GENETIC DATA ON ALGHERO POPULATION (SARDINIA) - CONTRAST BETWEEN BIOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL EVIDENCE

Data on 20 genetic polymorphisms (61 alleles) in the Algehero populati on on the northwestern coast of Sardinia are presented and discussed i n relation to its linguistic peculiarity inside the island. Since the Aragonese (Spain) conquest of Sardinia in the 13th century, the Catala n language, the same as that spoken in Northeastern Spain and certain districts of Southern France, has been used in Alghero even until toda y. Analysis for heterogeneity of gene frequency distributions indicate s that the genetic information obtained on Alghero is adequate to disc riminate Sardinians from other neighbouring populations. Genetic varia tion between populations measured through genetic distances and princi pal-component analysis shows that the present-day population of Algher o is much closer genetically to Sardinians than to Catalonians. Our ge netic results do not support any interpretation of the linguistic affi nities between Alghero and Catalonia at present as indicative of biolo gical kinship. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.