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Oh, man.

Celtic fishermen are not Iberian fishermen as "Iberian" is actually a technical name for non-Celtic inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula. Much was made of calling the people of the Peninsula at the time of the Roman conquest "Celtiberians", resulting from the intermarriage of indigenous Iberians and immigrant Celts.

We have bagpipes in North-Western Spain, too, you know?

This, of course, will do nothing to change "the scientific understanding of 'Britishness'". Where does the writer think the Celts of Spain came from? Central Europe.

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. — Euripides

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Sep 20th, 2006 at 07:07:56 AM EST
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There's a lot being mixed together here.

I would say that "Iberian" in this context simply means people who originated from the area now occupied by Spain and Portugal.

Whether these people had celtic culture at that time or acquired it later is open to conjecture. The timescales for the Iberian migration from the south and the celtic arrival (suppposedly) from the east are very similar so it could be that this was a method of arrival.

It's interesting as I was certainly under the impression that the celts arrived in Britain through E Europe and germany across the N sea and then on south down the Atlantic coast. This suggests things happened differently.

However the bagpipe is not a scottish specific instrument but is in fact of Middle Eastern origin. It was common throughout europe before the advent of keyboard instruments (with which they cannot harmonise)

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed Sep 20th, 2006 at 08:03:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Whether these people had celtic culture at that time or acquired it later is open to conjecture.

As a matter of fact, it's not. There was a thriving Celtic culture in North-western Spain (just like there was one in Brittany in France).

The article saying

Don't tell the locals, but the hordes of British holidaymakers who visited Spain this summer were, in fact, returning to their ancestral home.

...

DNA analysis reveals they have an almost identical genetic "fingerprint" to the inhabitants of coastal regions of Spain, whose own ancestors migrated north between 4,000 and 5,000BC.

and talking about generic "coastal regions" makes it sound like the Celts come from Benidorm. They are found in the Spanish Northwest, in Galicia. I am, in fact, not aware of Celtic archaeological remains anywhere else.

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. — Euripides
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Sep 20th, 2006 at 08:17:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]
To my knowledge, the Celts came to the Iberian peninsula a few centuries BC, and had kingdoms down to the South of Portugal, all eliminated by Carthago and the Romans in time.

Anyway, if the scientists knew what they were doing, then their samples weren't from Galicia, and they consider that as a back-migration.

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Wed Sep 20th, 2006 at 08:26:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Hmmm... Checked wikipedia...

History of the Celtiberians

The earliest Celtic presence in Iberia was that of the southeastern Almería culture of the Bronze Age. In the tenth century BCE, a fresh wave of Celts migrated into the Iberian peninsula and penetrated as far as Cadiz, bringing aspects of La Tène culture with them and adopting much of the culture they found. This basal Indo-European culture was of seasonally transhumant cattle-raising pastoralists protected by a warrior elite, similar to those in other areas of Atlantic Europe, centered in the hill-forts, locally termed castros, that controlled small grazing territories.

...

According to the theory developed by Bosch Gimpera (Two Celtic Waves in Spain, 1943), the earliest Celtic presence in Iberia was that of the southeastern Almería Culture of the Bronze Age; in the 10th century BC, a fresh wave of Celts migrated into the Iberian peninsula and penetrated as far as Cadiz, bringing aspects of La Tène culture (5th century BC) with them and adopting much of the culture they found.

Goes to show how poorly this was taught in school back in my day... Now, the fact that there was a migration into the British Isles is not new
Sometime before 500 B.C., Celtic tribes began reaching Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Anthropologists believe that waves of different Celtic tribes migrated to Ireland and Britain over long periods of time. While many tribes came from the European mainland, a large number also migrated from the Iberian Peninsula.
but maybe what is new is the absence of a substantial migration from Brittany?

In any case, this

"Although Celtic countries have previously thought of themselves as being genetically different from the English, this is emphatically not the case," Professor Sykes said.

"This is significant, because the idea of a separate Celtic race is deeply ingrained in our political structure, and has historically been very divisive. Culturally, the view of a separate race holds water. But from a genetic point of view, Britain is emphatically not a divided nation."

seems to me tendentious. Humans are defined as much or more by their culture as by their genes. If an invading culture manages to convince the local people that they are not Celts, it's as good as if the Celtic population had been physically displaced. It's not as if Celtic culture is carried in the genes.

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. — Euripides
by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Sep 20th, 2006 at 08:37:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Oh, by the way, it is interesting that the study is of the Y chromosome, that is, it traces male lineages. The article mentions all major waves of invasion into the British islands.

I would venture that a study of mitochondrial DNA, which traces female lineages, would paint a different picture as it is easier for a predominantly male army to come, conquer and interbreed than for an entire balanced population to move into a previously populated area.

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. — Euripides

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Sep 20th, 2006 at 08:23:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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