for National Geographic News Ancient maritime traders of the
Mediterranean may have left behind a large genetic footprint in
the region, where 1 in 17 men still harbors Phoenician DNA,
according to a new study. The findings could fill a gap in the
history of the Phoenician civilization, which originated two to
three thousand years ago in the eastern Mediterranean—in what is
now Lebanon and Syria—and included prominent traders, according
to Chris Tyler-Smith, lead author and associate researcher at
National Geographic Society's Genographic Project. (The National
Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.) "By the time
of the Romans they more or less disappeared from history, and
little has been known about them since," Tyler-Smith added. "Our
motivation was to really identify their genetic traces."
(Related: "Who were the Phoenicians" in National Geographic
magazine, October 2004.) The new research could also help
scientists understand the genetic impact of other human
migrations, such as military campa