The Hypothesized Finnish Population Bottleneck - 2638 Words

The hypothesized Finnish population bottleneck is supported by archaeological evidence that shows the number of artifacts significantly decreased at roughly the same time as hypothesized. When taken together, the genetic and archaeological records suggest that there may have been a population bottleneck. The hypothesized population bottleneck circa 4000 BP (2000 BCE) has been increasingly researched over the past few decades, as genetic evidence has come to support the existing archaeological evidence for such an event. Recent genetic testing has shown that there is very low diversity on the Y chromosome, suggesting that the number of male ancestral lineages was small, especially compared to the rest of Europe. This is evidence for a population bottleneck that killed a large portion of the population at some point in the past. In addition, there are genetic differences between eastern and western Finland the presence of Finnish Disease Heritage, where certain genetic diseases are fo und in proportions different from the rest of the Europe, as is common in groups with decreased genetic diversity. Other arguments that explain the same evidence in other ways have been proposed and no consensus has been reached on which side is correct. The archaeological evidence is rooted in the number of artifacts found that can be dated to before and after the hypothesized population bottleneck. This research relies on the assumption that a higher number of artifacts dated to a certain