Are the French Celtic?

[authun]

There are those who believe that it may well have originated in southern France on the borders with Spain, so I think the jury may still be out on that one. My readings indicate a cultural spread rather than a migration of people or at least not a vast number of them.

Geneticists have never believed that to be true. It has been used as a hypothesis convenient for models, but as far back as 2000, Wilson warned, 'there is no proof of this' and in 2005 Santos Alonso threw serious doubt on both the paleolithic ancestry of the Basques and the insular celtic populations:

"Contrary to previous suggestions, we do not observe any particular link between Basques and Celtic populations beyond that provided by the Paleolithic ancestry common to European populations, nor we find evidence supporting Basques as the focus of major population expansions."

Most recently (Jan 2010) Balaresque has found that the genetic marker in question, which is widespread in western europe, entered europe during the neolithic.

From A Predominantly Neolithic Origin for European Paternal Lineages

"Haplogroup R1b1b2 (R-M269) is the commonest European Y-chromosomal lineage, increasing in frequency from east to west, and carried by 110 million European men. Previous studies suggested a Paleolithic origin, but here we show that the geographical distribution of its microsatellite diversity is best explained by spread from a single source in the Near East via Anatolia during the Neolithic."

This is supported by the findings of a population density study by Collard (Jan 2010), 'Radiocarbon evidence indicates that migrants introduced farming to Britain' which dates the influx to the neolithic.

Other studies from 2009 include:

Ancient DNA Reveals Lack of Continuity between Neolithic Hunter-Gatherers and Contemporary Scandinavians. (Malmström et al. 2009)

Genetic Discontinuity Between Local Hunter Gatherers and Central Europe’s First Farmers. (Bramanti et al. 2009)

The Origins of Lactase Persistence in Europe. (Yuval Itan et al. 2009)

The population models by Shennan and Edinborough indicate a sharp drop in population in northern europe at the end of the mesolithic followed by a sharp increase at the onset of the neolithic. However, around the end of the LBK, the populations crashed to very low levels, only marginally above those at the end of the LBK in some places. The low population level existed for around a millenium. A steep population increase is again observed at the start of the TRB. Whether that is due to a recovery in the existing population or due to yet another influx of migrants is not known but, the idea that the Basques represent the last of the paleolithic european populations is no longer viable.

The question of where the Basques do come from however, is extremely interesting. They share both high frequencies of the yDNA marker R1b and the LAC P allele, C=>T 13910. The latter is completely at odds with the surrounding populations, cf 90% Basques, 10% surrounding. However, the Vasconic language of the Basques is completely at odds with other populations who have high R1b yDNA markers or C=>T 13910, who are indo european speakers.

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