Genetics
A recent Genetic study in 2011 analyzed 51 southern French individuals from Provence in southern mainland France and 89 Anatolian Greek subjects whose paternal ancestry derives from Smyrna and Asia Minor Phokaia, the ancestral embarkation port to the 6th century BCE ancient Greek colonies of Massalia (Marseilles) and Alalie (Aleria, Corsica). The study found that 17% of the Y-chromosomes of Provence may be attributed to Greek colonization. The study also concluded that "Estimates of colonial Greek vs. indigenous Celto-Ligurian demography predict a maximum of a 10% Greek contribution, suggesting a Greek male elite-dominant input into the Iron Age Provence population." This evidence supports the persistence of the gene pool of the Ancient Greeks among the modern southern French.
Read more about this topic: Provence