From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 10064
Date: 2001-10-09
--- In cybalist@..., tgpedersen@... wrote:
>
> I should perhaps warn Piotr against reading the following, since it
> has been taken from a book for to read which his life is too short.
>
> Stephen Oppenheimer: Eden in the East
>
> 7
>
> Orang Asli: Originals
>
> The genetic evidence for the spread of people from Southeast Asia
> round the Pacific Rim points back to two Aboriginal areas, Sabah in
> northeast Borneo and the jungles of the Malay peninsula. Part of
the
> reason these areas keep cropping up is the selectivity of the
genetic
> studies that have been done in the past. Sabah, for instance, an
> Austronesian-speaking region on the eastern tip of Borneo, has
> received attention because of its location in the supposed region
of
> Austronesian expansion further east from island Southeast Asia. The
> Malay Peninsula region by contrast has some of the oldest and most
> diverse representatives of both Austronesian and Austro-Asiatic-
> speaking populations of mainland Southeast Asia.
>
> Orang Asli - the original Asians
>
> In the Malay Peninsula a group of non-Malay tribal groups live
> traditional lifestyles in designated areas. Collectively called
Orang
> Asli,(1) they are deeply diverse linguistically, physically and
> culturally, a fact not always acknowledged or specified at the
> tabulations created by the big gene labs in the west. An excellent
> ethnological description of these dwindling peoples is given by
> Iskander Carey in his 1970s classic *Orang Asli*.(2) Carey, with
> qualification, divides the Orang Asli tribes of the peninsula into
> three very different ethnic groups. These are the Negritos in the
> north , the Senoi in the middle and the Proto-Malays in the
south ...
> With some misclassification and overlap, the languages spoken by
> these people can be accomodated in Carey's tri-partite ethnic
> grouping. The Proto-Malays in the south speak Aboriginal
Austronesian
> tongues: the Negritos in the north speak northern Aslian tongues of
> the Austro-Asiatic phylum; and the Senoi in the middle speak either
> central Aslian or southern Aslian tongues of the Austro-Asiatic
> family. The Austronesian Proto-Malay group in the south of the
> Peninsula includes the Temuan I mentioned in the last chapter as
> suffering from high rates of a mild inherited blood disorder
> ovalocytosis.
>
> Most genetic evidence linking Southeast Asia and the Pacific has
come
> from studies of the maternal mitochondrial (mt)DNA mutations in two
> Aboriginal groups representing, respectively, mainland Austro-
Asiatic
> speakers and island Southeast Asian speakers. The former are the
> middle Aboriginal group on the Malay Peninsula, the Senoi; the
latter
> live in Sabah in northeast Borneo. In these cases, three Aslian and
> two Sabahan representatives nestle at early nodes in the five main
> Southeast Asian branching networks,(3) with the coastal New Guinea
> clans that I discussed in Chapter 6 and other Southeast Asian
ethnic
> groups, such as Vietnamesem, Malays and Taiwanese, on nearby but
> later twigs.
>
> The founder location of certain Orang Asli and Sabahan tribes on
> Asian maternal DNA trees is repeated when we look at the spread
north
> and to the west of Malaysia. A more recent re-analysis of the same
> Southeast Asian mtDNA types along with many Tibetan and Siberian
> samples still has Aslian, and Sabahan Aboriginal maternal clans at
> early nodes of major Aslian branches.(4) The Aslian mtDNA type 62,
> also present in Malays and Taiwanese Aboriginals,(5) was identical
> with a Tibetan type and apparently ancestral to various Vietnamese,
> Taiwanese and Sabahan variants.(4) Of particular note among the
seven
> East Asian mtDNA families revealed by this analysis of Antonio
> Tortoni and colleagues, based at the Università La Sapienza in
Italy,
> were their clusters B and E, which had clear roots in Southeast
Asia.
