--- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, Lluís Mendieta <lme...@...> wrote: > > Hi, Ed > > Thanks for map > > They forget the basques...
Hi Lluis, The mysteries of the Basque people and the Basque language have not been fully resolved yet. >From wiki: "Since the Basque language is unrelated to Indo-European, it's often thought that they represent the people or culture who occupied Europe before the spread of Indo-European languages there. It is thought that Basques are a remnant of the early inhabitants of Western Europe, specifically those of the Franco-Cantabrian region. Basque tribes were already mentioned in Roman times by Strabo and Pliny, including the Vascones, the Aquitani and others. There is enough evidence that they already spoke Basque in that time. The Basque language is thought to be a genetic </wiki/Genetic_(linguistics)> language isolate </wiki/Language_isolate> . Thus Basque contrasts with other European languages, almost all of which belong to the large Indo-European language family </wiki/Indo-European_language_family> . Another peculiarity of Basque is that it has been spoken continuously in situ, in and around its present territorial location, for longer than other modern European languages, which have all been introduced in historical or prehistorical times through population migrations or other processes of cultural transmission.[19] <#cite_note-kosvtz-18> Theories about Basque origins The main theory about Basque origins suggested that they are a remnant of a pre-Indo-European </wiki/Neolithic_Europe> population of Europe. DNA methods for seeking ancient ancestry are increasingly being used to test the origins of the Basques. An interesting possibility is that Parkinson's disease may be related to the Basque dardarin mutation. Partly as a result of DNA analysis, "...there is a general scientific consensus that the Basques represent the most direct descendants of the hunter-gatherers who dwelt in Europe before the spread of agriculture, based on both linguistic and genetic evidence..." Some studies of Basque genetic markers have also suggested the possibility of a connection with Celtic peoples of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall. The shared markers are suggestive of having passed through a genetic bottleneck during the peak of the last ice age, which would mean the two peoples were in Europe by at least about 17,000 years ago, and probably 45,000 to 50,000 years ago. Some authors have pointed out that the words for knife and axe may come from the root word for stone, which would point to linguistic conservativism preserving etymologies of at least the Neolithic. Mitochondrial DNA analysis tracing a rare subgroup of haplogroup U8 places the ancestry of the Basques in the Upper Palaeolithic, with their primitive founders originating from West Asia." > Anyway, if hungarians and finnish speak same branch of language, and they are not related genetically > > a) something is missing in study > b) language has nothing to do with population origin > > Besides, as placed in an answer, that is probably statistical. > I read another genetical map in which irish, british, french and catalans are completely related and different form neigbourgs. > > Statistics are many times misleading; they could be used to proof what ever one desires. Just question to choose the adequate variables. > A two variables plot, is just a cut of a multi-dimension representation, that could show a very distorted image of reality. > Would be like to see world through a small hole. > > With best wishes > > Lluís
