Editing Maasai people (section)

== Genetics ==

Recent advances in genetic analyses have helped shed some light on the [[ethnogenesis]] of the Maasai people. [[Genetic genealogy]], a tool that uses the genes of modern populations to trace their ethnic and geographic origins, has also helped clarify the possible background of modern Maasai.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Maasai Tribe - Maasai History And Culture - Kenya Travel Guide |url=http://www.siyabona.com/maasai-tribe-east-africa.html |website=www.siyabona.com |access-date=24 May 2020 |archive-date=22 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922171353/http://www.siyabona.com/maasai-tribe-east-africa.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Autosomal DNA ===

The Maasai's [[autosome|autosomal]] [[DNA]] has been examined in a comprehensive study by Tishkoff et al. (2009) on the genetic affiliations of various populations in Africa. According to the study's authors, the Maasai "have maintained their culture in the face of extensive genetic introgression".<ref name="Tishkoff2009">{{cite journal |last1=Tishkoff |first1=Sarah A. |title=The Genetic Structure and History of Africans and African Americans |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=324 |issue=5930 |pages=1035–44 |year=2009 |bibcode=2009Sci...324.1035T |doi=10.1126/science.1172257 |pmc=2947357 |pmid=19407144 |last2=Reed |first2=Floyd A. |last3=Friedlaender |first3=Françoise R. |last4=Ehret |first4=Christopher |last5=Ranciaro |first5=Alessia |last6=Froment |first6=Alain |last7=Hirbo |first7=Jibril B. |last8=Awomoyi |first8=Agnes A. |last9=Bodo |first9=Jean-Marie |first10=Ogobara |last10=Doumbo |first11=Muntaser |last11=Ibrahim |first12=Abdalla T. |last12=Juma |first13=Maritha J. |last13=Kotze |first14=Godfrey |last14=Lema |first15=Jason H. |last15=Moore |first16=Holly |last16=Mortensen |first17=Thomas B. |last17=Nyambo |first18=Sabah A. |last18=Omar |first19=Kweli |last19=Powell |first20=Gideon S. |last20=Pretorius |first21=Michael W. |last21=Smith |first22=Mahamadou A. |last22=Thera |first23=Charles |last23=Wambebe |first24=James L. |last24=Weber |first25=Scott M. |last25=Williams}} Also see [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/1172257/DC1 Supplementary Data] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601000925/http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/1172257/DC1 |date=2009-06-01 }}.</ref> Tishkoff et al. also indicate that: "Many Nilo-Saharan-speaking populations in East Africa, such as the Maasai, show multiple cluster assignments from the Nilo-Saharan [...] and Cushitic [...] AACs, in accord with linguistic evidence of repeated [[Nilotic]] assimilation of [[Cushitic languages|Cushites]] over the past 3000 years and with the high frequency of a shared East African–specific mutation associated with lactose tolerance."<ref name="Tishkoff2009" />

Maasai display significant [[Genetic history of Europe|West-Eurasian]] admixture at roughly ~20%. This type of West-Eurasian ancestry reaches up to 40-50% among specific populations of the [[Horn of Africa]], specifically among [[Amhara people|Amharas]]. Genetic data and archeologic evidence suggest that East African pastoralists received West Eurasian ancestry (~25%) through Afroasiatic-speaking groups from Northern Africa or the [[Arabian Peninsula]], and later spread this ancestry component southwards into certain [[Khoisan]] groups roughly 2,000 years ago, resulting in ~5% West-Eurasian ancestry among Southern African hunter-gatherers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dobon |first1=Begoña |last2=Hassan |first2=Hisham Y. |last3=Laayouni |first3=Hafid |last4=Luisi |first4=Pierre |last5=Ricaño-Ponce |first5=Isis |last6=Zhernakova |first6=Alexandra |last7=Wijmenga |first7=Cisca |last8=Tahir |first8=Hanan |last9=Comas |first9=David |last10=Netea |first10=Mihai G. |last11=Bertranpetit |first11=Jaume |date=2015-05-28 |title=The genetics of East African populations: a Nilo-Saharan component in the African genetic landscape |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=9996 |doi=10.1038/srep09996 |pmid=26017457 |pmc=4446898 |bibcode=2015NatSR...5E9996D |issn=2045-2322}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pickrell |first1=Joseph K. |last2=Patterson |first2=Nick |last3=Loh |first3=Po-Ru |last4=Lipson |first4=Mark |last5=Berger |first5=Bonnie |last6=Stoneking |first6=Mark |last7=Pakendorf |first7=Brigitte |last8=Reich |first8=David |date=2014-02-18 |title=Ancient west Eurasian ancestry in southern and eastern Africa |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=111 |issue=7 |pages=2632–2637 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1313787111 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=3932865 |pmid=24550290|bibcode=2014PNAS..111.2632P |doi-access=free }}</ref>

