SURNAMES, HLA GENES AND ANCIENT MIGRATIONS IN THE PO VALLEY (ITALY)

Population samples from Liguria, Piacenza and Pavia provinces, and Nor th Lombardy are compared for surnames and HLA gene frequencies. The ge netic structure inferred from the principal coordinate analysis of sur name frequencies is different from that inferred from HLA gene frequen cies. The latter may represent ancient migrations, since surnames are relatively recent genetic markers dating from A.D. 1500. Ligurian and Celts were the ancient inhabitants of this northern Italy geographic a rea. Genetic distances, derived from HLA gene frequencies, and represe nted with an unrooted tree show the presence of a Ligurian and a Celti c pole. The aggregation of the subpopulations to each pole accords wit h the history and the archaeological findings in the area.