Editing Maasai people (section)

=== 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>