A grandson of Eve
Elsewhere on this site I have discussed the Raitt DNA, particularly my own. In the news in the middle of June was an item about Ian Kinnaird, aged 72, from Caithness in the far North of Scotland, who took a DNA test to find out where his ancestors came from. Well, he has been found to be directly descended from the first woman on earth, who lived 190,000 years ago. He has a genetic marker inherited from his mother that traces his ancestry to an African lineage that has not been found before in Western Europe. Researchers from Britain’s DNA, who carried out the tests, said the result meant that in genetic terms he was a “thoroughbred”, and could be described as the “grandson of Eve, or the grandfather of everyone in Britain.” His mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), passed through the female line, is 30,000 years old and only two genetic mutations removed from the first woman, while most men have a genome with around 200 mutations since the earliest humans. The results also show his fatherline to be Scandinavian and he carries a YDNA marker which is found in a quarter of Norwegian men.
This lineage appears in Africa, in Senegal, but has never been seen in north-west Europe. It is further proof that even white Anglo-Saxon Protestants are descended from a black Eve. The lineage is likely to have reached Britain through the arrival of slaves in Liverpool. The tests by Britain’s DNA suggest that 32% of British men are descended from the Pretani, or original Britons, more than 12% have Germanic ancestry, 11% are hunter gatherers, while more than 7% are Ancient Irish.
I think I will also get my DNA tested by Britain’s DNA for a second opinion, so to speak, to see whether I can learn anything more about my Raitt markers!
Friday, 13 July 2012
