A longstanding question in human genetic research is the mysterious origins of the populations of Dagestan in the northern Caucasus Mountains. Living in isolation for millennia, the more than 30 ethnic groups in this region contain a reservoir of cultural, linguistic and genetic diversity that represents an invaluable and untapped resource for understanding the origin of Eurasian peoples and the processes that shaped the early European genetic landscape. Studies of these populations have been hindered, in great part, because access to the northern Caucasus has been difficult for western researchers. Preliminary ground breaking research of a few of the many indigenous populations of highland Daghestan by a native researcher, Dr. Kazima Bulaeva from the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, provided a first glimpse into the unique genetic and cultural heritage of this region. The extreme pattern of variability that she found at such a small geographic scale is reflected in the highly divergent language phyla spoken in the region, with the languages of Nakh-Daghestan (North East Caucasian) estimated to have been diverging from those of Northwest Caucasian for at least five thousand years. The purpose of this project is to expand on these preliminary studies by collecting genetic and demographic data, as well as a Swadesh word list, from several key, remote highland villages in the Northern Caucasus. This interdisciplinary project is a collaborative venture between the University of Arizona and Russian geneticists and linguists working with Dr. Bulayeva, who will retire from the Vavilov Institute in the coming year. Dr. Bulayeva has unique access to Daghestan because she grew up there and belongs to the Lak ethnic group. In view of the war in neighboring Chechnya and increasing emigration from small isolated highland villages to large lowland cities, there is a vanishing window of opportunity to carry out this work. The ensuing population instability is threatening the catastrophic loss of this genetic and cultural heritage of unique scientific value. Because of the political situation, very few scientists other than Dr. Bulayeva are able to travel in the highlands and collect these data. A subsequent proposal will be submitted to analyze the resulting database of genetic, demographic, kinship and linguistic data.