A 2019 archaeogenetic study sampled ancient remains from Neolithic inhabitants of Tanzania and Kenya, and found them to have strongest affinities with modern Horn of Africa groups. They modelled the Maasai community as having ancestry that is ~47% Pastoral Neolithic Cushitic-related and ~53% Sudanese Dinka-related.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Prendergast |first1=Mary E. |last2=Lipson |first2=Mark |last3=Sawchuk |first3=Elizabeth A. |last4=Olalde |first4=Iñigo |last5=Ogola |first5=Christine A. |last6=Rohland |first6=Nadin |last7=Sirak |first7=Kendra A. |last8=Adamski |first8=Nicole |last9=Bernardos |first9=Rebecca |last10=Broomandkhoshbacht |first10=Nasreen |last11=Callan |first11=Kimberly |last12=Culleton |first12=Brendan J. |last13=Eccles |first13=Laurie |last14=Harper |first14=Thomas K. |last15=Lawson |first15=Ann Marie |date=2019-07-05 |title=Ancient DNA Reveals a Multi-Step Spread of the First Herders into Sub-Saharan Africa |journal=Science |volume=365 |issue=6448 |pages=eaaw6275 |doi=10.1126/science.aaw6275 |issn=0036-8075 |pmc=6827346 |pmid=31147405|bibcode=2019Sci...365.6275P }}</ref>

