GENES AND LANGUAGES IN EUROPE - AN ANALYSIS OF MITOCHONDRIAL LINEAGES

When mitochondrial DNA sequence variation is analyzed from a sample of 637 individuals in 14 European populations, most populations show lit tle differentiation with respect to each other. However, the Saami dis tinguish themselves by a comparatively large amount of sequence differ ence when compared with the other populations, by a different distribu tion of sequence diversity within the population, and by the occurrenc e of particular sequence motifs. Thus, the Saami seem to have a long h istory distinct from other European populations. Linguistic affiliatio ns are not reflected in the patterns of relationships of mitochondrial lineages in European populations, whereas prior studies of nuclear ge ne frequencies have shown a correlation between genetic and linguistic evolution. It is argued that this apparent contradiction is attributa ble to the fact that genetic lineages and gene Frequencies reflect dif ferent time perspectives on population history, the latter being more in concordance with linguistic evolution.