Ancient DNA cracks old mystery of the Basques
Ancient DNA cracks old mystery of the Basques
By Kevin Roderick | September 8, 2015 1:30 AM
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Pottok horses and Basque message on Artzamendy, a peak in the Pyrenees. LA Observed.
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Corners of California and the West, and the historical lore of Los Angeles, are rife with people who trace their ancestry to the Basque region of France and Spain. Every time I visit over there, I meet someone new with some family connection to California. The thing is, the Basque language and culture is so ancient and different from everything around them that Europe's anthropologists have long wondered: who the heck are these people and where did they come from? Now a new study out of Sweden based on DNA thinks the Basques date back to the hunter-gatherers of Ice Age Europe and because of their isolation in the Pyrenees sat out the genetic and cultural mixing with invaders from the Steppe, Africa and the Middle East that shaped today's European DNA.
From the BBC:
The distinct language and genetic make-up of the Basque people in northern Spain and southern France has puzzled anthropologists for decades….
The Basques have unique customs and a language - Euskera - that is unrelated to any other spoken in Europe, or indeed the world.
Nestled in a mountainous corner of Atlantic Europe, they also show distinct genetic patterns to their neighbours in France and Spain.
More:
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2015/09/ancient_dna_cracks_an_old.php
