Blond and European skull shaped Syrians

[Hando]

Hi, I just watched this BBC report.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14162072

In the footage one sees a very light blond haired boy as well as a blue eyed light skinned girl.
and at the end there is a soldier who looks very European in his facial structure. He is the one who deserted when ordered to fire on civilians.

Why are Syrians so different looking from their fellow Arab neighbours such as Iraqis, Egyptians, Lybians, Israelis, Turks etc?
Thanks

[J Honeychuck]

My wife and I noticed the same thing when we watched the news last night. But in studying my Y-DNA, which is traceable to the north Caucasus, I have noticed that in northern Syria there is a version of my type which is native to that area for at least 13,000 years. http://tinyurl.com/nsww44

I certainly don't want to start a thread on "Who is an Arab?" But it is clear that many people in northern Syria and Iraq did not come from the south in any recent millennium.

Regards,
Jim

[Linds]

Remember there are many other non-ethnic Syrians in Syria today. And there is debate as to whether Caucasus populations prior to invasions from the south and east were actually light haired light eyed fair skinned.

For example, green and blue eyes are not common, but not exactly rare among many Middle Eastern populations. The blue eye trait was carried through my Manzoian branch going back at least 5 generations and I have many 100% Armenian cousins with blue eyes (and once the family married WASPs my younger cousins and my sisters and I ALL have blue eyes).

[Hando]

Remember there are many other non-ethnic Syrians in Syria today. And there is debate as to whether Caucasus populations prior to invasions from the south and east were actually light haired light eyed fair skinned.

For example, green and blue eyes are not common, but not exactly rare among many Middle Eastern populations. The blue eye trait was carried through my Manzoian branch going back at least 5 generations and I have many 100% Armenian cousins with blue eyes (and once the family married WASPs my younger cousins and my sisters and I ALL have blue eyes).

Hi, what exactly do you mean by "And there is debate as to whether Caucasus populations prior to invasions from the south and east were actually light haired light eyed fair skinned."
When did these "prior invasions" take place and by whom? And are you saying the Caucasian blond, blue eyed, light skinned ethnic groups moved south to Syria?

[Linds]

Hi, what exactly do you mean by "And there is debate as to whether Caucasus populations prior to invasions from the south and east were actually light haired light eyed fair skinned."
When did these "prior invasions" take place and by whom? And are you saying the Caucasian blond, blue eyed, light skinned ethnic groups moved south to Syria?

I meant that there is so much overlap among ethnic groups throughout the Middle East, that "Syrians" are not purely one ethnic group because of invasions and conquests by different groups (Romans, Arabs, Turks). Virtually no one from any ethnic group is purely one ethnicity because nearly every region has had invasions and conquests that have mixed DNA over the millennia.

The Caucasian race was named for the ancient people who originated from the Caucasus Mountains, the area around Turkey, Iran, Georgia, Armenia, Chechnya, etc. Historically it's been theorized that these populations had fair skin and light hair, and it was only after mixing with Arab populations that originated from Central Asia that the darker features most commonly associated with the Middle East region took shape.

However, there are still Middle Easterners who carry those light traits like blond hair, blue eyes, etc.

Attached is a picture of my little baby cousin....100% Armenian -- blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin. Make sense?

[J Honeychuck]

The Caucasian race was named for the ancient people who originated from the Caucasus Mountains, the area around Turkey, Iran, Georgia, Armenia, Chechnya, etc. Historically it's been theorized that these populations had fair skin and light hair, and it was only after mixing with Arab populations that originated from Central Asia that the darker features most commonly associated with the Middle East region took shape.

That theory is not supported by the new paper on the DNA of the Caucasus, "Parallel Evolution of Genes and Languages in the Caucasus Region" by Oleg Balanovsky et al., which reads in part, "We conclude that the Caucasus gene pool originated from a subset of the Near Eastern pool due to an Upper Paleolithic (or Neolithic) migration, followed by significant genetic drift, probably due to isolation in the extremely mountainous landscape."

The word "Arab" does not appear in the paper.

Regards,
Jim

[JohnLloydScharf]

In six to seven generations the traits established by autosomal DNA are washed out. The problem with "racial traits" is that they are racist and established by chance. The color of hair, eyes, and skin are established by multiple autosomal factors. It takes several of them in the genotype to show up as the phenotype of brown eyes.

So, if you are going beyond six generations, then you have to stay with mtDNA or yDNA. Linguistics seems to hang in with those two longer than autosomal SNPs. The Phoenician alphabet and Phoenician sailors have more to do with J1 in the area around the Mediterranean Sea than migrations of whole populations with colored body parts. Some of the oldest J1 haplotypes seem to come from the Caucasus Mountains.

I doubt there is enough information yet to say with certainty what the origins of haplogroups are, but I suspect the best information puts them between Georgia and Kuwait, but not in the Southern Arabian Peninsula. They seem to be a distinctly more recent group.

That theory is not supported by the new paper on the DNA of the Caucasus, "Parallel Evolution of Genes and Languages in the Caucasus Region" by Oleg Balanovsky et al., which reads in part, "We conclude that the Caucasus gene pool originated from a subset of the Near Eastern pool due to an Upper Paleolithic (or Neolithic) migration, followed by significant genetic drift, probably due to isolation in the extremely mountainous landscape."

The word "Arab" does not appear in the paper.

Regards,
Jim