Using DNA to find Goths

[Tore Gannholm]

Konrad,
Just a small historical correction,

You write… "prior to it becoming a major
trade center during the Hansa-years."

Gotlands was a major trading centre before the Hansa. It was the  
Hansa that killed Gotlandic trade.
The Hansa organisation was founded in 1358 and its apex was the 15th  
century.

Tore

On Jul 26, 2006, at 5:54 PM, akoddsson wrote:

> Regarding the use of DNA-studies to locate genetic Goths, I would
> suggest the following: 1) that a basis for comparison first be
> established and 2) that participation in such a study, naturally,
> should be voluntary. The place to begin would be on Gutland. Now,
> there has naturally been immigration to Gutland, like other areas,
> such that care must be taken that the sampled population is in all
> likelihood (i.e. no records or history to the contrary) descended
> from much earlier Gutlanders. It is thought that Gutland experienced
> much more emigration than immigration prior to it becoming a major
> trade center during the Hansa-years. I am no expert on this, but it
> seems reasonable to assume that the DNA of aboriginal Gutlanders
> (collected before they, perhaps, disappear) could provide a measure
> (including variations of old date) useful in identifying descendants
> of Goths on the continent. Of course, personal privacy would need to
> be protected and participation voluntary. One question would be, has
> this already been done? Secondly, how would the gutlanders of today
> feel about this proposal, given that opinions could vary? I think
> that I lot of care and respect would need to be shown were such a
> study to be done. I am assuming that a lot of folk, naturally, would
> not like to be tested for some such historical reason as identifying
> Gothic DNA. I myself would participate, given that it were free and
> that my privacy were protected, for simple historical curiosity, but
> then I am not Gutlandic and, thus, would not be participating. I did
> participate in a Viking DNA project, but that was much broader than
> trying to extract only an aboriginal Gutlandic sample. The typical
> method would involve focusing on the 23rd chromozone and isolating
> direct patrilineal descent or mitrochondrial DNA in females. It's
> cheap, easy to do and allows folk to arrive at the likely lines of
> descent via a sample without the expenses and time involoved in more
> complicated and thorough DNA studies. Ask the experts on this for
> more information than that, which I learned through participation.
> Anyway, ideas and responses welcome.
>
> Regards,
> Konrad
>
> --- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, Carl Edlund Anderson <cea at ...>
> wrote:
> >
> > On 25/07/2006 09:46, sturlus wrote:
> > > Finding and defining specific Goths is even more difficult.
> However, this is not our primary goal. The Black Sea area is a most
> interesting place in Human history the past 10-12.000 years,
> especially in indo-european studies.
>
> > I definitely agree with that. The population and language history
> of the Black Sea area is fascinating. There's doubtless a lot of
> scope for studies of population genetics in the region.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Carl
> >
> > --
> > Carl Edlund Anderson
> > mailto:cea at ...
> > http://www.carlaz.com/
> >
>
>
> 



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