, total population of about 500,000) were analyzed. The“Kilin-Klyosov calculator” software was used for the phylogenetic and coalescence analysis of these data.

Results and Conclusions. It was determined that the Svaneti population, in which there is a high concentration of G2a1 (up to 80%), probably separated from the Proto-Georgian founding population in the Late Bronze Ageand split from theancestor of the Samegrelo population around 3,680 ± 420years before present. This interpretation issupported by archaeological studies, which describe the oldest stationary settlement in Upper Svaneti precisely in the Late Bronze Age. The results obtained are further consistent with the generally accepted linguistic hypothesis for the emergence of Kartvelian languages.

Key words: DNA, trees, lineages, language, history, haplogroup, haplotype, short tandem repeat (STR)