There are times when the sheer number of Haplogroups and archaeological cultures gets a bit overwhelming for the general reader, but in this case it is the price we must pay for accuracy and completeness, and taken as a whole the author pulls off the difficult task of making the book both scholarly and accessible. The author bases her conclusions on a thorough cross-referencing of genetic, archaeological and linguistic evidence as well as evidence from historical sources where these are available. Even so, I rate this one of the best books I have read on the subject. I'm something of a history nerd, and have always had a particular interest in how the patchwork of ethnicities in Europe came about, so I was always likely to find this interesting. Genetic and linguistic clues also enhance our understanding of the upheavals of the Migration Period, the wanderings of steppe nomads, and the adventures of the Vikings. Climate change played a part in this upheaval, but so did new inventions such as the c and wheeled vehicles. Even more unexpected is the evidence that the European gene pool was stirred vigorously many times after farming had reached most of Europe.

It is not a new idea that farming was brought from the Near East, but genetics now reveal an unexpectedly complex process in which farmers arrived not in one wave, but several. Visions of continuity have been replaced with a more dynamic view of Europe’s past, with one wave of migration followed by another, from the first human arrivals in Europe to the Vikings.Īncient DNA links Europe to its nearest neighbors. New advances allow us to track human movement and the spread of crops, animals, and disease, and we can see the evidence of population crashes and rises, both continent-wide and locally. The idea of migration in prehistory, so long out of favor, is back on the agenda. Incorporates the latest discoveries and theories from archaeology, genetics, history, and linguistics to paint a spirited history of European settlement Who are the Europeans and where did they come from? In recent years scientific advances have released a mass of data, turning cherished ideas upside down.

Ancestral Journeys by Jean Manco