Rakhigarhi: DNA vs PC Indian Style

Vasant Shinde, the principal investigator on the Rakhigarhi DNA from the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) has given an bizarre interview on his results.  Apparently they were not very successful in their attempts to extract ancient DNA, probably not too surprising since both they and their Korean partners were beginners in the business, but they do seem to have gotten useful DNA from two skeletons.  Those genomes showed Iranian DNA but no Central Asian DNA.  Now for the weird part.  From an article in The Tribune:
Three years after digging out human skeletons from the Harappan-era graveyard in Rakhigarhi village, archaeologists have concluded that there was no large-scale influx of foreigners or migration of locals, indicating those living in Haryana and the Ghaggar basin now are descendants of original inhabitants. 
Prof Vasant Shinde, Vice Chancellor of Deccan College, Pune, said on Friday that the DNA analysis of 5,000-year-old skeletal remains belonging to the Indus Valley Civilisation revealed that there had been no migration from this region for the last 10,000 years. 
“The Aryan invasion theories, stating that people from other countries arrived in India while locals migrated, are no longer relevant. There is no substance in these theories. Maybe the term Aryan, which is being used from the Vedic era, was used for a tribe or community,” he said. He asserted that they were saying this on the basis of actual data.
This is nonsensical.  The Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) has never been about migrations within India, and it certainly was not about the IVC being Central Asians.  So, if it is true that the IVC burials skeletons lack Steppe DNA, the AIT is supported, not denied.  Instead, the AIT posits that Central Asians invaded India after the decline and fall of the IVC.  The lack of Central Asian DNA in the Rakhigarhi burials is precisely what would be expected from the AIT.

I can't believe that Shinde doesn't know all this, so how can he not be lying?  Why would he do such a thing, something sure to trash his scientific reputation?  The Indian government is currently controlled by Hindu religious fundamentalist, who believe that Vedic Civilization derives directly from the IVC, that Indian Civilization is purely autochthonous and in the historicity of the Hindu religious texts.  Shinde is an important guy in a university dependent on government funding, and want money for his DNA lab.

Perhaps these bizarre assertions will be clarified if the Rakhigarhi data is ever published.

UPDATE:  A much more informative account comes from Razib Khan: https://www.gnxp.com/WordPress/2018/04/27/rakhigarhi-sample-doesnt-have-steppe-ancestry-probably-indus-periphery/

Money quote from Niraj Rai, head of the lab where the DNA was analyzed:
In other words, the preprint observes that the migration from the steppes to South Asia was the source of the Indo-European languages in the subcontinent. Commenting on this, Rai said, “any model of migration of Indo-Europeans from South Asia simply cannot fit the data that is now available.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anti-Libertarian: re-post

The most pointed critique of social security and liberalism in general is the libertarian critique. The problem with libertarians, for a liberal, is that we have too much in common. We both believe in individual rights, tolerance of individual differences, and dislike government prescription of religion. The basic difference, it seems to me, is the different answers we give to Cain's (with thanks to the Captain - my original version had the corpse asking the question!) famous question: "Am I my brother's keeper?" That's not really my basic bitch against the libertarians though. My real complaint is the same as my complaint against most religion - its premise is a fraud. For those who can't stand to wait for the punchline, I believe that trying to implement libertarian principles leads to tyranny or social disintegration. Demonstrating that takes some historical (and pre-historical) context. For all but the last 15,000 or so of the 100,000 years the human spec
Read more

Uneasy Lies The Head

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown ........... Shakespeare Henry IV, Part II. So it is with us and our slightly distant primate cousins , so it seems. A 9-year study of wild baboons in Kenya by Princeton University and the Institute of Primate Research may turn conventional assumptions of alphas males upside down. The study found that alpha males have high testosterone levels, which allows them to dominate other baboons, get access to more food, and attract better mates. This is expected. Surprisingly, though, the alpha males also have high levels of stress hormone glucocorticoid, which scientists measured from their feces samples. In fact, the stress of alpha baboons was on par with low-ranking baboons. The convention wisdom is that access to food and females provides life security and thus less stress for dominant males. Conversely, weak males who are constantly threatened by starvation and physical violence from stronger males are thought to be more stressed. The st
Read more

We Call it Soccer

The US played its best, and maybe only good game of World Cup, but lost thanks to brilliant goalkeeping by the Swedish keeper and the bizarre method soccer uses to settle ties when three US stars could not put the ball on frame from the 12 yard spot.  At the end it came down to a blocked shot that spun in by maybe a couple of centimeters. Well, that's football - too much like life.   Which brings me to a modest proposal.  Replace the thirty minute overtimes with as many 7-player 15 minute periods as needed to settle it.  Scoring should be much easier with fewer players.
Read more