Henbane wrote:
I think those genetic tests look fascinating. I'd love to try them.
Yeah it's great, all you need to provide is a cheek scraping, no blood required.
Henbane wrote:
These people could probably get some benefit from a test like that too. They are Chinese, but their village has nearly two thirds of its DNA of caucasian origin, and the people believe they are descended from Roman troops from c2000 years ago.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... diers.html
I saw a documentary on this community some years ago, but this story is a nice update so thank's for the link.
It's highly unlikely they are actually descended from Romans. Italians are quite Mediteranean in appearance and after 2000 yrs of intermarriage the "caucasian" genes would start to vanish. It's more likely the Romans used Parthian or Sythian mercenaries from from central Asia who are extinct but records show they were quite fair haired and there would have been large numbers living on the borderlands near China involved in trade. Following the end of the silk route trade populations of Sythians or Parthians already living in China would have settled and mixed with other groups like Turks and Mongolians.
The story of a small band of Roman soldiers heroically forming a little island of Europe in China is a little too far fetched and romantic.