We used ancient DNA to track the origins and spread of the Germanic and Celtic languages – new research

By Guus Kroonen, Associate Professor, Scandinavian, Germanic and Indo-European Comparative Linguistics, Leiden University; University of Copenhagen
Eske Willerslev, Professor, Globe Institute, Section for Geogenetics, University of Copenhagen; University of Cambridge
Hugh McColl, Assistant Professor, Globe Institute, Section for Geogenetics, University of Copenhagen

Why do people speak Germanic languages such as English in England and Swedish in Sweden, but Celtic languages in Ireland, Wales and Brittany? The dispersal of languages is one of the enigmas of European prehistory.

Two new studies in Nature, which we took part in, show how DNA from several thousand ancient individuals helps us solve this riddle.

As early as the 17th century, scholars noticed striking similarities…

Read complete article

~	Mining, water and trust: how Namibia’s geoscientists see their role with communities

~	AI and blockchain are coming to African farms: 4 things must happen for farmers to benefit

~	US midterms: why a Democrat Congress could mean less political gridlock, not more

~	Why Trump, Xi, and Putin can’t carve up the world like the ‘big three’ leaders of 1945

~	International surrogacy and the narrow legal idea of what makes a family legitimate

~	The Democrats’ ‘blue tsunami’ is a strong repudiation of Donald Trump. Now, they will look to replicate it in 2028

~	Speaking in a second language may shift your moral compass – but it can’t overpower it

~	Why are Australians so interested in the US midterms?

~	Why an Ebola outbreak in Africa doesn’t mean an epidemic in Britain

~	Why so many British pubs are closing down