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My European family : the first 54,000 years / Karin Bojs.

by Bojs, Karin, author.

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London ; New York : Bloomsbury Sigma, c2017.

Human population genetics -- Europe.

Europe -- Antiquities.

9781472941473 (hardcover) :

1472941470 (hardcover)

9781472941466 (paperback)

1472941462 (paperback)

Bloomsbury Sigma series ; book 21.

400 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, some color ; 22 cm.

Introduction: The funeral -- Part 1: The hunters. The troll child : 54,000 years ago ; Neanderthals in Leipzig ; The flute players ; First on the scene in Europe ; Mammoths in Brno ; Cro-Magnon ; The first dog ; Doggerland ; The Ice Age ends ; Dark skin, blue eyes ; Climate and forests ; Am I a Sami? ; Pottery makes its appearance ; The farmers arrive -- Part 2: The farmers. Syria ; The boat to Cyprus ; The first beer ; The farmers' westward voyages ; The homes built on the graves of the dead ; Clashes in Pilsen and Mainz ; Sowing and sunrise ; Farmers arrive in Skåne ; Ötzi the Iceman ; The Falbygden area ; Hunters' and farmers' genes -- Part 3: The Indo-Europeans. The first stallion ; DNA sequences provide links with the East ; Battleaxes ; Bell beakers, Celts and Stonehenge ; The Nebra sky disc in Halle ; The rock engravers ; Iron and the plague ; Am I a Viking? ; The mothers ; The legacy of Hitler and Stalin -- The tree and the spring -- Questions and answers about DNA.

"Karin Bojs grew up in a small, broken family. At her mother's funeral she felt this more keenly than ever. As a science journalist, she was eager to learn more about herself, her family and the interconnectedness of society using DNA research. After all, we're all related. And in a sense, we are all family. My European Family tells the story of Europe and its people through its genetic legacy, from the first wave of immigration to the present day, weaving in the latest archaeological findings. Karin goes deep in search of her genealogy; by having her DNA sequenced she was able to trace the path of her ancestors back through the Viking and Bronze ages to the Neolithic and beyond into prehistory, even back to a time when Neanderthals ran the show. Travelling to dozens of countries to follow the story, she learns about early farmers in the Middle East, flute-playing cavemen in Germany and France, and a whole host of other fascinating characters. This book looks at genetics from a uniquely pan-European perspective, with the author meeting dozens of geneticists, historians and archaeologists in the course of her research. The genes of this seemingly ordinary modern European woman have a fascinating story to tell, and in many ways it is the true story of Europe. At a time when politics is pushing nations apart, this book shows that, ultimately, our genes will always bind us together."--Jacket.

August Prize, 2015.

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