> (7)
>
> Cluster B is defined as those with Asian 9-bp deletion and, as
> previously mentioned, spreads from Melanesia round the Pacific Rim
to
> the Americas. As in the local Southeast Asian analysis, Torroni's
> tree, which includes Tibetans and Siberians still has the same
> Sabahan mtDNA type(8) at the root of the branching cluster. This
> ancestral type is shared with the equivalent nodal type in
Amerindian
> (9) and coastal New Guinea (10) populations. An Aslian type(11) is
> found nearby on Torroni's B branch, somewhat closer to the
ancestral
> node than Taiwanese Aboriginal, Korean, Sabahan, Malay, Tibetan and
> southern Chinese types on the same cluster.
>
> There is other evidence that could place the Senoi at the
geographic
> epicentre of the spread of the ancestral Asian 9-bp deletion type
> round the Pacific Rim and up the great rivers into Tibet. This
comes
> from the analysis of the three substitutions in the control region
of
> mtDNA which I noted earlier. In Terry Melton's 1995 study the
oldest
> version of the 9-bp deletion or Asian grandmother is the only type
> present in the Austro-Asiatic-speaking Senoi population, while
later
> variants are admixed in varying proportions in other Asian groups:
90
> per cent of these Aboriginal grandmother types are also the
commonest
> 9-bp deletion variant throughout Southeast Asia(12). This combined
> evidence suggests the Austro-Asiatic-speaking Senoi of the Malay
> Peninsula as a possible ancestral focus for all Asian populations
> with the 9-bp deletion.
>
> Melton's study also shows the Asian grandmother type penetrating
> along with her daughter (the Southeast Asian mother) into southern
> Indian populations. Further probes show, however, that the southern
> Indian grandmother types are not identical with the Orang Asli
types.
> Instead, the South Indian population show great diversity in that
> they share six different 9-bp deletion types with those found in
> nearly every other region of Southeast Asia and South China except
> the Malay Peninsula.(13) These links are predominantly with peoples
> of island South Asia speaking Austronesian tongues. As there seems
to
> be no other evidence for the 9-bp deletion so far west in Asia, the
> shared mtDNA types must reflect migrations from these regions
> westwards to Sri Lanka and India rather than the other way round.
> Notice, however, that the migrations appear to come more directly
> from Austronesian-speaking stock than from Austro-Asiatic-speaking
> Aboriginals of Southeast Asia, and perhaps a very long time ago in
> view of the local South Indian diversity.
>
> The picture for Antonio Torroni's other Southeast Asian maternal
> mtDNA cluster F tells us more about Austro-Asiatic expansions. The
> broad picture for group F(14) mtDNA links with the rest of Asia is
> generally similar to that for group B, except that for F the
evidence
> points directly to the Aslian Austro-Asiatic speakers rather than
> Austronesian speakers as an early and separate source of migrants
> west east and north. Group F has two Orang Asli maternal marker
types
> right at its root.(15) The rest of the twigs of this branching
> cluster are mainly composed of Vietnamese and Tibetan types,
although
> there are a couple from Malays, a Korean and a Siberian. The
> genealogical primacy of the Aslian types over the Vietnamese in
this
> group supports the archaeolinguistic theory that there was a
> southerly homeland of Austro-Asiatic speakers with spread north to
> the Mon-Khmer speakers of Indo-China.(16) Another prediction of
this
> southern homeland hypothesis was that the Mon-Khmer speakers in the
> eastern foothills of Tibet are refugees rather than stay-at-
homes ...
> This is also supported by the genetic tree.
>
> The final prediction of the southern Austro-Asiatic homeland
> hypothesis is that the migration of Austro-Asiatic speakers to
India
> went through the Strait of Malacca shortly after the rising sea
> opened it over 8000 years ago. We should, on this argument, expect
to
> see genetic evidence in north India linking back to the Orang Asli
> groups in the jungles of Malaya. Such is the case: the mtDNA marker
72
> (17) characteristic of the Austro-Asiatic Aslian speakers is
present
> in northern but not southern India. A recent analysis of Indian
mtDNA
> types reveals not only multiple East Asian intrusion into the
Indian
> subcontinent, but a clear north-south division as well. Another
> conclusion from this latter study is that the antiquity of East
Asian
> mtDNA markers in India suggests a very ancient migration west.(18)
>
> Mothers and fathers move west!
