Areal Approach in Archeogenetics and Linguistics: Population and Language Structure of the Chad basin.

Prof. MUDr. Radim Brdička, DrSc. - doc. Petr Zima, CSs.

(r. č. 404/03/0318). 2003-2005

The project surveys the contact zone of sub-Saharan and Caucasoid populations of Chad basin from the molecular and linguistic perspectives. Samplings will be undertaken in geographically exactly specified areas and according to the respective origin of selected and unrelated donors consequential from field examination, the areas for next sampling will be detected. The analysis of mitochondrial DNA will be carried out subsequently in the laboratory; detected haplotypes will be classified to known Sub-Saharan (L1-L3) and North African haplogroups (U6) and the diversity of these haplogroups will be associated with the geographical provenience and/or linguistic attribution. In addition to the analysis of biological samples of recent donors we will deal with the DNA isolation from human bones. It can be expected that the results of DNA diversity grouped by geographical sampling will bring high quality phylogeographical picture of mitochondrial polymorphisms of Chad basin. The archaeogenetic diversity will be confronted not only with the trees and branches offered by the classical “genetic” linguistics (as it was done so far) but also with the areal convergences and divergences of languages displayed by “Sprachbund” research. The study will offer the parallel picture of settlement pattern of Chad basin for the historians, archaeologues and linguists of Africa. In the framework of interdisciplinary research of biocultural phenomena the expected results will not be only a welcomed complement but also a new way to solve the questions of population history by the specific analysis of the genetics and linguistic data in others parts of the world as well.