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European ancestry is a tinderbox of change

In “DNA study deals blow to theory of European origin” (BBC News , August 23, 2011), we learn:

Archaeological finds show that modern humans first settled in Europe from about 40,000 years ago – during a time known as the Palaeolithic.

But, following up on a gene,

When the Leicester team estimated how old R-M269 was in different populations across Europe, they found the age ranges were more compatible with an expansion in Neolithic times (between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago).

This could be a pass/fail question on an exam in Rick (not really useful to ID) Perry’s Texas

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2 Responses to European ancestry is a tinderbox of change

  1. 1
    material.infantacy
  2. As usual I am confused by your post. Are you under the impression that the research throws doubt on the accepted hypothesis that modern humans first settled in Europe from about 40,000 years ago? Because it doesn’t. This is not disputed.

    The article is all about whether we Europeans are mostly descended from the wave of “immigrants” 5000 to 1000 years ago. The genetic study suggests this is not the case and we are mostly descended from people who were here already.

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