« Exit from Iraq | Main | EU funding II »

January 30, 2005

Iraqi Scots

Charlatan alert! According to Sharon Ward in the Scotsman on January 15, a television programme called ‘Before Scotland: The Story of Scotland Before History’, will reveal that 20 percent of Scots have Iraqi blood, that Atlantis was in the North Sea, and that many Scots used to speak Welsh. (It will be shown later this year by STV/Grampian.)

According to DNA testing (by the Oxford Ancestors Project), the non-Iraqi 80 percent are apparently descended from hunter gatherers who came north after the last ice age, rather than Celts, Romans, and Vikings etc.

As any archaeologist knows, the mention of Atlantis is a sure-fire sign that some nonsense is imminent. Moreover Iraq did not exist until the last century.

As for the DNA testing - what was the sample and how was it collected? It is true than DNA evidence often seems to conflict with linguistic research. However the results of the BBC Blood of the Vikings (Y chromosome) genetic survey were in line with conventional expectations. Angle, Saxon and Danish ‘invader’ DNA was found throughout mainland Britain, while ‘Norwegian’ DNA was prevalent in the Orkneys and Shetlands, and common in the Western Isles.

news.scotsman.com/archive.cfm?id=51752005

www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/bloodofthevikings/

Posted by Simon Holledge at January 30, 2005 12:48 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.skakagrall.com/cgi-bin/MT/mt-tb.cgi/235

Comments

Hi Simon, is it okay if I use your adaptation of the modern notes stylesheet for my personal blog?

I may tinker with the colours one day but I'll link to your site at all times.

Good luck with everything.

(I'm currently using your creation, but will change it on request.)

Posted by: Aaron at January 30, 2005 06:17 PM

Thanks for your message. I will send you an email.

Posted by: Simon Holledge at January 31, 2005 12:21 AM