Wednesday, April 24, 2013

More Genetic Evidence for Indo-European Migrations

I just love the way the authors of the latest genetic history of Europe talk about their work:
Ancient DNA recovered from a series of skeletons in central Germany up to 7,500 years old has been used to reconstruct the first detailed genetic history of modern Europe. The study, published today in Nature Communications, reveals a dramatic series of events including major migrations from both Western Europe and Eurasia, and signs of an unexplained genetic turnover about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. The research was performed at the University of Adelaide's Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD). Researchers used DNA extracted from bone and teeth samples from prehistoric human skeletons to sequence a group of maternal genetic lineages that are now carried by up to 45% of Europeans. . . .

"We can follow over 4,000 years of prehistory, from the earliest farmers through the early Bronze Age to modern times." "The record of this maternally inherited genetic group, called Haplogroup H, shows that the first farmers in Central Europe resulted from a wholesale cultural and genetic input via migration, beginning in Turkey and the Near East where farming originated and arriving in Germany around 7,500 years ago," says joint lead author Dr Paul Brotherton, formerly at ACAD and now at the University of Huddersfield, UK.

ACAD Director Professor Alan Cooper says: "What is intriguing is that the genetic markers of this first pan-European culture, which was clearly very successful, were then suddenly replaced around 4,500 years ago, and we don't know why. Something major happened, and the hunt is now on to find out what that was."
Gosh, I wonder! Could it be the dreaded Indo-European migration, which European scholars are not allowed to mention? Because 5000 years ago is exactly when linguists think those languages should have entered Europe.

Eventually archaeologists and anti-Nazis are going to have to give up their crazed opposition to the notion of Indo-European migrations and admit that the languages didn't wander into the continent by themselves.

No comments: