Post
Here's a reminder about one of the most important results of the past thirteen years of ancient #DNA research.
Northern Europe was overrun by plague-spreading steppe nomads less than 5000 years ago, causing an almost complete population replacement. It's a 1492 event.
Everybody knows that us Northern Europeans aren't the original inhabitants of North America. *But we aren't even the original inhabitants of Northern Europe.*
5000 years ago may sound like a lot. But in evolutionary biology, and even more so in geology, this kind of age is referred to as "now".
One of the more emotive aspects of this research (at least for me) is understanding that the stone circles that are peppered across Europe saw these population changes. Warren Field, "the earliest lunisolar calendar", was there to greet the incomers, as were the Callanish stones. Was there time for those who built these devices to explain how to use them, or had all the experts succumbed to the new diseases?
Vihāra is an experimental Buddhist monastery: a federated hub representing the activities of a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayan Vajrayāna/Mahāyāna lineages.
