Tuesday, 23 April 2013

Migrants from the Near East 'brought farming to Europe'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11729813

- genetic evidence supports migration from the Middle East brought farming to Europe
ie. farming was not adopted by the indigenous hunter-gatherer population

- see links to other articles at the bottom

The World Bank and the Development Delusion

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/201292673233720461.html

- a strong, detailed critique of the World Bank's effect on developing economies and of the bank's underlying goals/philosophy/world view.

Making of Europe Unlocked by DNA

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22252099

- interesting article looking at the origin of modern European DNA profile

- the idea that the earlier hunter-gatherer population was replaced by a wave of migrants from the Middle East at the beginning of the Neolithic period

- a new idea that a major shift in population also occurred around 4500 years ago that needs to be explored more
- the "Bell Beaker" culture group seems to have played an important role in this late shift (curiously, they are strongly related genetically to the populations in modern Spain and Portugal)

- see links to other articles at bottom