I’m still getting used to the new-ish research that shows ancient European populations were largely replaced by later invasions, but the most recent invasions (like the Anglo-Saxons in England) didn’t really replace the local population like we always thought they did. It takes a degree of mental agility to keep up. Now there’s some DNA…
Month: October 2019
Fallibility of Memory
We genealogists often struggle with memory and its problems. So often, I run into fellow researchers who think the long ago memory of someone who was “there” is fully trustworthy. We saw an extreme example of that a few years on a collaborative website. A certain user made the most outlandish claims, each time attributing…
Your Past is in Your Bones
From Jacqueline Kehoe: “When I first visited a year ago, I felt an intense sense of home. These streets I had never walked, these smells my nose shouldn’t recognize, this terra incognita — it all seemed strangely familiar and comforting. But how is that possible? I have Norwegian heritage, sure, but generations back. What makes…
Hidden History
When I was in college one of my professors said, “Objectivity correlates to a consensual subjectivity.” That statement has some very powerful implications for how we understand the nature of historical research. In genealogy we often see people captivated by long, mythical lines of descent, which they invariably believe were transmitted underground, undocumented, for centuries…
DNA Ethnicity, Problems
Whatever the definition of “ethnicity”, it does not fit comfortably into any of the present or past political boundaries of modern countries. Here is some food for thought. James Tanner, “DNA, Genealogy, and Political Entities“, Genealogy’s Star (Sept. 19, 2019). Retrieved Oct. 16, 2019. James Tanner, “What is Ethnicity and Why Do We Care?“, Genealogy’s…