Over 90 African-Americans also participated in the study, from Chicago, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and North Carolina, to see if genetic studies could reveal where their ancestors might have been stolen from during the 16th century slave trade. Tishkoff and associates discovered that, consistent with genetic studies and the history of the slave trade, European and African ancestry levels varied widely within individuals. Most African Americans have high proportions of Bantu and non-Bantu Niger-Kordofian ancestry, from places as far west as Senegal and Gambia and as far south as South African and Angola.
Tishkoff and colleagues believe that tracing specific African Americans to specific ethnic groups in Africa will be challenging, at best.
Sources and Further Information
Tishkoff, Sarah A., et al. 2009 The Genetic Structure and History of Africans and African Americans. Science Express. 30 April 2009
