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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

DNA from ancient remains seems to have solved the puzzle of one of Europe's most enigmatic people [bbc.com]: the Basques.

The distinct language and genetic make-up of the Basque people in northern Spain and southern France has puzzled anthropologists for decades.

One theory proposed that they were an unmixed pocket of indigenous hunters.

Now, a study in PNAS journal suggests they descend from early farmers who mixed with local hunters before becoming isolated for millennia.

The article is well worth reading in its entirety. According to it, the Basque language, Euskera, is unrelated to every other European language because the region was spared the influx of Indo-European speakers that covered the rest of the continent.

Original Submission