the myth of British ancestry

[Forge.]

http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magaz ... hancestry/

"....there is no agreement among historians or archaeologists on the meaning of the words “Celtic” or “Anglo-Saxon.” What is more, new evidence from genetic analysis (see note below) indicates that the Anglo-Saxons and Celts, to the extent that they can be defined genetically, were both small immigrant minorities. Neither group had much more impact on the British Isles gene pool than the Vikings, the Normans or, indeed, immigrants of the past 50 years.

The genetic evidence shows that three quarters of our ancestors came to this corner of Europe as hunter-gatherers, between 15,000 and 7,500 years ago, after the melting of the ice caps but before the land broke away from the mainland and divided into islands. Our subsequent separation from Europe has preserved a genetic time capsule of southwestern Europe during the ice age, which we share most closely with the former ice-age refuge in the Basque country. The first settlers were unlikely to have spoken a Celtic language but possibly a tongue related to the unique Basque language.

Another wave of immigration arrived during the Neolithic period, when farming developed about 6,500 years ago. But the English still derive most of their current gene pool from the same early Basque source as the Irish, Welsh and Scots. These figures are at odds with the modern perceptions of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon ethnicity based on more recent invasions. There were many later invasions, as well as less violent immigrations, and each left a genetic signal, but no individual event contributed much more than 5 per cent to our modern genetic mix....."

[regretfullySaid]

That sounds pretty vague. I'd think they have better detailed knowledge than that. Just that wide gap of between 15,000 to 7,500 years seems embarrassing.

[Forge.]

That sounds pretty vague. I'd think they have better detailed knowledge than that. Just that wide gap of between 15,000 to 7,500 years seems embarrassing.

I just plucked a tiny bit arbitrarily from the article via the link as I figured most people wouldn't click on a solitary link....

[Machinesworking]

The basque connection is interesting, but genes IMO have always been overrated.
That the Anglo Saxon culture took over in England? I don't think can be denied though.

[Forge.]

a lot of the article is devoted to dispelling the 'celtic myth' but I think a more general point is how much many of the conclusions up until recently have been based on flawed ideas, often resulting from a drive towards nationalism.

The long and short of it: none of us are anything like as different as we tend to think we are.

[Machinesworking]

The long and short of it: none of us are anything like as different as we tend to think we are.

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

[Forge.]

eh?

[Machinesworking]

Just messing around. The 'anything like' part there made your post sound awkward at first and I thought of that meme.
No offense meant, I'm entirely guilty of posting oddly structured sentences. I really have no room to speak on that matter.

[regretfullySaid]

Yes, it's the superior brother to that "where am I supposed to the rar?" meme.

I just plucked a tiny bit arbitrarily from the article via the link as I figured most people wouldn't click on a solitary link....

That's a derp on my part; I just skimmed from taking a little break from Live'ing and overlooked it.

[Forge.]

oh..I haven't heard that meme