Black Sea. The Mediterranean, if it happened flood-style at all, was far too long ago. I decline to believe that we're carrying memories from early hominid ancestors; a single event wouldn't get coded as a survival instinct. Besides, the time frame for the Black Sea is within oral-tradition range of written legend. Agriculture was getting established; moving was a big deal. It also explains the sudden diaspora of one genetic group that ended up as far west as Britain and as far east as Wu Lu Mu Chi (or Urumchi, depending on if you use Chinese or Mongolian). Have you read 'The Mummies of Urumchi'? Fascinating stuff, and the mystery of those people's presence in that region is solved if you consider them a refugee population that fled the Black Sea basin.
If this group has a name, I've forgotten it. I could got look it up, but that's more trouble than I feel like going to for one LJ comment. But the people of Urumchi were red-haired, blue-eyed, and extremely tall (6'+); they certainly didn't arise from the nearby Asian genotype. They have a lot in common with groups in eastern and northern Europe, not just genetically but in some details of their culture at that period.
Curiously, they all look like my relatives. Maybe that's why I get so excited about them.
A little bit, but mostly Welsh and Czech; both sides of the family have similar traits, despite coming from opposite ends of Europe. Growing up, I thought it was a funny coincidence, but when I heard the Black Sea flood theory and its implications, I thought, "Well, THAT explains it."
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andrewducker) wrote2003-09-01 10:54 pm
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Right. Lord, I babble. But you did ask. :)
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Which genetic group ended up scattered that widely?
And I was trying to think of something better to say, but gave up after 5 days :->
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Curiously, they all look like my relatives. Maybe that's why I get so excited about them.
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The spread of various people around the world fascinates me, with the various layerings as different diasporas go over the same territory.
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A little bit, but mostly Welsh and Czech; both sides of the family have similar traits, despite coming from opposite ends of Europe. Growing up, I thought it was a funny coincidence, but when I heard the Black Sea flood theory and its implications, I thought, "Well, THAT explains it."