The Seven Daughters of Eve This book, by Bryan Sykes, was mentioned here recently. It sounded interesting and I have just finished reading it. I recommend it to everyone for a good read. The thesis of book is that ninety-five or more percent of the people living in Europe are descended from just seven different women. Some of these women go back 45,000 years and some are as recent as 10,000 years ago. Palaeontologists are agreed that there were three waves of people in Europe. First, were the Neanderthal, then the Cro-Magnons, then a later third group. The Neanderthal were hunters with a small element of food-gathering. Though the Cro-Magnons were distinctly advanced as compared to the Neanderthals, they were still basically hunters. The third group based their survival on farming and animal husbandry with a minor element of hunting. Genetically there is no evidence that the present inhabitants of Europe descended from any of the Neanderthals. There had been a big debate as to whether the third group, the farmers, had ousted the hunters. Were modern Europeans descended from the hunters or the farmers? Generally, the argument went that the farmers had displaced the hunters. Mr. Sykes, his co-workers, and other independent research groups have answered this question. First, they established that modern Europeans fall into seven clans whose maternal inheritances trace back to seven women. Of these seven women, six of them were from the Cro-Magnons, the hunters. Only one modern clan descends from the farmers. The age of the clans can be estimated by the rate at which the mitochondrial DNA has changed. Six of the seven women lived long enough ago that they had to have their origins in the Cro-Magnons. One of these clans is the largest clan in Europe. The seventh daughter is more recent and the location of her descendants indicates she lived in the area of the Middle East where farming originated. Around the world, there is evidence of perhaps thirty-odd women from whom all humans descend. There are more clans in Africa than in any other area and this indicates a longer time that humans have lived there and therefore this is the origin of the human race. The last third of the book is fiction as Mr. Sykes creates women and lives for the seven daughters. Even though it is fiction, it is still very interesting. One is reminded that life for our ancestors was not easy. -- John.Blankenbaker@comcast.net