Why the stereotypical dumb Swede is not really descended from the Galicians.


Analysis of the substance by archaeologist Stephen Buckley from the
University of York in England showed the gel was made of vegetable
plant oil mixed with resin from pine trees found in Spain and southwest
France.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/01/0117_060117_irish_bogmen_2.html

The Irish and Scots may be as closely related to the people of Spain
and Portugal as the Celts of central Europe, it emerged on September
09/09/2004.

Historians have long believed the British Isles were swamped by a
massive invasion of Iron Age Celts from central Europe around 500BC.

But geneticists at Dublin's Trinity College now claim the Irish and
Scots have as much, if not more, in common with the people of
north-western Spain.

Dr Daniel Bradley, genetics lecturer at Trinity College Dublin, said a
new study into Celtic origins revealed close affinities with the people
of Galicia

"It's well known that there are cultural relations between the
areas but now this shows there is much more," Dr Bradley said.

"We think the links are much older than that of the Iron Age because
it also shows affinities with the Basque region - which isn't a
Celtic region."

"The links point towards other Celtic nations, in particular
Scotland, but they also point to Spain," he added.

Historians believed the Celts, originally from the Alpine regions of
central Europe invaded the Atlantic islands in a massive migration
2,500 years ago.

But using DNA samples from people living in Celtic nations and other
parts of Europe geneticists at the university have drawn new parallels.

Dr Bradley said it was possible migrants moved from the Iberian
peninsula to Ireland as far back as 6,000 years ago up until 3,000
years ago.

"I don't agree with the idea of a massive Iron Age invasion that
took over the Atlantic islands. You can regard the ocean - rather than
a barrier - as a communication route," Dr Bradley said.

It is believed archaeologists are also questioning the links between
the Celts of eastern France and southern Germany and the people of the
British Isles.

The study found people in areas traditionally known as Celtic, such as
Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Brittany and Cornwall, had strong links with
each other and people in Ireland have more in common with Scots than
any other nation.

There are also close links between Scotland and Ireland dating back
much further than the Plantations of the 1600s when many Scots moved to
northern Ireland in search of fertile farming lands, the research
showed.

Stephen Oppenheimer, professor of clinical socio-medical sciences at
Oxford, said that the Celts of western Scotland, Wales, Ireland and
Cornwall were descended from an ancient people living on the Atlantic
coast when Britain was still attached to mainland Europe, while the
English were more closely related to the Germanic peoples of the
interior. He said : "The English are the odd ones out because they
are the ones more linked to continental Europe. The Scots, the Irish,
the Welsh and the Cornish are all very similar in their genetic pattern
to the Basque."

However scientists could not shed any light on whether fair skin, red
hair, freckles, and fiery tempers truly are Celtic traits.

The study headed by Dr Bradley was published in the American Journal of
Human Genetics.

http://www.johnbreslin.com/blog/2004/09/05/irish-celts/

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/09/09/story165780.html

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