Dominican Republic study
Here is an excerpt from a Taino study conducted (from Nov, 2002) in the DR:
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Here is a ?footnote? to Dr. Juan Carlos Mart?nez Cruzado?s presentation, an informal E-mail message that he sent us on November 17. Thanks, Doctor, for permission to publish it! In the message, he talks about his analyses of the samples that we took in the three days after the conference and another quantity of samples taken by Lic. Arlene Alvarez, Director of the Regional Archaeological Museum of Altos de Chav?n, assisted by Aldofo L?pez, an independent scholar from Spain:
First of all, let me congratulate you for having graduated with honors as collectors of genetic material for posterity. The samples that Arlene sent are expanding the study very well. Thanks to you, we are getting a glimpse that there will be much to say about the mitochrondrial DNA of the Dominican Republic at the next Archaeology Congress. [34] ...
As an historian, Lynne is going to have a lot of work. It seems that the incidence of indigenous heredity in the Dominican Republic varies a lot with location. Something that we are beginning to see is that there is much more in the countryside than in the metropolis. But it is possible that in the countryside, also, there is substantial variability. The final results will give us an idea of which places the Ta?nos concentrated when they left the Spanish settlements. ... [36]
Until now, we have identified 15 indigenous samples in the Dominican Republic, 12 of which have been A and only 3 of which are C. The best place up to this moment has been Tubagua, which is where we first stopped along the route from Los Cocos to Santiago [the mountain road called Ruta Tur?stica]. Of the 7 samples that we took there, 4 turned out to be indigenous: 2 A and 2 C. A place that could beat Tubagua is El Seibo. From there we have only tested 9 samples for A, and already 3 have given positive results. We still have to test for C. Another good place was Y?sica, the second site where we stopped along the route from Los Cocos to Santiago. Of the 7 samples that we took there, 3 have had positive results (2 A and 1 C). The next best site was Monci?n. Of the 10 samples that we took there, 3 tested as indigenous, all A. It could be that San Jos? de las Matas will end up better than Monci?n. There we have tested only for A so far, and 1 out of 7 was positive. Among the remainder of the indigenous samples, the only positive result we obtained was one from among the 10 samples we took at Los Cocos. It was A. The 3 samples that Lynne took in San Juan de la Maguana were blanks, as were the 6 samples that we took in Santo Domingo. We also did a test for A among the 16 samples from La Romana, and not one gave a positive result. This suggests that large coastal cities near Santo Domingo have little incidence. To me, it nonetheless appears that Santiago de los Caballeros could have a much higher incidence. Dealing with a large city, it would be highly significant. [38]
citation:
Mart?nez Cruzado, Juan C. (2002). The Use of Mitochondrial DNA to Discover Pre-Columbian Migrations to the Caribbean:
Results for Puerto Rico and Expectations for the Dominican Republic.
[39 paragraphs] KACIKE: The Journal of Caribbean Amerindian History and Anthropology [On-line Journal], Special Issue, Lynne Guitar, Ed.
Here is a link to the complete article...
http://www.kacike.org/MartinezEnglish.html