In this article I am illustrating the linguistic diversity of African Pygmy populations in order to better address their anthropological diversity and history. I am also introducing a new method, based on the analysis of specialized vocabulary, to reconstruct the substratum of some languages they speak. I show that Pygmy identity is not based on their languages, which have often been borrowed from neighboring non-Pygmy farmer communities with whom each Pygmy group is linked. Understanding the nature of this partnership, quite variable in history, is essential to addressing Pygmy languages, identity, and history. Finally, I show that only a multidisciplinary approach is likely to push forward the understanding of African Pygmy societies as genetic, archeological, anthropological, and ethnological evidence suggest.

Debates surrounding the nature of the Neolithic demographic transition in Europe have historically centered on two opposing models: a “demic” diffusion model whereby incoming farmers from the Near East and Anatolia effectively replaced or completely assimilated indigenous Mesolithic foraging communities, and an “indigenist” model resting on the assumption that ideas relating to agriculture and animal domestication diffused from the Near East but with little or no gene flow. The extreme versions of these dichotomous models were heavily contested primarily on the basis of archeological and modern genetic data. However, in recent years a growing acceptance has arisen of the likelihood that both processes were ongoing throughout the Neolithic transition and that a more complex, regional approach is required to fully understand the change from a foraging to a primarily agricultural mode of subsistence in Europe. Craniometric data were particularly useful for testing these more complex scenarios, as they can reliably be employed as a proxy for the genetic relationships among Mesolithic and Neolithic populations. In contrast, modern genetic data assume that modern European populations accurately reflect the genetic structure of Europe at the time of the Neolithic transition, while ancient DNA data are still not geographically or temporally detailed enough to test continent-wide processes. Here, with particular emphasis on the role of craniometric analyses, we review the current state of knowledge regarding the cultural and biological nature of the Neolithic transition in Europe.

This is the first study to evaluate the spectrum and prevalence of dose-predictive genetic polymorphisms of the CYP2C9, CYP4F2 and VKORC1 loci together, in a geographically defined, ethnically admixed healthy adult Omani population sharing common lifestyle/environmental factors. Since the present-day Omani population is the result of an admixture of Caucasian, African and Asian ancestries, we compared the pharmacogenetic profile of these three loci in this population. Interestingly, the Omani pharmacogenetic profile, in terms of allele and genotype distribution, has values that are intermediate between Caucasians and African Americans, the African admixture further substantiated by the presence of the CYP2C9*8 allele. However, limitations and usefulness of such comparisons warrant caution, as the data from pharmacogenetic literature do not always represent bona fide population categories. Furthermore, definition of study population based on microgeographical scale would be more appropriate in pharmacogenetic research rather than the flawed racial, ethnic, or social categorizations since pharmacogenetic variation is clinal, and genetic influences will be further altered by lifestyle and environmental factors.

To verify the possibility that the Y-chromosome C3* star-cluster attributed to Genghis Khan and his patrilineal descendants is relatively frequent in the Kereys, who are the dominant clan in Kazakhstan and in Central Asia as a whole, polymorphism of the Y-chromosome was studied in Kazakhs, represented mostly by members of the Kerey clan. The Kereys showed the highest frequency (76.5%) of individuals carrying the Y-chromosome variant known as C3* star-cluster ascribed to the descendants of Genghis Khan. C3* star-cluster haplotypes were found in two subclans, Abakh-Kereys and Ashmaily-Kereys, diverged about 20–22 generations ago according to the historical data. Median network of the Kerey star-cluster haplotypes at 17 STR loci displays a bipartite structure, with two subclusters defined by the only difference at the DYS448 locus. Noteworthy is a strong correspondence of these subclusters with the Kerey subclans affiliation. The data obtained suggest that the Kerey clan appears to be the largest known clan in the world descending from a common Y-chromosome ancestor. Possible ways of Genghis Khan's relationship to the Kereys are discussed.