Breakthrough DNA study links B.C. woman, 5,500-year-old “grandmother”

...5,500 years in the sameplace! No one can accuse these people of being nomadic! It must be pretty unusual for a group of people to be so settled for so long in one place.

Very interesting. Thanks for bringing that.

Not as uncommon as you would think really, there would be people that have lived in the same place in Egypt for thousands of years too. It's all about when your ancestors got there, the geography, their class, etc. People have been settled for a long time, the nomadic groups tend to be the exception for when they haven't built the population density yet and BC was extremely densely populated for their level of technological advancement.

I remember hearing some people in England having DNA that went back in the same town a long time too. Was in the news like 2 years ago maybe?

Cheddar man had a 9,000 year old descendent.

Not as uncommon as you would think really, there would be people that have lived in the same place in Egypt for thousands of years too. It's all about when your ancestors got there, the geography, their class, etc. People have been settled for a long time, the nomadic groups tend to be the exception for when they haven't built the population density yet and BC was extremely densely populated for their level of technological advancement.


I have Welsh ancestry and the new studies of our genome suggest that they have been there for a very long time ... twice as long as those West Coast natives. There is another European population ... the Basques ... that are as equally ancient but, for the most part, the World has been populated but wave upon wave of migrants and invaders. Our species is always on the "go" and ancient populations usually survive in protected enclaves ... like mountain ranges or distant islands.

You are welcome.





Cheddar man had a 9,000 year old descendent.

I like this quote from his descendent:

''I'm thinking of writing to the Marquess of Bath, who owns these caves, and saying, 'I'd like my cave back,' '' Mr. Targett, 42, said over a meat pie and a pint in the local pub recently, considering the implications of having such a venerable relative. ''All those times I'd visited this cave before, and I'd never realized I was going home.''

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/24/world ... all&src=pm

Cheddar man had a 9,000 year old descendent.


Old Nippy....had a really sharp tongue

Cheese, that was bad.

Cheddar man had a 9,000 year old descendent.

Quoting Free Republic? You right-wing fanatic!

Mitochondrial DNA. Interesting story about that. Every cell in your body has mitochondria, which is the "powerplant" of the cell. Actually every cell in virtually every plant and animal has mitochondria inside it. They are the power plants of teh cell, they burn ATP with oxygen adn create energy.

Mitochondria actually have their own DNA. They are not actually part of "you" if you consider you to be your DNA. (And because they don't reproduce sexually, their DNA is much more stable over time than human DNA which gets shuffled every generation).

The theory is, plants became common and oxygen started to accumulate in the atmosphere (yes, I'm sorry climate change deniers, it turns out that life forms can change the atmosphere). Oxygen is all very well and good and we wouldn't last more than ten minutes without it. But it's also very corrosive. It reacts. Think of metal corrosion, or spoiled fruit. So it was quite toxic and the cells around at the time, about 2 billion years ago. Along comes this bacteria adn syas "Hey, want to get rid of some of that oxygen? I can help and provide you with energy as well. All you got to do is let me inside and feed me sugar." Early symbiosis.

It's also interesting that the mitochondria, like power plants in real life, doesn't burn things correctly sometimes, particualrly as they get older. This leads to toxic compounds accumulating in the cell, which in turn can lead to cancer. Just like real power plants.

That was a story that was long and boring.

Mitochondrial DNA is passed on to you by your mother. The male line is recorded in Y Chromosomal DNA. They will tell you different stories about your heritage.

Exactly right. I just did the Y Chromosome 110-point analysis this year and found out that I was close to 100% Scottish.

Which I still find odd given that I'm not the least bit attracted to sheep.

Exactly right. I just did the Y Chromosome 110-point analysis this year and found out that I was close to 100% Scottish.

Which I still find odd given that I'm not the least bit attracted to sheep.


How do you think that I feel about my 1/4 Welsh?

It's baaaaad, I tell you, really baaaaad.