Italians “do not exist”. Only Sardinians are pure-blooded

[rangerrebew]

Italians “do not exist”. Only Sardinians are pure-blooded

From a genetic point of view, Italy is divided by a line that separates east from west more than north from south. Only Sardinia has its ‘own’ history
di Luigi Ripamonti
 
Italians? They don’t exist. “Italy is just a geographic aggregation. We have different genetic identities, linked to different histories and backgrounds, amongst other things,” explained Davide Pettener, an anthropologist at the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences of the University of Bologna, who has created a bank of DNA samples to trace the genetic history of the Italians, together with Donata Luiselli from the Department of Cultural Heritage of Ravenna and other researchers. The study is part of a worldwide project funded by the National Geographic Society.

https://www.corriere.it/english/18_maggio_03/italians-do-not-exist-only-sardinians-are-pure-blooded-822d5550-4ee5-11e8-aead-38ee720fad91.shtml?refresh_ce-cp

[endicom]

Italians have always known this and have been especially difficult to unify. People of other European geographic units have been better convinced they are one people while none truly are.

[Sanguine]

Italians have always known this and have been especially difficult to unify. People of other European geographic units have been better convinced they are one people while none truly are.

That assumes that people are only truly unified by genetic heritage.  I don't think so.

And, the title of this article is a bit misleading.  They were looking for the "original Italians", not trying to find "pure Italians". 

But, point taken, Europe is an amalgam of all sorts of peoples traipsing across the continent for tens of thousands of years.

[truth_seeker]

Italy, Britain and the US have in common, the aspects of waves of migration.

My purebred Italian wife would dispute "Italians do not exist."

Her clan seems uninterested in DNA, reasoning "we know what we are; we're Italians."