Biological and cultural contradictions? A reply to MacEachern

Spedini, Gabriella; Mondovì, Stefano; Paoli, Giorgio; Destro-Bisol, Giovanni

doi:10.1002/ajpa.1049

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…These groups have frequently been dismissed by regional elites and Western observers (and sometimes by anthropologists) as backward hill people, the 'paleonigritic' populations of Froelich (1964Froelich ( , 1968, isolated and apparently autochthonous inhabitants of the region. There has been some discussion of the degree of genetic isolation of these groups from one another (MacEachern, 2001;Spedini et al, 1999Spedini et al, , 2001, but by 2006 their extensive interactions with neighbouring populations was not really in doubt. Moreover, genetic research demonstrates significant connections between these Chadic-speaking populations and populations in West Asia, the Nile Valley and Northern/Northeastern Africa (Cerny et al, 2004;Coia et al, 2005;Cruciani et al, 2002), as well as with other, sub-Saharan populations (Sansonetti et al, 1992;Spedini and Destro-Bisol, 1988;Spedini et al, 1999).…”

Section: ■ Genetics and Racial Identities Around The Saharamentioning

confidence: 99%

Where in Africa does Africa start?

MacEachern

2007

Journal of Social Archaeology

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For the most part, the boundaries of African Studies remain fixed at the shores of that continent, with periodic excursions into diasporic communities across the seas. The northern limits of this enquiry into `Africa' are, however, more vaguely located, placed somewhere in the Sahara when they are thought of at all. This imprecision in the northern frontiers of `Africa' is closely related to traditional conceptions of race on the continent, and especially of a distinction between `Negroid' and `Caucasoid' peoples and histories. Recent genetic research in and to the south of the Sahara suggests that such distinctions are false, and that human biological variability in these regions does not accord with racialized models. Nevertheless, such models continue to be widely used in popular interpretations of events in these regions — most strikingly, today, in Darfur.

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Section: ■ Genetics and Racial Identities Around The Saharamentioning

confidence: 99%

Where in Africa does Africa start?

MacEachern

2007

Journal of Social Archaeology

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A multi‐perspective view of genetic variation in Cameroon

Coia

Brisighelli

Donati

et al. 2009

American J Phys Anthropol

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In this study, we report the genetic variation of autosomal and Y-chromosomal microsatellites in a large Cameroon population dataset (a total of 11 populations) and jointly analyze novel and previous genetic data (mitochondrial DNA and protein coding loci) taking geographic and cultural factors into consideration. The complex pattern of genetic variation of Cameroon can in part be described by contrasting two geographic areas (corresponding to the northern and southern part of the country), which differ substantially in environmental, biological, and cultural aspects. Northern Cameroon populations show a greater within- and among-group diversity, a finding that reflects the complex migratory patterns and the linguistic heterogeneity of this area. A striking reduction of Y-chromosomal genetic diversity was observed in some populations of the northern part of the country (Podokwo and Uldeme), a result that seems to be related to their demographic history rather than to sampling issues. By exploring patterns of genetic, geographic, and linguistic variation, we detect a preferential correlation between genetics and geography for mtDNA. This finding could reflect a female matrimonial mobility that is less constrained by linguistic factors than in males. Finally, we apply the island model to mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal data and obtain a female-to-male migration Nnu ratio that was more than double in the northern part of the country. The combined effect of the propensity to inter-populational admixture of females, favored by cultural contacts, and of genetic drift acting on Y-chromosomal diversity could account for the peculiar genetic pattern observed in northern Cameroon.

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The Holocene History of the Southern Lake Chad Basin: Archaeological, Linguistic and Genetic Evidence

MacEachern

2012

Afr Archaeol Rev

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Biological and cultural contradictions? A reply to MacEachern

Cited by 3 publications

References 4 publications

Where in Africa does Africa start?

Where in Africa does Africa start?

A multi‐perspective view of genetic variation in Cameroon

The Holocene History of the Southern Lake Chad Basin: Archaeological, Linguistic and Genetic Evidence

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