Genetic and linguistic borders in the Himalayan region.

There are a number of competing theories about the origins of the Himalayan peoples. These theories are largely based on linguistic and/or archaeological findings. A large-scale, ethnolinguistically informed genetic study of the greater Himalayan region might provide a definitive model for historical population events in this region, and that is why the current study was undertaken. The geographical area of the present states of Nepal and Bhutan could have served as ancient corridors for human migration through the Himalayas, despite their geographic position immediately south of the highest land barrier. The findings also raise the question as to whether the southern slopes of the himalayas could have harboured refuge areas for the ancestral Tibeto-Burman population(s) during the last glacial maximum