Geneticists from Dublin analyzed the DNA structure of the ancient inhabitants of the island, who lived on it about 5.2 and 4 thousand years ago. It turned out that their ancestors were peoples who lived in the Caspian and Black Sea steppes of Russia and Ukraine.
The research by Irish geneticists is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “In the Bronze Age, Europe was swept by a whole wave of genomic changes, which went along its entire length, from the Pontic steppes near the Black Sea to its westernmost island. The high degree of these changes in Ireland makes us think about other changes, in particular, the emergence on the island of the language that served as the ancestor of the West Celtic languages,”said Dan Bradley of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Scientists have deciphered the DNA of an ancient Irish woman who lived on the island 5.2 thousand years ago, and three men who lived in Ireland much later, about 4 thousand years ago. The well-preserved remains of a woman and one of the men allowed geneticists to compare the genomes of the ancient and modern inhabitants of the island.
The first farmers of the "Emerald Isle" were mainly migrants from the Middle East and had a completely different appearance from modern Irish. They had dark skin, brown eyes, dark hair.
Then they were driven out by migrants from the Black Sea and Caspian steppes - with blue eyes, light and red hair. In addition, the Black Sea-Caspian peoples brought an unusual mutation in the C282Y gene, the appearance of which leads to the development of hemochromatosis - disorders in the removal of iron from the body. This ailment is even called "Celtic disease."
Alexander Kornev