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IT’S LIKELY THAT the early Irish populations had dark skin, similar to the Cheddar Man discovery made in the UK this week, according to genetic experts.
This week, UK scientists confirmed that the first modern Briton had dark skin and blue eyes, following groundbreaking DNA analysis of the remains of a man who lived 10,000 years ago.
Known as Cheddar Man, after the area in southwest England where his skeleton was discovered in a cave in 1903, the ancient made had been brought to life through the first ever full DNA analysis of his remains.
The findings of the joint project between Britain’s Natural History Museum and University College London transformed the way people had previously seen Cheddar Man, who had been portrayed as having brown eyes and light skin in an earlier model.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland, professor of population genetics at Trinity College Dublin, Dan Bradley said that a project with the National Museum of Ireland has made similar findings for that of the earliest Irish populations.
The researchers working on the Irish project have compiled data from two individuals from over 6,000 years ago that provide similar results as Cheddar Man.
“The earliest Irish would have been the same as Cheddar Man and would have had darker skin than we have today,” Bradley said.
He said their findings suggest the DNA is linked to individuals from Spain and Luxembourg, people who populated western European after the last Ice Age but before the farming era.
Similarly, Cheddar Man’s tribe migrated to Britain at the end of the last Ice Age and his DNA has been linked to individuals discovered in modern-day Spain, Hungary and Luxembourg.
“We think [the Irish examples] would be similar. The current, very light skin we have in Ireland now is at the endpoint of thousands of years of surviving in a climate where there’s very little sun,” Bradley said.
“It’s an adaptation to the need to synthesise vitamin D in skin. It has taken thousands of years for it to become like it is today.”
Bradley’s research suggests that there were about 30-40,000 people on the island of Ireland at the time that the dark skin genomes date back to.
“They came here very probably by boat. They ate a lot of fish, hunted wild boar, gathered plants and nuts,” he said.
Bradley said that the team of scientists at Trinity College Dublin hope to have their research fully completed within the year.
Cheddar Man recreation
A bust of Cheddar Man, complete with shoulder-length dark hair and short facial hair, has been created using 3D printing.
It took close to three months to build the model, with its makers using a high-tech scanner which had been designed for the International Space Station.
Alfons Kennis, who made the bust with his brother Adrie, said the DNA findings were “revolutionary”.
“It’s a story all about migrations throughout history,” he told Channel 4 in a documentary to be aired on 18 February.
It maybe gets rid of the idea that you have to look a certain way to be from somewhere. We are all immigrants.
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Its obvious whats going on. Kenny needs full control of the terms of reference and scope of the inquiry to ensure FG (who are up to their necks in it as well) and their cronies can’t be called in front of the committee for scrutiny. It will purely be a ‘what FF did’ re-election tool in the run up to the next election, all funded by the taxpayer.
It is simply stunning that this mouthpiece and prominent Apologist / Member of FG , is given the opportunity every week to espouse this inaccurate Fascism Speak on The Journal.ie .
I have no problem with right to make a point – but please keep the articles accurate to basic facts please .
The Banking Enquiry lost its Democratic teeth , when it’s mandate was undermined by An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and his undemocratic Dictatorship .
As a result , it will come to zero – for that reason alone !
Correct.
endas been hiding in the dail since 1975, I don’t think he realises that people are no longer being spoonfed the news by RTE and newspapers. Between the little ‘reichstag fire’ on prom night and changing the rules on the banking enquiry after the vote, he has certainly reminded us of FGs roots.
Fine Gael mouthpiece you say? The article is highly critical of the government. Hardly mouthpiece stuff.
Always ironic to see the usual Sinn Fein sympathizers speak of Fascism…
Can’t stand the guy either but in his defender I thought he literally did say your comment when he spoke about the current government being undemocratic
Who voted against the bailout, Aaron?
http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/0664/D.0664.200810170003.html
” changing the rules to alter a result you dont care for is un democratic” hang on a minute isn’t that exactly what happened with the lisbon treaty?
Our friends from SF HQ, Werejam and Ciara are obviously delighted with any device to scupper the banking enquiry. They need FF as strong as possible for their 2016 SF/FF coalition: the more delayed the banking enquiry can be the better in that regard.
The government of the day up to 2008 are most culpable. Anything that derails a quest for that accountability is a good thing it would seem. SF are masters in the dark arts of misdirection and diversion.
Any comment to make about your partys senior member, Phil hogans, cushy relationship with ‘Fingers’ Fingleton which resulted in him securing a €900,000 interest only loan?
FG want control to make sure the spotlight is kept on FF. One member of enquiry has already indicated that enda kenny should be called in front of the committee, interesting times ahead….
There you go again.
In fairness John Enda has all ready scuppered the banking inquiry by what he has said about the inquiry and its make up…..
Yeah, let’s cancel the whole thing. We aren’t idiots are we.
Europe must find this hysterical.
We moan that we were duped into guaranteeing banking debts by the ECB.
FF/Dept of Finance lose the letter from Trichet.
We try to hold and an enquiry.
But it get’s cancelled by the rabble because it might show FF in an unfair light. We wouldn’t want that now would we. It will be too difficult to avoid blaming FF for anything, so we’d be better off not having any enquiry.
SF now seem to think it is the borrower’s fault again, using werejam’s example of Fingleton & Hogan. Until now it was the lender’s fault, and the foreign lenders to the domestic lenders fault. Which is it? Do you not want to go after anyone in case you miss out on Phil Hogan and anyone else who were able to get dodgy loans for our dodgy banks?
This comment makes no sense. SF didn’t scupper the banking inquiry. That’s the whole point of this piece. If anything, SF are in competition with FF for votes. So by keeping the banking inquiry going, they keep the heat on FF. And if the polls and recent elections are anything to go by, Irish people need reminding what FF actually did to this country
SF are complicit with FF in derailing the enquiry. SF+FF have something cooking in the oven. How long will it be before it is ready for public consumption.
Fooling the public for another two years seems unlikely for this goverment. maybe it should be RTE providing the 4.6 million budget for this fictional mini series where the guilty end up getting their costs and drawing down their pensions. We are stuck with the debt no matter what, we are stuck with the Dail and the Seanad, lobbyist have written their own code of conduct and handed the finished copy to Howlin to publish announcing reform for the people.the trust is gone all that remains now is how many more generations will lie down and allow themselves to be treated as idiots.
This is no “show trial”. It has no teeth. It is a talk-show.
Pretty much a rewritten version of an Irish Times article from earlier this week. http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/has-sinn-f%C3%A9in-saved-the-government-s-bacon-1.1836701
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