It Wasn’t All Incest

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From top: Newgrange; County Meath Poulnabrone portal tomb, County Clare

This afternoon.

Further to research by Trinity College Dublin revealed yesterday attempting to settle the question of the origins of Ireland’s prehistoric society…

…Historian Alison Sheridan, in Nature, writes:

The authors’ findings address key issues, such as the insularity of Ireland’s Mesolithic population, the immigration of Neolithic farming groups and the farmers’ relationship with the indigenous Irish Mesolithic fisher-hunter-foragers.

…The genetic data obtained from human remains dating to around 4700 bc (from Killuragh Cave, County Limerick, in southwest Ireland) and to around 4100 bc (from Sramore Cave, County Leitrim, in the northwest and Stoneyisland, County Galway, in the west) are the first DNA results for Ireland’s hunter-fisher-forager groups.

These Mesolithic Irish people were genetically distinct from their Mesolithic neighbours across the Irish Sea in Britain, suggesting a prolonged period of genetic isolation after these people sailed across to Ireland around 8000 bc.

..analysis of remains from Poulnabrone portal tomb (a single-chamber monument with a huge capstone and tall entrance stones) in County Clare, western Ireland, reveals the appearance of new genomic signatures.

This indicates the arrival in Ireland of people from elsewhere, from at least as early as 3800 bc, and is consistent with the idea that farming was brought to Ireland by immigrants.

[the] report has many other fascinating insights, including data on the probable skin, hair and eye colour of the ancient individuals, and the world’s earliest definitive evidence (dated to 3629–3371 bc) for a case of Down’s syndrome — in an infant boy, buried at Poulnabrone portal tomb.

However…

…there are also contentious issues, not least the use of social-evolutionary terminology. For example, it is questionable to characterize the society of those responsible for building the major Brú na Bóinne passage tombs as possessing attributes found in early state societies and their precursors, with all that that implies in terms of bureaucracy, centralized power structures and so on.

Moreover, in emphasizing the genetic affinities between Irish and British Neolithic farmers and those in Iberia (Spain and Portugal), the authors seem to fall into the trap of assuming that Ireland’s farmers had sailed up from Iberia — an argument for which there is no archaeological evidence….

Fight!

Last night: Hillbillies

Incest uncovered at the elite prehistoric Newgrange monument in Ireland (Alison Sheridan, Nature)

Pics: wikimedia

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10 thoughts on “It Wasn’t All Incest

  1. Janet, I ate my avatar

    I saw a delightful wild theory that Ireland was the most Atlantis linking us to Egypt with all kinds of wild claims this morning, arguing Plato picked up that story of the Island in the Atlantic from the Egyptians, anyway this is where the fun begins as more reasonable ideas of interpretation are put forward :)
    Anyone here done their DNA, my Dad’s was a whopping 98 percentage of only Donegal for the last 3000 years, one region in particular, and when I did mine I got 58 percent for the same region, gives me a real sense of personal history to the Island , (which was rather a surprise to us for various reasons),
    I love ancient history but this is particularly fun because it’s our Island, we don’t have the ruins of ancient Rome or the Temples of Nepal so it’s nice to see a real exploration of these sights, wild theories included :)

      1. Clampers Outside

        Not as old, but still fun.

        Have you put your surname into the census maps here, 1901 a d 1911?

        Did mine, and it is overwhelmingly Donegal.
        Got a good kick out of that myself :)

          1. Janet, dreams of spidercrab

            yep Donegal, I have a few versions of names to put in as ours was anglicised fairly recently

  2. Junkface

    Really interesting discoveries. Seems like royals going back thousands of years carried the same incest habits up until the 19th Century. I love learning about Irelands ancient past, because its quite mysterious.

    They’ll be telling us that The Flintstones were brother and sister next!

  3. jamesjoist

    I can imagine the craic at future intercounty gaa games with the opposition ribbing the Meath players
    “still riding the sister are ye “

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