Re: French genetics

Josh Brandt-Young wrote:

> I've a rather important question for anyone who knows something about
> French history: of what racial stock are the French?
Completely mixed.

> Are they descended
> from the Germanic tribe called the Franks?
Some are, certainly, but probably no pure-blooded Franks exist.

>  If so, what happened to all
> the Romans living there?
You mean Romanized Gauls.  These make up the bulk of the French
stock, in all probability.

> In the same vein, where did the Normans come from?
Again, there is a thin overlay of Nordics, but the bulk of
Normans are the same stock as the rest of France.

Short of ancient DNA samples, there's no working all this out
in detail, because there are no "pure stocks" anywhere: all are
a result of mixing and remixing and re-remixing.

--
John Cowan      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
        You tollerday donsk?  N.  You tolkatiff scowegian?  Nn.
        You spigotty anglease?  Nnn.  You phonio saxo?  Nnnn.
                Clear all so!  'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)