“IDEAS MOVED. PEOPLE LESS SO.”

“IDEAS MOVED. PEOPLE LESS SO.” I have previously posted here on what DNA is now telling us about population movements in the British Isles. Here are two posts from Chicago Boyz which review a new book by Bryan Sykes, SAXONS, VIKINGS, and CELTS: THE GENETIC ROOTS. This first post (by James McCormick) has a five word summary of the findings: “Ideas moved. People less so.” He also has a remarkable illustration of how some people did not move: “A dramatic illustration of the depth of the continuity is the match of mitochondrial DNA genetic material of a 9,000 year old skeleton (Cheddar Man) with a school teacher who lives near where the skeleton was excavated.” This post by Jay Manifold has a good summary of the traditional narrative, which he says now appears to be accurate with respect to linguistic movements but wrong with respect to demographic movements. In particular, “there is no evidence of any substantial Celtic invasion from mainland Europe.”