New genetic evidence supports isolation and drift in the Ladin communities of the South Tyrolean Alps but not an ancient origin in the Middle East.

Abstract excerpt

The Alps are one of the most significant geographical barriers in Europe and several isolated Swiss and Italian valleys retain the distinctive Ladin and Romansch languages, alongside the modern majority of Italian and German languages. Linguistically, Ladin belongs to the Romance languages, but some studies on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation have suggested a major Middle Eastern component to their...

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