[Fred Nerks]

Bushmen from the Khomani San community strike poses in the Southern Kalahari desert, South Africa Photo: GETTY

blam, anything on the Bushmen (San people) DNA?

[blam]

"blam, anything on the Bushmen (San people) DNA?"

Well.

I don't know...I've been a bit negligent the last couple years, or so.

I think these guys (linked below) are causing headaches for the 'out of Africa' crowd. They're in Europe too early and their tools are more advanced than anything in Africa at the time. Some have even suggested that these folks went into Africa and became Modern Man. (Or, they became Modern Man and then went into Africa?)

Stranger In A New Land

These guys were in Europe 1.85 million years ago.

[blam]

"Spencer Wells' 2003 book The Journey of Man — in connection with National Geographic's Genographic Project — discusses a genetic analysis of the San and asserts their blood contains some of the oldest genetic markers found on Earth. The Bushmen's Y-chromosomal DNA haplogroup (type A) is one of the oldest, splitting off around 70,000 years ago from those found in the rest of humanity (type BT). Therefore, the Bushmen likely represent one of the oldest existing populations. Genetic markers present on the y chromosome are passed down through thousands of generations in a relatively pure form. The PBS documentary based on the book follows these markers throughout the world, demonstrating that all of humankind can be traced back to the African continent and that the San are one of the oldest, most genetically unadulterated, remnants of humankind's ancient ancestors. More recent analysis suggests that the San may have been isolated from other original ancestral groups for as much as 100,000 years and then rejoined at a later date, re-integrating the human gene pool."