OH, this is just neat. America's not the only melting pot, y'know. A recent BBC news story presents information supporting the theory that the indigenous Britons are the Welsh, after comparing genetic markers between Friesian and Norse populations, and UK volunteers.
What's with the Frisians? Well, that's probably a topic for another Today's Geography Lesson, but Friesland is an identifiable cultural/geo/linguistic region now part of The Netherlands, and part of an area where Anglo-Saxons are thought to have originated.
So, the English and the Friesians matched up great, and the English and the Welsh were noticeably different, thus supporting the idea that a large-scale Anglo-Saxon invasion, though destroying much of the Celtic population, did not reach Wales.
Research released last year has drawn strong connections between the Welsh and Irish Celts and the Basque populations of Northern Spain and Southern France. [Ah, the Basques, probably another Today's Geography Lesson.]
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