Posted on 03/19/2015 8:39:02 AM PDT by ek_hornbeck
You also had the Picts in Scotland, Vikings everywhere (Germanic), Normans (which were also Vikings), and there were probably others before the Celts.
Migrations were the order of the day back to pre-Roman times.
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The Greek population was basically replaced by Slavs, like the rest of Eastern Europe, so I’ve read. Most of this mass migration of Germanics and Indo-Europeans occurred around the time of Rome’s fall, probably contributing quite a bit to it. The Huns are a notable example, but by no means the only one. Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals, Lombards, a slew of others.
I believe the Basques are closely related to the Celts. A lot of the Spaniards are also Germanics (Visagoths). Probably a mix of Celts and Visagoths.
Burma, Rhodesia... country names often change as regimes change. I have no idea where “Zimbabwe” comes from. Don’t care either.
I thought that the Basques spoke a non-Indo-European language, while Celtic languages are Indo-European? Of course, as this study shows, language groups don't always equal genetic groups, so you may be right.
IIRC, irani, like aryani is a word that goes back to ancient Indo-European before the Persian/Sanskrit split. Iran as a name for the people goes way back, although pars,persia,farsi,etc. are also seen.
Good old Alfred the Great.
Thing about it is, the Celts are not really a genetic group but a cultural group, and cultural changes spread faster than genetic changes. The Celts ranged from Ireland, Britain, Spain, Gaul, Austria, and traveled as far as central Turkey, and very likely as far as China.
There have been some significant genetic changes in England, with the Germanic genetics increasing from about 10% of the population to about 50%... replacing the Celtic. Probably a result of the better food & economic resources from being the ruling ethnic group.
Some of the stuff is very telling, like the Y-chromosome heritage in Iceland being predominantly Nordic, with the X-chromosome lineage being fairly Celtic. Apparently Vikings would take some British Isles women with them on the way to colonize Iceland.
Ah. But, so I’ve read, the name change was at least in part to appease Nazi Germany.
“Not surprising for Britain, which has been invaded by so many different peoples”
Sicily is more “HEINZ” 57 variety I think....Pretty certain more “strangers” have floated thru / roun there than Britain....
The Irish Republic’s first president was Eamon de Valera.
Spanish survivors of the Invincible Armada found refuge among their fellow Catholics in Ireland.
They must have really liked those red headed girls! ....................
de Valera was born in New York and was ethnically Irish and Spanish. He was raised in Ireland when his dad died.
The ancient Greeks were probably a combination of the people who brought the Greek language there and the people there in Neolithic and "Early Helladic" (3rd millennium B.C.) times.
Any similarities between modern Greeks and modern Turks may arise from two things: (1) medieval Greek-speaking Christians in Asia Minor later becoming Turkish-speaking Muslims and (2) Christians of Turkey fleeing to Greece in the 1920s.
I'd be interested in seeing DNA studies of modern Greece. I would have thought it might be too sensitive a topic (as the modern Greeks would prefer to think they are 100% of Hellenic descent).
As recently as the 19th century, Albanian was widely spoken in rural areas of Greece.
” ... language groups don’t always equal genetic groups ...”
Two related languages with little apparent genetic or cultural linkages are Finnish and Hungarian.
Hah, I’ve heard that myself but I think it’s probably closer to around 5%. You don’t want to tell them that, however. As far as Indo-Europeans go, I believe a lot of them may have come from Armenia, but I don’t know. Unfortunately history was not very kind to those who stayed. They were the first to come up with iron working, I think. Asia Minor was actually a very interesting place until the Muslims formed their brutal empire and erased much of history.
There are two gaps in the mountain range that separates southern from northern Europe. The northern plains are unbroken except for the densely forested hills of Germany, which basically prevented Roman occupation. It was also the staging point for a lot of invasions, since the garden spot was close down in the Danube. My own family history occurred in the Volga, the largest basin to the north-east. Then in South Dakota due to the unfriendliness of a certain northern empire. Nasty business, that was.
Equally, we’re all descended from people who did the brutalizing, raping and enslaving.
Only if Hitler was around in 600 BC. Cyrus referred to himself as the King of Iran and non-Iran. So did his successors down to the Muslim conquest.
IOW, the natives always called their country Iran. Persia was a name given to them by their Greek enemies.
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