Grant, O Gods, that the earth may lie soft and gently upon the shades of our ancestors, and may their urns be filled with a perpetual springtime blooming with the sweet scents of crocus. – Aulus Persius Flaccus, Satura VII, 207-8 On this date each year, I honor the memory of Conrad Hauri, the founder…
Families are constructed culturally
I’m always a bit surprised at the number of people I meet who don’t realize that kinship systems are cultural constructs. There is a biological connection, of course, but order is imposed by systems that vary across cultures. In some cultures, cousins of a certain type are assimilated into the same kinship class as brothers…
One big family
Everyone has trillions of ancestors. If you’ve never thought about this before, it might come as a surprise. Nevertheless, the number of ancestors doubles each generation back. You have two parents, four grandparents, eight great grandparents, and so on. Assuming an average of 25 years per generation, if you were born about 1950 you would…
Useless Knowledge
“There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge.” — Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)
World Clans
From Oxford Ancestors I received this certificate from Oxford Ancestors in October 2007. It shows descent from “Mitochondrial Eve” (bottom left) and the relationship among the major world haplogroups (“clan”). I belong to Haplogroup V, shown top left as “Velda.