My great ...great, grandfather was a Neanderthal
Published: Fri, 01/31/14
While I was driving to and from Oxford yesterday I had the chance
to listen to the radio for longer than I normally do. During the
evening drive home I was listening to a science programme during
which two scientists who had recently published studies on
Neanderthal DNA in modern humans were interviewed. It seems that
possibly two percent of our genetic make up comes from the species
of human which died out as a distinct type about forty thousand
years ago. Modern humans who live outside of Africa seem to have
interbred with Neanderthals as they migrated onto other continents.
The new genetic material changed skin and hair characteristics
possibly making it easier to adapt to different climatic
conditions. There is also the possibility that certain genetic
disorders such as Chrones Disease and Diabetes may sometimes have
their causes in the Neanderthal inheritance. Of course some of the
ideas in the discussion were speculative but it was very
interesting to discover that part of my makeup, as a European, is
inherited from a people we know little about and have not been
encountered in recorded history. Link to the story here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25959072
Culture in terms of knowledge, skills and stories is always in a
process of being lost and rediscovered rather like our genetic
inheritance. The more I work with Stav and interact with other
people who are also engaged with rediscovering and proving the
value of apparently 'lost' culture of various kinds the
more I realise that you just need to know where to look and then be
prepared to work with and experiment with what you find. This is
the point of learning, training and teaching Stav. I would also
recommend Fightcamp as opportunity to see how various people are
recovering historical knowledge and making it real again today. I
will be teaching pole weapons there myself.
http://www.fightcamp.co.uk although it hasn't been updated for
the 2014 camp yet, but I do know the dates are 15th to 17th of
August.
regards
Graham
PS It is February tomorrow and only two weeks until our first day
course in Crewkerne on the 15th of February. Book up here
http://www.iceandfire.org.uk/forthcoming.html