Evolution 101

In researching the latest archaeological finds and theories, I also explore any forensic DNA studies involved. This gives me a pattern of population shifts I can compare to environmental changes, for a bigger picture of causality. Just as animals tend to migrate for more favourable conditions so do people. For instance, the Y-DNA haplogroup R appears to have once centered in the Black Sea area. That they dispersed in all navigatable directions in fits and starts to such far reaches, suggests erratic enviromental changes, making even agriculture unsustainable. The effects of climate change tend to vary with the nature of whatever the geophysical construct. In the Black Sea area it was two fold: one being its innundation by tectonic shifts subsequent of glacial withdrawl hence rising sea levels. This, in turn. changed weather patterns, hence putting it in the rain shadow of the Balkans. Of course the added salinity to the sea put a damper on it as an irrigation source, whereas the loss of oxygenation in that murky flood washed brine didn't help sea life much either...and so these ancestors pulled pegs and moved on. 

Taking the digs at Gobekli Tepe into consideration, many theorists had to revise their ideas of „civilization“. In fact, it seems our quest for meaning goes back to even before painting the Lascaux caves. Despite popular belief, ingenuity was not necessarily born out of comfort, rather wherever sheer desperation needed it to survive, and that includes preserving one's sanity from a bleak outlook in life. Take the case of zookeeping for example; it is not enough to feed animals, nurse them and provide them a habitat. They need to be amused, entertained, interactive in some way or another. They are learning, evolving, like any other creature on this planet, otherwise they lose the will to live. 

Now having said this, I come to the subject of genealogy, that too many still try to idealize in racist terms. Evolution does not occur by heredity alone, but by the challenges it has to face. Changes in environment or circumstance have always been the test of time. It can turn any number of genes on or off even within a generation, reviving old genetic templates thought to have long gone extinct. I have my suspicions this could be the case for those latent neanderthal genes. As for the term „haplogroup“, it implies decendants that are more or less related, but not necessarily to just that group- unless they were extremely isolated, or dramatically reduced by some form of disaster; essentially doomed to inbreeding if they couldn't find a viable mate elsewhere. So, forget stupid ideals of „racial purity“ or keeping it all „in the family“, let alone eugenics. These are sure ways to guarantee the extinction of your own future generations. 

These days, the biggest tomfoolery is DNA tests that evaluate in terms of nationality. While certain genetic variations can be typical in certain areas, its markers can only serve an estimation of geographical origin. Nationalities come and go as collective needs and circumstances change over the course. I've had my share of head bashing with numpties who take Celtic or Germanic as some kind of race marker...and then there's the bunch who think Celtiberians were their only true forefathers. Maybe they need to read the Irish Chronicles a little more thoroughly and be done with it. It only goes to show you that racism can come in forms far subtler than the arrogance of Aryanism. Does being a German citizen immersed in Alemannic culture make me a Nazi? Rubbish. „Alemanne“ is an ancient term „allmen“ refering to people of no specific clan who came about through travel and trade along the Rhine.