Guest guest Posted March 29, 2004 Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 The article rather carefully says "at least some areas of eastern England," not everywhere. In his Britain and the British Seas (1902), the great geographer Halton Mackinder says that the Saxon counties in England that were conquered before the Saxons were converted to Christianity have a mostly blond-headed population, indicating that the indigenous Romano-British population (who were dark-haired) were exterminated or driven out, whereas those counties conquered after the conversion of the Saxons are mixed in appearance, indicating less harsh methods. I do not know whether this assertion is still accepted and if so which set of counties these remains were found in. There would also be the question of whether in the various regions the indigenous population put up a prolonged resistance or accepted Saxon rule quickly. The latter would mean the imposition of a new ruling class but would not need massive immigration to enforce conquest. Indeed the implicit or explicit offer of the Saxons might be, "accept us and you won't have to accept any more of our kinsmen; keep fighting us and we'll bring them all over." But in any case, this is not precisely a counter-example against some sort of an Aryan Invasion Theory, because we know both from written history and from archeology that there were Saxon invasions, and that they imposed a new political order, and led to the general adoption of a new language (Germanic Saxon instead of Latin and Celtic). What the new discoveries indicate is that this can be accomplished with a rather small group of invaders. An AIT, AMT, or ATIT does not require wholesale slaughter or expulsion of an indigenous population. Allen Thrasher Allen W. Thrasher, Ph.D. Senior Reference Librarian Southern Asia Section Asian Division Library of Congress Jefferson Building 150 101 Independence Ave., S.E. Washington, DC 20540-4810 tel. 202-707-3732 fax 202-707-1724 athr The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Library of Congress. >>> smykelkar 3/25/2004 6:52:31 PM >>> INDOLOGY, "naga_ganesan" <naga_ganesan@h...> wrote: > > In a recent BBC news item, the Saxon migration > into England is described. Interestingly, the Saxon > language multiplication resembles the situation in old > India of Aryan languages replacing the earlier ones > by means of acculturation. > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3514756.stm > > "The data indicates at least some > areas of eastern England > absorbed very few Anglo-Saxon > invaders, contrary to the view in > many historical accounts." > > "It seems more likely that there > was a small-scale immigration > from continental Europe and that > the existing British population > adopted the customs of these > outsiders as their own." > > Romila Thapar mentions "the idea of a > graduated migration of Aryan-speaking peoples from the > Indo-Iranian borderlands into north-western India." > http://www.hindu.com/2004/03/22/stories/2004032201661001.htm > > > N. Ganesan The article says: "The data indicates at least some > areas of eastern England > absorbed very few Anglo-Saxon > invaders, contrary to the view in > many historical accounts." > No matter what sort of spin you are putting on it, this is another blow to the popular invasionist theories of the colonial era. If AIT of India was unlikely the AMT/ATIT is EVEN MORE unlikely. Because almost nothing of these pre migration/trickle scenerios has survived. This could only happen in a brutal invasion scenerio. Also unlike in England there is a very strong geological, astronomical and archeolgoical data to discount any intrusions no matter how so slight into India. I think its time to abandon the very notion language family trees similar. mayuresh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 5, 2004 Report Share Posted April 5, 2004 Invasion Theory, because we know both from written > history and from archeology that there were Saxon invasions, and that > they imposed a new political order, and led to the general adoption of a > new language (Germanic Saxon instead of Latin and Celtic). What the new > discoveries indicate is that this can be accomplished with a rather > small group of invaders. An AIT, AMT, or ATIT does not require > wholesale slaughter or expulsion of an indigenous population. > > Allen Thrasher > just because something could happen does not mean it DID. India has a long archaeological, geological and literary record that goes against any such migrating/trickling influence. MK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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