Ballynahatty woman

The Ballynahatty Woman is the name given to a prehistoric female discovered in 1855 in the townland of Ballynahatty, near Belfast.[1] She is estimated to have lived approximately 5,000 years ago.[2] In 2015, geneticists from Trinity College Dublin and archaeologists from Queen's University Belfast sequenced her genome, along with that of three men who lived around 4,000 years ago.[1]

Both the Ballynahatty Woman and one of the men were found to carry mutations associated with hemochromatosis, a condition characterized by excessive iron retention in the body and prevalent in the British Isles.[2] Genetic analysis revealed her Neolithic Anatolian ancestry and showed that, among modern populations, she most closely resembles the Basques and Sardinians.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Rincon, Paul (28 December 2015). "Ancient DNA sheds light on Irish Origins". BBC News. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b Bichell, Rae Ellen (29 December 2015). "A 'Celtic Curse' Has Roots Stretching Back To The Bronze Age". NPR. NPR. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.