[SCI] We're nearly all Celts under the skin

[Orioni]

We're nearly all Celts under the skin

IAN JOHNSTON

SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT

 

 

A MAJOR genetic study of the population of Britain appears to have put an end to the idea of the "Celtic fringe" of Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

 

Instead, a research team at Oxford University has found the majority of Britons are Celts descended from Spanish tribes who began arriving about 7,000 years ago.

 

Even in England, about 64 per cent of people are descended from these Celts, outnumbering the descendants of Anglo- Saxons by about three to one.

 

The proportion of Celts is only slightly higher in Scotland, at 73 per cent. Wales is the most Celtic part of mainland Britain, with 83 per cent.

 

Previously it was thought that ancient Britons were Celts who came from central Europe, but the genetic connection to populations in Spain provides a scientific basis for part of the ancient Scots' origin myth.

 

The Declaration of Arbroath of 1320, following the War of Independence against England, tells how the Scots arrived in Scotland after they had "dwelt for a long course of time in Spain among the most savage tribes".

 

Professor Bryan Sykes, a human geneticist at Oxford, said the myth may have been a "residue" in people's memories of the real journey, but added that the majority of people in England were the descendants of the same people who sailed across the Bay of Biscay.

 

Prof Sykes divided the population into several groups or clans: Oisin for the Celts; Wodan for Anglo-Saxons and Danish Vikings; Sigurd for Norse Vikings; Eshu for people who share genetic links with people such as the Berbers of North Africa; and Re for a farming people who spread to Europe from the Middle East.

 

The study linked the male Y-chromosome to the birthplace of paternal grandfathers to try to establish a historic distribution pattern. Prof Sykes, a member of the Oisin clan, said the Celts had remained predominant in Britain despite waves of further migration.

 

"The overlay of Vikings, Saxons and so on is 20 per cent at most. That's even in those parts of England that are nearest to the Continent," he said.

 

"The only exception is Orkney and Shetland, where roughly 40 per cent are of Viking ancestry."

 

In Scotland, the majority of people are not actually Scots, but Picts. Even in Argyll, the stronghold of the Irish Scots, two-thirds of members of the Oisin clan are Pictish Celts.

 

However, according to the study, the Picts, like the Scots, originally came from Spain.

 

"If one thinks that the English are genetically different from the Scots, Irish and Welsh, that's entirely wrong," he said.

 

"In the 19th century, the idea of Anglo-Saxon superiority was very widespread. At the moment, there is a resurgence of Celtic identity, which had been trampled on. It's very vibrant and obvious at the moment.

 

"Basically the cornerstone of Celtic identity is that they are not English. However, to try to base that, as some do, on an idea that is not far beneath the surface that Celtic countries are somehow descended from a race of Celts, which the English are not, is not right. We are all descended from the same people.

 

"It should dispel any idea of trying to base what is a cultural identity on a genetic difference, because there really isn't one."

 

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[Tagmatium Rules]

Poo, I still don't like the Welsh, Jocks or Paddies.

 

(Joking, before any of those three groups, or Yanks, have a nut-job...)

 

Argh, and it's from a Scottish paper!

 

*runs off screaming into the night*

Edited September 25, 2006 by Tagmatium Rules (see edit history)

[Adaptus]

I'm one part scoitish , and a slight part Irish. My grandfathers family were Irish, and my grandmothers Scotish. Plus the Ramsey name was Originaly English, then passed to Scotland, then to France, and then to England again, so i'm a wide mix realy somewhere down the line

[Tamurin]

Well...compared to this my ancestors are quite easy...15/16 German, 1/16 southern French.

 

But since the Celts were living all over Europe, we can assume that every European today has some celtic blood.

[Pirilao]

Early history

The region of present-day Portugal has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, first by Neanderthals and then by homo sapiens.

 

In the early first millennium BCE, several waves of Celts invaded Portugal from central Europe and intermarried with the local Iberian people, forming the Celtiberian ethnic group, with many tribes, such as the Lusitanians, the Calaicians or Gallaeci and the Cynetes or Conii (amongst other less significant tribes such as the Bracari, Celtici, Coelerni, Equaesi, Grovii, Interamici, Leuni, Luanqui, Limici, Narbasi, Nemetati, Paesuri, Quaquerni, Seurbi, Tamagani, Tapoli, Turduli, Turduli Veteres, Turdulorum Oppida, Turodi, and Zoelae).

 

There were, in this broad period, some small semi-permanent commercial coastal establishments, founded by the Greeks and the Phoenicians-Carthaginians.

 

 

[Emakera]

So according to PIRILAO I have some Celt blood as well, since I'm mostly of Portuguese ancestry (the rest being dutch, spanish, native brazilian, african, swedish and german, according to some research my grandfather did).

[Tagmatium Rules]

As far as I can tell, I'm English, as my family were originally from Yorkshire. But, as this article shows, English is a bit of an abstract idea.

[Ide Jima]

No matter what the article says, I'm 100% English. (1/2 Anglo-Saxon, 1/2 Something Else English (possibly Norman) )

 

 

[Fleet Admiral Connor Grey]

Not a drop of English in me.

 

If you are interested, I'm 1/2 Chinese, 1/4 Russian (possibly Belarussian based on some looking into), 1/8 Polish and 1/8 Romanian. Always fun to say.

 

I guess I'm the odd one out in "we're nearly all Celts under the skins" It is an interesting article, though.

[Vocenae]

I am one part Irish, one part English, one part German, and one part Native American.

 

Although those are getting pretty far back in the 'ole bloodline. But I consider myself an American regardless of any ancestral roots.

[Adaptus]

I have a friend who was born one a very rare occasion. He is a full British citizen, yet was born in Germany. He was born on a British army barracks in Germany, so in technicality, he is 100% British, yet he thinks himself as German at heart, and as he showed in the last World Cup, he would rather support Germany then England.

[Miiros]

I'm American, seeing as if you broke down my ancestry, you would probably get a long list of about ten pages. =P Probably some celtic blood in there somewhere.

Basing things off of my great great grandparents only, I am 1/2 Hungarian, 1/4 French, 1/8 Lithuanian, and 1/8 Slovakian... or something like that.

[Suverina]

I'm like 5/6 Swedish and 1/6 Walloon.

[Italgria]

Totally Italian although I was born in Germany

 

Probably also 1/36 Argentinian

[Suverina]

[Tamurin]

You guys have really interesting families...your genetic profile must be impressive...

 

Compared to that I'm a real boring "pureblood"... (if that's the right word; no racism intended here!!!)

[Haken]

I'm like 5/6 Swedish and 1/6 Walloon.

w00t!

 

I have no idea about my family tree.

[Orioni]

Well my family has been 100% Belgian for at least six generations. We were Belgian even before Belgium existed.

[Pirilao]

Well my family has been 100% Belgian for at least six generations. We were Belgian even before Belgium existed.

I think you are Portuguese blood

[Suverina]

Mmm... Portuguese.. (women)