Researchers have detected no African genetic signatures in Northern European populations

At the same time, they found a distinct presence of African ancestry in Southern European, Middle Eastern and Jewish populations. Modern southern European groups can attribute about 1% to 3% of their genetic signature to African ancestry, with the intermingling of populations dating back 55 generations, on average - that is, to roughly 1,600 years ago. Middle Eastern groups have inherited about 4% to 15%, with the mixing of populations dating back roughly 32 generations. A diverse array of Jewish populations can date their Sub-Saharan African ancestry back roughly 72 generations, on average, accounting for 3% to 5% of their genetic makeup. The dates of population mixtures are consistent with documented historical events. For example, the mixing of African and southern European populations coincides with events during the Roman Empire and Arab migrations that followed. The older-mixture dates among African and Jewish populations are consistent with events in biblical times, such as the Jewish diaspora that occurred in 8th to 6th century BC.