06-14-2009, 05:03 AM
If Anglo-Saxon Culture Was Native to Britain Perhaps Aryan Culture is
Native to India?
================================================== ====================
Teeth unravel Anglo-Saxon legacy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3514756.stm?
headline=Teeth~unravel~Anglo-Saxon~legacy
By Paul Rincon
BBC News Online science staff
History books say Anglo-Saxons replaced the Britons in England
New scientific research adds to growing evidence that the Anglo-
Saxons did not replace the native population in England as history
books suggest.
The data indicates at least some areas of eastern England absorbed
very few Anglo-Saxon invaders, contrary to the view in many
historical accounts.
Chemical analysis of human teeth from a Medieval cemetery in
Yorkshire found few individuals of continental origin.
Details of the work are described in the scholarly journal Antiquity.
There are practices that are being adopted from continental Europe.
To what extent is that a movement of people (into Britain)? Probably
not that much
Dr Paul Budd, University of Durham
Researchers from the University of Durham and the British Geological
Survey looked at different types of the elements strontium and oxygen
in the teeth of 24 skeletons from an early Anglo-Saxon cemetery at
West Heslerton, North Yorkshire that spans the fifth to the seventh
centuries AD.
These types, or isotopes, of oxygen in local drinking water vary
across Europe and locally within the British Isles.
The differences are influenced by latitude, altitude, distance from
the sea and, to a lesser extent, mean annual temperature.
Invasion of ideas
This characteristic isotope composition gets set in people's teeth
before they are 12 years of age, and can therefore be used by
scientists to pinpoint a person's geographical origin.
Of the 24 individuals sampled, a possible four had oxygen isotope
values outside the range for the British Isles. Following
improvements in calibration, the group now believes only one
individual was from continental Europe.
The results support the view of other researchers that the
introduction of Anglo-Saxon culture and language into Britain did not
occur through large-scale replacement of native populations by
invading tribes.
The isotopic composition of teeth can pinpoint geographical origin
It seems more likely that there was a small-scale immigration from
continental Europe and that the existing British population adopted
the customs of these outsiders as their own.
"There are practices that are being adopted from continental Europe.
To what extent is that a movement of people (into Britain)? Probably
not that much," Dr Paul Budd of the University of Durham told BBC
News Online.
But the team did find evidence for migration into the area from other
parts of Britain during the period. While the isotopic composition of
Bronze Age remains from West Heslerton matched local drinking water
isotope compositions, the early Medieval group were more varied.
Of the 20 locals, 13 had oxygen isotope signals consistent with an
origin west of the Pennines. Dr Budd puts this down to upheaval
amongst the British population after the Romans withdrew their armies
and administrators from the country in the fifth century AD.
"At the end of the Roman period there was a huge collapse of a
centuries-long organisation, in government and in how the landscape
was used. The population moves off elsewhere to exploit the landscape
for agriculture."
The Anglo-Saxons supposedly began migrating into Britain en masse
from the fifth century. Their culture and language has long formed
the basis for English national identity.
Genetic support
The findings broadly agree with a large genetic survey of the British
Isles published in 2003. The study, led by Professor David Goldstein
of University College London, found that the genetic stamp of the
Anglo-Saxons on the British Isles was weaker than expected.
Patterns of oxygen isotopes vary greatly within UK drinking water
Enlarge Image
Professor Goldstein attributes less than half of the paternal input
in England to Anglo-Saxon migration.
"I don't think there ever was evidence for a massive population
replacement. From the genetics, it's pretty clear there was not
complete replacement on the paternal side in England," Professor
Goldstein told BBC News Online.
"Studies like this suggest that the number of individuals that came
over is small and even in burial sites that are Anglo-Saxon
culturally, they're actually natives."
However, Dr Neal Bradman, also of University College London,
suggested that, since the teeth of immigrants' descendents would take
on the isotopic composition of the local area, it was impossible to
know whether the burials were of Britons or not without conducting
genetic analysis.