=== Y-DNA ===

A [[Y chromosome]] study by Wood et al. (2005) tested various Sub-Saharan populations, including 26 Maasai men from Kenya, for paternal lineages. The authors observed haplogroup [[Haplogroup E-M215 (Y-DNA)|E1b1b]]-M35 (not M78) in 35% of the studied Maasai.<ref name="Wood2005">{{cite journal|first1=Elizabeth T. |last1=Wood |first2=Daryn A. |last2=Stover |first3=Christopher |last3=Ehret |first4=Giovanni |last4=Destro-Bisol |first5=Gabriella |last5=Spedini |first6=Howard |last6=McLeod |first7=Leslie |last7=Louie |first8=Mike |last8=Bamshad |first9=Beverly I. |last9=Strassmann |first10=Himla |last10=Soodyall |first11=Michael F. |last11=Hammer |url=https://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/WoodEJHG2005.pdf |title=Contrasting patterns of Y chromosome and mtDNA variation in Africa: evidence for sex-biased demographic processes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227061248/http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/WoodEJHG2005.pdf |archive-date=27 December 2010 |journal=[[European Journal of Human Genetics]] |date=2005 |volume=13 |issue=7 |pages=867–876|doi=10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201408 |pmid=15856073 |s2cid=20279122 }} (cf. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110629001717/http://www.nature.com/ejhg/journal/v13/n7/extref/5201408x1.gif Appendix A: Y Chromosome Haplotype Frequencies])</ref> E1b1b-M35-M78 in 15%, their ancestor with the more northerly Cushitic men, who possess the haplogroup at high frequencies<ref name="Cruciani2004">{{cite journal |last=Cruciani |display-authors=etal |date=May 2004 |title=Phylogeographic Analysis of Haplogroup E3b (E-M215) Y Chromosomes Reveals Multiple Migratory Events Within and Out Of Africa |url=http://www.ajhg.org/AJHG/fulltext/S0002-9297(07)64365-1?large_figure=true |url-status=dead |journal=[[American Journal of Human Genetics]] |volume=74 |issue=5 |pages=1014–1022 |doi=10.1086/386294 |pmc=1181964 |pmid=15042509 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130112051341/http://www.ajhg.org/AJHG/fulltext/S0002-9297(07)64365-1?large_figure=true |archive-date=12 January 2013}}</ref> lived more than 13,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://e-v22.net/the-phylogenetic-tree-based-on-snp-data/ |title=The phylogenetic tree based on SNP data – Y-DNA haplogroup E-V22 |access-date=2020-01-30 |archive-date=2020-02-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216132256/http://e-v22.net/the-phylogenetic-tree-based-on-snp-data/ |url-status=live }}</ref> <!-- E1b1b is at least 24 000 years old. It alone cannot be used to judge recent events. --> The second most frequent paternal lineage among the Maasai was [[Haplogroup A (Y-DNA)#A3b2-M13|Haplogroup A3b2]], which is commonly found in Nilotic populations, such as the [[Alur people|Alur]];<ref name="Wood2005" /><ref name="Hassan">{{Cite journal |last=Hassan |year=2008 |title=Y-chromosome variation among Sudanese: restricted gene flow, concordance with language, geography, and history. |journal=[[American Journal of Physical Anthropology]] |volume=137 |issue=3 |pages=316–23 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.20876 |pmid=18618658}}</ref> it was observed in 27% of Maasai men. The third most frequently observed paternal DNA marker in the Maasai was [[Haplogroup E-M2|E1b1a1-M2]] (E-P1), which is very common in the Sub-Saharan region; it was found in 12% of the Maasai samples. [[Haplogroup B-M60]] was also observed in 8% of the studied Maasai,<ref name="Wood2005" /> which is also found in 30% (16/53) of Southern Sudanese Nilotes.<ref name="Hassan" />

=== Mitochondrial DNA ===

According to an [[mtDNA]] study by Castri et al. (2008), which tested Maasai individuals in Kenya, the maternal lineages found among the Maasai are quite diverse but similar in overall frequency to that observed in other Nilo-Hamitic populations from the region, such as the [[Samburu people|Samburu]]. Most of the tested Maasai belonged to various [[Macro-haplogroup L (mtDNA)|macro-haplogroup L]] sub-clades, including [[Haplogroup L0|L0]], [[Haplogroup L2 (mtDNA)|L2]], [[Haplogroup L3 (mtDNA)|L3]], [[Haplogroup L4 (mtDNA)|L4]] and [[Haplogroup L5 (mtDNA)|L5]]. Some maternal gene flow from [[North Africa|North]] and Northeast Africa was also reported, particularly via the presence of mtDNA [[Haplogroup M (mtDNA)|haplogroup M]] lineages in about 12.5% of the Maasai samples.<ref name="Castrí">{{cite journal |first1=Loredana |last1=Castrì |first2=Paolo |last2=Garagnani |first3=Antonella |last3=Useli |first4=Davide |last4=Pettener |first5=Donata |last5=Luiselli |year=2008 |title=Kenyan crossroads: migration and gene flow in six ethnic groups from Eastern Africa. |url=http://www.isita-org.com/jass/Contents/2008%20vol86/12_Castri.pdf |journal=Journal of Anthropological Science |volume=86 |pages=189–92 |pmid=19934476 |access-date=2010-12-29 |archive-date=2012-03-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313015006/http://www.isita-org.com/jass/Contents/2008%20vol86/12_Castri.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Amin|Willetts|Eames|1987|pp=53, 54}}