THE PATTERNS OF HISTORICAL POPULATION-MOVEMENTS IN EUROPE AND SOME OFTHEIR GENETIC CONSEQUENCES

Population movements of 891 ethnic units in Europe over the past 4,200 years, and the correlations of these movements with modern genetic di stances were investigated on a one-degree-square grid of the continent . There is significant spatial pattern in movements from sources, to t argets, and overall. Patterns change significantly over time. Patterns of sources and targets differ significantly. Modern movements are mor e numerous than ancient movements. Movements on the periphery of Europ e are few in number and are concentrated in direction, while Central E uropean movements are numerous and unconcentrated in direction. Modern genetic distance is negatively correlated with the amount of populati on exchange between localities. Regional genetic variance is positivel y correlated with number of movements into, but not out of, areas. The findings are interpreted in the context of European ethnohistory and population biology. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.