Neolithic Britons came from Turkey

[Brian G Turner]

Some really interesting news on the BBC website today about how a genetic study shows that people who populated Britain in the Neolithic period originated in Turkey, travelling west through the Mediterranean and then north from Spain: DNA reveals origin of Stonehenge builders

This follows from another recent study that showed that henge building originated in Western Europe during the Neolithic as well:

Stonehenge mystery solved? Prehistoric French may have inspired it and other European megaliths

Although Stonehenge may be the most famous of Europe's megaliths, it's far from the only one: There are about 35,000 of these mysterious stone structures throughout the continent.

phys.org

This is especially interesting after watching a video on YouTube from Langfocus, which pointed out similarities in grammar structure between Asiastic languages and the Gaelic language groups (though it's worth noting that Gaelic peoples replaced the Neolithic population in Britain - however, it doesn't preclude that some aspects of the language might have survived):

This all ties in nicely with Sir Barry Cunliffe's theory of an Atlantic Trade Route that ran along northern Spain and western France, and up into the Irish Sea and around the north of Scotland, which he argues had been used for millennia: Britain Begins: Amazon.co.uk: Barry Cunliffe: 8601404368738: Books

Altogether, it's fascinating to see how the prehistory of Britain is becoming much more detailed and focused - and, understandable.

 

[anno]

Bloody foreigners, over here knickin’ our menhirs...

 

[Brian G Turner]

Another interesting addition today is that megalith tombs were effectively family shrines, used over generations - and, interestingly, reflect a patrilineal focus: Megalith tombs were family graves in European Stone Age

 

[Brian G Turner]

Putting these stories together, the suggestion from genetic evidence seems to suggest successive waves of migrations replacing the previous populations.

However, as noted in the article just above, Neolithic burials mainly contained male remains. I wonder if therefore the genetic data is skewed to male genetics, specifically the Y chromosome, which will necessarily be diminished by waves of following migrations/invasions from Europe, not least the Romans and their legions, the Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, and Normans.

If so, that would mean we should expect Neolithic Y chromosome to be diminished in modern populations, simply children fathered by Romans/Legionaries/Saxons/Vikings/Normans will have Y chromosome markers from the fathers in these populations.

What would be more interesting would be to know whether X chromosome markers from Neolithic (and previous Hunter-Gatherer) populations are still significantly present in modern populations. Because if they aren't, that suggests either natural calamity of genocide at work to destroy those populations before or during the new migrations in the first place.

I suspect it's the former - that we're not properly following X chromosome markers - rather than the genetic apocalyptic scenario suggested by the latter. After all, if humans were happy to breed with Neanderthals and Denisovians, it would beg the question of why Hunter-Gatherer/Neolithic/Beaker peoples didn't.