Spencer Wells has done several interesting projects that try to fill in the gaps of archeology with genetic science. His documentary Journey of Man discovered that there were two human migratory waves out of Africa. The first ending in Australia, and the second going to Central Asia which led to the population of Asia, Europe and the Americas. He has applied the same technique to see what effect the empires of antiquity have had on genetics - and in particular one of the great seafaring empires, the Phoenicians.

The video excerpts are in three parts.

The Phoenicians came out of modern day Lebanon. That part of the world was pretty restricted agriculturally by the thin strip of arable land. The Phoenicians turned to the Mediterranean and seafaring instead. Their aptitude in this area led them to the Atlantic coast of France and Britain as well as Africa.

Carthage was Rome's great military rival and took two wars of over half a century each to be beaten by Rome. The etymology for Carthage is Qart Chadascht or 'new city'. It was a Phoenician colony from Tyre. However, Wells comments that they found less than twenty percent and possibly as few as ten percent of modern day Tunis carries Phoenician markers in the Y chromosome.

Essentially the Phoenicians did not colonise so much, but take over politically and culturally assimilate indigenous populations. This makes sense as seafaring was a capital intensive and dangerous enterprise in antiquity where moving large populations by sea had low probability outcomes.

This may also hold a key to the origins of the Etruscans. Currently there are two theories for Etrusca. One, that the Villanovans of Italy advanced their cultural and technological output into becoming what we know as Etrusca; or two, a Phoenician colonisation attempt where the Phoenicians, as a culturally and technically superior civilisation, established themselves as the new ruling aristocracy in the Etruscan city-states.

As Wells said, the Phoenicians didn't have a large genetic impact but they did change the culture, very much so in North Africa and Iberia. But IMO extrapolating from the process, maybe Etrusca too? I am sure that Wells and others have thought of that possibility and are probably trying to find some small population they can test to prove or disprove that hypothesis.

More Reading on Spencer wells

• Spencer Wells
• Phoenicians
• Carthage
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• Y Chromosome
• Genetics
• Phoenician Genetics