Seeking Columbus’s Origins, With a Swab

[dragon wench]

I found this to be an interesting story.. The things that can be potentially achieved with DNA just amaze me sometimes.




Seeking Columbus’s Origins, With a Swab

BARCELONA, Spain — When schoolchildren turn to the chapter on Christopher Columbus’s humble origins as the son of a weaver in Genoa, they are not generally told that he might instead have been born out of wedlock to a Portuguese prince. Or that he might have been a Jew whose parents converted to escape the Spanish Inquisition. Or a rebel in the medieval kingdom of Catalonia.

Yet with little evidence to support them, multiple theories of Columbus’s early years have long found devoted proponents among those who would claim alternative bragging rights to the explorer. And now, five centuries after he opened the door to the New World, Columbus’s revisionist biographers have found a new hope for vindication.

The Age of Discovery has discovered DNA.


Click the title for the rest of the story

[Loki[D.d.G]]

Interesting. But still, one has to remember that Columbus went to his grave thinking he had found the shortest route to Asia. He didn't know that the land he found was in fact a new continent altogether...

[Siberys]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loki[D.d.G] Interesting. But still, one has to remember that Columbus went to his grave thinking he had found the shortest route to Asia. He didn't know that the land he found was in fact a new continent altogether...

And even more, he didn't know that it was not even a new continent but rather a small island off the shore of America. Remember, it was Amerigo Vespucci that [supposedly] discovered America, or rather at least got the credit for it.

[fable]

Bah. Tribes from other continents discovered the Americas long before Amerigo, Cristofero, and Gummo. Ever since then, claims of discovery have been on a maximum discount.

[Siberys]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fable Bah. Tribes from other continents discovered the Americas long before Amerigo, Cristofero, and Gummo. Ever since then, claims of discovery have been on a maximum discount.

Also quite true, which kind of makes Columbus seem not so important of a man, or at least his holiday anyways.

[dragon wench]

Just to be clear, I personally couldn't really give a rats arse about Columbus himself, I only found the DNA testing really interesting...
Oh, and also all of the southern Europeans tripping all over one another in attempt to lay claim to an ancestor of rather dubious credentials..

But, really, it was the DNA angle I found especially fascinating. What they can do with that stuff really blows my mind.