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No, it doesn't matter, but I find the subject interesting nonetheless. The common belief that many share is that the British are predominantly Germanic people, which I do not believe they are. It's more from a historical and genetic standpoint that I'm interested in, rather than being about nationality. Studies have even shown that there were no mass graves of those allegedly slaughtered by the Saxons, so the indigenous population lived on.
Of course there is archaeological evidence, one of the best known is Sutton Hoo in Suffolk in East Anglia. The Saxons ruled England for about six centuries before Norman conquest in 1066. They replaced Latin and the various Celtic languages and dialects with the English, the culture, tradition even the architecture from the Roman stone buildings to more traditional Germanic wooden ones. They brought also their own religion and they had to be christianize later.
On a genetical point of view, the British are much closer to Germanic people than Iberians.
Autosomal dna tests show that both the British and Irish to cluster with their Germanic-speaking neighbors namely the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway. If you take a good look at the countries where the Basques are mainly northern Spain and southwest France, they are not any particularly closer to the Irish or western British population than any other Northern European population. Actually Ireland is even in a more northwestern position. They are definitely not Southern Europeans. Science shows us where the populations are at, not what we personally think/believe.
Brown eyes are not dominant in the Northern European populations, due to evolution and adaptation to climate. Again both Britain and Ireland are more similar to their immediate neighbors, they don't have to be identical. In fact with the exception of Scandinavian nations and Estonia, Ireland is more blue-eyed than most European nations. The so-called Basque Country is nowhere close.
Last edited by saxonwold; 08-29-2013 at 11:05 PM..
my mum grew up in london, she had brown eyes and black hair, dark complexion for a white person. more medetraian. I was the same way, but my dna says scottish
my mum grew up in london, she had brown eyes and black hair, dark complexion for a white person. more medetraian. I was the same way, but my dna says scottish
my mum grew up in london, she had brown eyes and black hair, dark complexion for a white person. more medetraian. I was the same way, but my dna says scottish
Individually, black-haired, brown-eyed, brunette-skinned individuals may appear even in the most Nordic populations. That doesn't mean it is the average for Scotland. The average Scot is usually pale-skinned and light-eyed with various tones of brown to blonde hair. [/quote]
Nope, why do people always think that the Ancient Picts/Cruithni of Caledonia were particularly dark? They were not! That's from fairy tales! Picts were a Northern European people as were the Anglo-Saxons
who came from Denmark and Germany. They were not as savage as people think .
A source mentions in Wikipedia.
The archaeological record provides evidence of the material culture of the Picts. It tells of a society not readily distinguishable from its similar Gaelic and British neighbours, nor very different from the Anglo-Saxons to the south.[SIZE=2][40][/SIZE]
Another source "The truth about the Picts" mentions;
The Picts have long been regarded as enigmatic savages who fought off Rome's legions before mysteriously disappearing from history, wild tribesmen who refused to sacrifice their freedom in exchange for the benefits of civilisation. But far from the primitive warriors of popular imagination, they actually built a highly sophisticated culture in northern Scotland in the latter half of the first millennium AD, which surpassed their Anglo-Saxon rivals in many respects.
One thing that puzzled outsiders is that they were the last people on these islands to trace their lineage through their mothers. The Venerable Bede, writing in 731, said that the Picts had come from mainland Europe,presumablyScandinavia, to northern Ireland to ask for land, but the Irish sent them on to Scotland.
Another information is that according to the ScottishDna project about 10% of Scottish males are directly descended from the Ancient Picts/Cruithni, while only 0.8% of English men are descended from them. They have recently traced through a "new Y-chromosome marker R1b-S530, also 3% of Northern Irish males carry the same sequence probably due to migration of Scottish people in the British colonial times. So it was the Scotti people invading from Ireland who also subdued them as well as the Angles by way of northern England.
British people are only an amalgamation of various Northern European people who arrived at various time throughout history. Nothing complicated about it, they are not so particularly any different from their immediate neighbors. Although some people have tried to look for origins here and there, at the end science tells us that they are first and foremost more similar to the neighbors than they would be to populations further away. This doesn't mean they are all identical to them either.
British people are only an amalgamation of various Northern European people who arrived at various time throughout history. Nothing complicated about it, they are not so particularly any different from their immediate neighbors. Although some people have tried to look for origins here and there, at the end science tells us that they are first and foremost more similar to the neighbors than they would be to populations further away. This doesn't mean they are all identical to them either.
You sure are obsessed with British people aren't ya
You sure are obsessed with British people aren't ya
No I'm not, since I'm of British descent myself anyway. The fact that I use posters/pictures to illustrate, it's just to make it more real. Yes, I've been in many discussions involving British people, perhaps that's why you might think I'm obssessed, nevertheless it's not the case. All I'm doing is trying to inform people about facts. I will do the same when I'm engaged in any other discussion, it doesn't have to be only British people. Do not have illusions, but examine facts and look at the points I'm making carefully. What you'll learn from them will be beneficiary to you and add much more knowledge.
Nope, why do people always think that the Ancient Picts/Cruithni of Caledonia were particularly dark? They were not! That's from fairy tales! Picts were a Northern European people as were the Anglo-Saxons
who came from Denmark and Germany. They were not as savage as people think .
......
Since it's a common connection people make, some source at some time must have described Picts as dark. That's my memory. Also, not all northern European people are fair. Scandinavia has brown haired as well as blond natives, for instance. Btw it almost sounds like you're equating darkness with savageness. If not, fair enough. It's just the way the post is worded: They're not dark, and they're not savage. That's how it reads.
Since it's a common connection people make, some source at some time must have described Picts as dark. That's my memory. Also, not all northern European people are fair. Scandinavia has brown haired as well as blond natives, for instance. Btw it almost sounds like you're equating darkness with savageness. If not, fair enough. It's just the way the post is worded: They're not dark, and they're not savage. That's how it reads.
I'm definitely not equating darkness with savage behavior. The Ancient Romans were predominantly dark but were one of the most highly civilized societies of Europe, maybe only second to the Ancient Greeks!! Picts were a Northern European, of course had brunettes and blondes as well, painted themselves to scare their enemies but they were not particularly a "Mediterranean" people as in fairy tales. Thanks to genetical studies we now know that. [/quote]
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