Native to India?
================================================== ====================
Teeth unravel Anglo-Saxon legacy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3514756.stm?
headline=Teeth~unravel~Anglo-Saxon~legacy
By Paul Rincon
BBC News Online science staff
History books say Anglo-Saxons replaced the Britons in England
New scientific research adds to growing evidence that the Anglo-
Saxons did not replace the native population in England as history
books suggest.
The data indicates at least some areas of eastern England absorbed
very few Anglo-Saxon invaders, contrary to the view in many
historical accounts.
Chemical analysis of human teeth from a Medieval cemetery in
Yorkshire found few individuals of continental origin.
Details of the work are described in the scholarly journal Antiquity.
There are practices that are being adopted from continental Europe.
To what extent is that a movement of people (into Britain)? Probably
not that much
Dr Paul Budd, University of Durham
Researchers from the University of Durham and the British Geological
Survey looked at different types of the elements strontium and oxygen
in the teeth of 24 skeletons from an early Anglo-Saxon cemetery at
West Heslerton, North Yorkshire that spans the fifth to the seventh
centuries AD.
These types, or isotopes, of oxygen in local drinking water vary
across Europe and locally within the British Isles.
The differences are influenced by latitude, altitude, distance from
the sea and, to a lesser extent, mean annual temperature.
Invasion of ideas
This characteristic isotope composition gets set in people's teeth
before they are 12 years of age, and can therefore be used by
scientists to pinpoint a person's geographical origin.
Of the 24 individuals sampled, a possible four had oxygen isotope
values outside the range for the British Isles. Following
improvements in calibration, the group now believes only one
individual was from continental Europe.
The results support the view of other researchers that the
introduction of Anglo-Saxon culture and language into Britain did not
occur through large-scale replacement of native populations by
invading tribes.
The isotopic composition of teeth can pinpoint geographical origin
It seems more likely that there was a small-scale immigration from
continental Europe and that the existing British population adopted
the customs of these outsiders as their own.
"There are practices that are being adopted from continental Europe.
To what extent is that a movement of people (into Britain)? Probably
not that much," Dr Paul Budd of the University of Durham told BBC
News Online.
But the team did find evidence for migration into the area from other
parts of Britain during the period. While the isotopic composition of
Bronze Age remains from West Heslerton matched local drinking water
isotope compositions, the early Medieval group were more varied.
Of the 20 locals, 13 had oxygen isotope signals consistent with an
origin west of the Pennines. Dr Budd puts this down to upheaval
amongst the British population after the Romans withdrew their armies
and administrators from the country in the fifth century AD.
"At the end of the Roman period there was a huge collapse of a
centuries-long organisation, in government and in how the landscape
was used. The population moves off elsewhere to exploit the landscape
for agriculture."
The Anglo-Saxons supposedly began migrating into Britain en masse
from the fifth century. Their culture and language has long formed
the basis for English national identity.
Genetic support
The findings broadly agree with a large genetic survey of the British
Isles published in 2003. The study, led by Professor David Goldstein
of University College London, found that the genetic stamp of the
Anglo-Saxons on the British Isles was weaker than expected.
Patterns of oxygen isotopes vary greatly within UK drinking water
Enlarge Image
Professor Goldstein attributes less than half of the paternal input
in England to Anglo-Saxon migration.
"I don't think there ever was evidence for a massive population
replacement. From the genetics, it's pretty clear there was not
complete replacement on the paternal side in England," Professor
Goldstein told BBC News Online.
"Studies like this suggest that the number of individuals that came
over is small and even in burial sites that are Anglo-Saxon
culturally, they're actually natives."
However, Dr Neal Bradman, also of University College London,
suggested that, since the teeth of immigrants' descendents would take
on the isotopic composition of the local area, it was impossible to
know whether the burials were of Britons or not without conducting
genetic analysis.