The Ballynahatty Woman is the name given to a prehistoric female human found in the townland of Ballynahatty near Belfast in 1855. She is estimated to have lived about 5,000 years ago. In 2015, her genome, along with that of a trio of men who lived 4,000 years ago, was sequenced by geneticists at Trinity College Dublin and archaeologists at Queen's University Belfast.
Both Ballynahatty Woman and one of the men were found to have mutations that can cause hemochromatosis, a disease where the body retains too much iron and has a high prevalence in the British Isles. She was found to have Neolithic Anatolian ancestry, and out of modern peoples most genetically resembles the Basques and Sardinians.
See also
References
- ^ Rincon, Paul (28 December 2015). "Ancient DNA sheds light on Irish Origins". BBC News. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
- ^ Bichell, Rae Ellen (29 December 2015). "A 'Celtic Curse' Has Roots Stretching Back To The Bronze Age". NPR. NPR. Retrieved 25 March 2018.