Over at Kambiz Kamrani’s Anthropology.net, Terry Toohill has written and posted an interesting article on The Great Southern Migration Theory. The theory looks at the distribution of Y-DNA Haplogroup T (and to a lesser extent Y-DNA Haplogroup L).
I realise it’s risky to draw conclusions about ancient migrations from modern haplogroup distribution, but I believe that if we consider the possibility that Y-hap T was originally associated with some sort of a boating expansion we are easily able to explain the spotty distribution.
[...]
What is the possibility that L and T originate even further east? Y-haps N/O and P have become so widespread it’s possible to come up with almost any theory concerning their place of origin. But among L and T’s other close relations are S and M. Found in New Guinea, Melanesia and Australia, a region we know people must have reached using boats of some sort a very long time ago.So we have evidence for a southern coastal migration. [...] The fact that Y-hap T, along with L to some extent, appears to have effortlessly established itself in all the desirable coastal and riverine ecosystems along the southern Eurasian margin suggests that this habitat was actually unoccupied until T’s expansion. And that argues against any other more ancient great southern coastal migration.
(Link)
 Distribution of Y-DNA Haplogroup T |
 Distribution of Y-DNA Haplogroup L |
Tags: Genetics