The coming of the Greeks to Provence and Corsica: Y-chromosome models of archaic Greek colonization of the western Mediterranean

Background: The process of Greek colonization of the central and western Mediterranean during the Archaic and
Classical Eras has been understudied from the perspective of population genetics. To investigate the Y
chromosomal demography of Greek colonization in the western Mediterranean, Y-chromosome data consisting of
29 YSNPs and 37 YSTRs were compared from 51 subjects from Provence, 58 subjects from Smyrna and 31 subjects
whose paternal ancestry derives from Asia Minor Phokaia, the ancestral embarkation port to the 6
th
century BCE
Greek colonies of Massalia (Marseilles) and Alalie (Aleria, Corsica).
Results: 19% of the Phokaian and 12% of the Smyrnian representatives were derived for haplogroup E-V13,
characteristic of the Greek and Balkan mainland, while 4% of the Provencal, 4.6% of East Corsican and 1.6% of West
Corsican samples were derived for E-V13. An admixture analysis estimated that 17% of the Y-chromosomes of
Provence may be attributed to Greek colonization. Using the following putative Neolithic Anatolian lineages: J2a-
DYS445 = 6, G2a-M406 and J2a1b1-M92, the data predict a 0% Neolithic contribution to Provence from Anatolia.
Estimates of colonial Greek vs. indigenous Celto-Ligurian demography predict a maximum of a 10% Greek
contribution, suggesting a Greek male elite-dominant input into the Iron Age Provence population.
Conclusions: Given the origin of viniculture in Provence is ascribed to Massalia, these results suggest that E-V13
may trace the demographic and socio-cultural impact of Greek colonization in Mediterranean Europe, a
contribution that appears to be considerably larger than that of a Neolithic pioneer colonization.