>
> The F maternal mtDNA cluster as defined by Tortoni and colleagues,
> (19) also has two isolated cousins among Caucasian types (those in
> Europe, the Middle East and most populations in the Indian
> subcontinent). One of these comes from a group of Swedes and Finns.
> (20) There is another Asian echo in Scandinavia. (21) Generally
> Caucasian populations have completely different mtDNA from East
> Asians, but independent evidence of Asian intrusions into Arctic
> Europe comes from the paternal or Adam's Y chromosome. Tatiana
Zergal
> at the University of Oxford along with her colleagues have linked a
> unique Asian Y chromosome mutation present in Uralic-speaking
> populations in central Asia to the linguistically related Finns,
> Estonians and Saami (Lapps) in northern Europe and Mari in
northwest
> Russia.(22) Several examples of the mutation also crop up in
Norway,
> suggesting local spread into Norse-speaking populations. From the
> distribution of the mutation Zergal and her colleagues speculate an
> origin in th Mongolia/China region. One individual has even been
> found in Japan on the Pacific Rim. Their model suggests that an
> originally Asian migrant group of males from central Asia retained
> their Asian language and male chromosomes but replaced much of
their
> nuclear genetic characteristics with European genes in Finland,
> Estonia and northwest Russia. The Saami, who can be traced back by
> rock engravings to 4200 BC, may be genetically the closest
survivors
> to the first migrants from the East. A shamanistic culture, their
> legends record such migrations.(23) Clearly those Asian genes
linger
> on in a much wider distribution of northeast Europe.
>
> Curiously the Y chromosome evidence explains the remarkable
> difference in appearance between the Europe-based Finno-Ugric
> speakers and their linguistic cousins the Uralics from central and
> north Asia - presumably because of the dilution of Asian nuclear
> genetic characteristics in the former. There are other mtDNA links
> between the Asia-Pacific region and Europe, but these are tenuous
and
> need further study.(25) The whole issue of Asian intrusions to
Europe
> during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, as evidenced by pottery
styles
> and "round-headed" skulls, has a long history and remains
> controversial. It is outside the scope of this book.
>
> I can now summarize the evidence from the Adam and Eve genetic
> markers for an east-west spread as follows: the Asian 9-bp deletion
> was carried to South India by the Southeast Asian mother, a woman
who
> may have spoken an Austronesian tongue. The group F maternal clans
in
> Antonio Torroni's classification, which are more clearly linked to
> Austro-Asiatic speakers of the Asian mainland, spread radially
north
> into Indo-China and Tibet, and west into north India, as suggested
by
> the model in the previous chapter. The maternal and paternal trails
> suggest possible further spreads of these people into Europe,
either
> via India or through central Asia. The hottest trails in this
respect
> are those to Finland and Sweden.
>
> This suggestive evidence from the celibate Adam and Eve genes is
> amply supported by study of the more promiscuous and prolific
nuclear
> genetic markers. Again, some of the best population-based evidence
> comes from the genes coding for the haemoglobin molecule that
carries
> the oxygen in our blood.
>
> 1)"Orang" in Malay means man, whilw "Asli" means original.
>
> 2) Iskander Carey: *Orang Asli: The Aboriginal tribes of Penisular
> Malaysia*, Oxford University Press, 1976. 3) The five mtDNA types
62,
> 71, 54 and 18 at the bases of clusters F, A, D, D* and E,
> respectively, in Figures 2 and 3 in S. W. Ballinger et al. "South
> East Asian Mitochondrial DNA Analysis Reveals Genetic Continuity of
> Ancient Mongolian migration", in Genetic, vol. 130, 1991, pp. 139-
52.
> Haplogroups E, A, D, D* and E correspond with New Guinea
matricalans
> 1-7, 17, (17), 11 and 9 respectively in Mark Stoneking et
> al., "Geographic Variation in Human Mitochondrial DNA from Papua
New
> Guinea", in Genetics, vol. 114, 1990, pp. 717-33. Close links also
> exist between Southeast Asian haplogroup G and New Guinean
matriclan
> 9; see Ballinger et al. ibid.
