DNA Evidence Now Links Etruscan Cattle to Anatolia

More support for the Anatolian hypothesis for the origin of the Etruscan comes in the form of DNA studies on Tuscan cattle. According to a NewScientist.com article, On the origin of the Etruscan civilisation (Feb. 14, 2007):

The team found that almost 60% of the mitochondrial DNA in cows in the central Tuscan region of the country - where the Etruscan civilisation is thought to have arisen - was the same as that in cows from Anatolia and the Middle East. There was little or no genetic convergence between cows from the north and south of Italy and those from Turkey and the Middle East, the researchers say.

This corroborates the human DNA evidence I discussed earlier, Lydia Origin of the Etruscans has new DNA Support (Feb. 7, 2007).

(via rogueclassicism)