HISTORICAL POPULATION-MOVEMENTS IN EUROPE INFLUENCE GENETIC-RELATIONSHIPS IN MODERN SAMPLES

We have newly constructed an ethnohistorical database consisting of 34 60 records of ethnic locations and movements in Europe since 2200 B.C. Using this database, we computed vectors of proportions that peoples speaking various language families contributed to the gene pools of 22 16 1 degrees x 1 degrees land-based quadrats of Europe. From these vec tors we computed ethnohistorical distances as are distances between al l pairs of quadrats. We used these distances as predictors of genetic distances, which we calculated independently from 26 genetic systems, We find significant partial correlations between ethnohistorical and g enetic distances when geographic distance, a common causative factor, is held constant, Ethnohistorical distances explain a significant amou nt of the genetic variation observed in modern populations, These resu lts are highly robust to simulated errors in and omissions from the et hnohistorical database, Randomization tests show that the historical s equence of the movements does not affect estimates of the ethnohistory -genetics correlation, but the geographic locations of movements do, W e track the development of the ethnohistory-genetics correlation throu gh time and show it to be gradual and cumulative over the past 4200 ye ars.