>
> 4) Antonio Torroni et al. "Mitochondrial Analysis in Tibet:
> Implications for the Origins of the Tibetan Population and in
> Adaptation to High Altitude", in American Journal of Physical
> Anthropology, vol 93, 1994, pp. 189-99. The broad division between
> mainland Southeast Asians including the Senoi and island Southeast
> Asians including Borneans, corresponds with groups A and B in a
> similar division based on nuclear genetic markers obtained by L.
Luca
> Cavalli-Sforza and colleagues in their authoritative The History
and
> Geography of Human Genes (abridged paperback 1996, Princeton
> Univerdity Press: pp. 134-138). Group C correspoded with negritos.
>
> 5) Ballinger, op. cit., pp. 139-52.
>
> 6) Torroni et al., pp. 189-99.
>
> 7) Haplogroups B and F, in Ibid., p. 196
>
> 8) Type 54 in Ballinger, op. cit., p. 141.
>
> 9) Type 13 in group B in Torroni et al. "Native American
> Mitochondrial DNA Analysis Indicates that the Amerind and the
Nadene
> Populations were Founded by two Independent Migrations", in
Genetics
> vol. 130, 1992, op. cit., pp. 153-62.
>
> 10) Type P119 in Mark Stoneking et al. "Geographical Variation in
> Human Mitochondrial DNA From Papua New Guinea", in Genetics, vol.
> 114, 1990, pp. 717-33.
>
> 11) Type AS79 from Ballinger, op. cit., pp. 139-52.
>
> 12) Table A1 in Terry Melton et al. "Polynesian Genetic Affinities
> with Southeast Asian Populations as Identified by mtDNA Analysis",
in
> Am. J. Hum. Gen., vol. 57, 1995, pp. 412-13.
>
> 13) Table AI in ibid., pp. 412-13.
>
> 14) As defined in Torroni et al., op. cit. p. 196.
>
> 15) Types AS72 and AS71 in Torroni, ibid., p. 195.
>
> 16) See Chapter 5 for further details.
>
> 17) Type AS72 in Torroni et al., op. cit., p. 195
>
> 18) S. Barnabas et al. "Human Evolution: The Study of Indian
> Mitochondrial DNA", in Naturwissenschaften, vol. 83, 1996, pp 28-9.
>
> 19) Torroni et al., op. cit. p 196.
>
> 20) Type 108 in Torroni et al. "MtDNA and the origin of Caucasians:
> Identification of Ancient Caucasian-specific Haplgroups, One of
Which
> is Prone to a Recurrent Somatic Duplication in the D-Loop Region",
> American Journal of Human Genetics vol. 55, 1994, pp. 760-76, and
> type 21, haplogroup T, in Torroni et al. "Classification of
European
> mtDNAs from an Analysis of Three European Populations", in
Genetics,
> vol. 144, 1996, pp. 1835-50.
>
> 21) "Asian" haplotype M, in Antonio Torroni et al., "Classification
> of European mtDNAs from Analysis of Three European Populations", in
> Genetics, vol. 144, 1996, pp. 1835-50.
>
> 22) The 'C' allele in Tatiana Zergal et al. "Genetic Relationship
of
> Asians and Northern Europeans, Revealed by Y-Chromosomal DNA
> Analysis" in Am. J. Hum. Gen., vol. 60, 1997, pp. 1174-83.
>
> 23) Inger Zachisson, "Oral Traditions, Archaeology and Linguistics:
> the Early History of the Saami in Scandinavia", in Roger Blench and
> Matthew Spriggs (eds.), Archaeology and Language I: Theoretical and
> Methodological Orientation, Routledge, London, 1997, pp. 371-6.
>
> 24) See Chapter 12 for further details.
>
> 25) In Bryan Sykes et al. "The Origin of the Polynesians: An
> Interpretation from Mitochondrial Lineage Analysis", in American
> Journal of Human Genetics, vol. 57, 1995, pp. 1463-75. See also:
> Group 3A in M. Richards et al. "Paleolithic and Neolithic Lineages
in
> the European Mitochondrial Gene Pool", in American Journal of Human
> Genetics, vol. 59, 1996, pp. 185-203.
>
> Torsten