DNA sheds light on mysterious Okhotsk people

Asahi Shimbun ^ | February 24, 2009 | Nobuyuki Watanabe

[SunkenCiv]

Scholars using DNA testing hope to unravel age-old mysteries surrounding the Okhotsk people, who suddenly disappeared around the 10th century in northern parts of Hokkaido. And their research could shatter theories on the evolution of the indigenous Ainu people. The Okhotsk culture is believed to have originated on Sakhalin and spread south to northern Hokkaido around the fifth century, when Japan was in the kofun period of tumulus mounds. The culture eventually spread to eastern Hokkaido and reached the Chishima archipelago, before disappearing in the 10th century... Some scholars believe the Okhotsk people were the northern race referred to as Ashihase in the ancient chronicle Nihon Shoki, compiled in the eighth century. Studies have also led researchers to small ethnic groups scattered around Sakhalin, Siberia and the islands in the northern parts beyond Hokkaido... Ryuichi Masuda, an associate professor of molecular phylogenetics at Hokkaido University, and Takehiro Sato, a graduate student, have... extracted DNA samples from 37 human remains that were discovered from ruins of the Okhotsk culture and kept at Hokkaido University Museum... Masuda and Sato.. conclude that the Okhotsk people are closest to the Nivkhis, who now live in northern Sakhalin and near the mouth of the Amur river in Siberia. The two also concluded that the Okhotsk people shared a common ancestor with the Ulchis, who live downstream of the Amur river.

[SunkenCiv]

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[yarddog]

I have seen Japanese several times who could almost but not quite pass as Caucasian. The fact that none totally escape a bit of Oriental look is probably important despite the fact that they appear nearly White.

I have also noticed how close Finnish language is to Japanese. I know nothing of either language but so many words appear similar tho the meanings may not have a thing to do with each other.

[redangus]

“The latter part of the kofun period when the Okhotsk culture reached northern Hokkaido was relatively warm. Sea levels were about 1 meter higher than they are now.

In the early part of the Heian Period (794-1185), when the culture spread across Hokkaido, the average annual temperatures were about 2 to 3 degrees higher than they are today.

At that time, on the opposite side of the Eurasia continent, another northern people, the vikings, increased their population due to the warmer weather. The vikings ventured out to sea, conquered various lands in Europe and spread their reach to as far away as Greenland.”

Pardon me if I am missing something, but if the temperatures were 2-3 degrees warmer than today and these people and other around the world prospered then isn’t GW a good thing?

[SunkenCiv]

An online chum told me his family has records of medieval warming-period trade to the east, via the (seasonally thawed) waters of the Arctic Ocean, and through the Bering Strait.

[Question_Assumptions]

I’m sure that there are global warming zealots headed to Japan as we speak to re-educate the writers of that article in the Holy Anthropogenic Global Warming Dogma that says the Medieval Warm Period did not exist or, if it did, it was a phenomena local to small parts of the North Atlantic. Apparently those responsible for scrubbing the world of knowledge of Medieval Warm Period missed Japan.

[gleeaikin]

Global warming may have been a good thing in those days, but I don’t think they had a billion people living at sea level in those days. Also, at its height, water covered half of Florida. I am not saying GW is correct, I am merely pointing out that even a few feet of sea level rise would be devastating or at least dangerous to many millions, including those in New Orleans, Miami, New York, all our East Coast resort areas, and many along the Gulf, etc. I don’t know the West Coast, so make your own list.

[redangus]

Having been in the environmental business for 23 years I have been hearing about GW for many years, and the one thing you never hear from the DBM is that in all those years not one computer model has ever been correct. In fact when they go back and put in the actual facts for the years in question the models go totally to h**l. They also don’t tell you they do not include cloud cover, ocean temperatures or atmospheric concentrations of CO2 into their models, because there is no computer available that can interpolate that data over a long period. If you listen to the GW zealots you will notice they always use words like could, may, is expected, theoretically etc. They use those words because the historical facts do not support their past premises. There has never been a GW computer model that was accurate. That is why they have moved the model years to 50-100 years out. The facts are there has been no warming since 1998, 1998 was not the warmest year in the 20th century, 6 of the 10 warmest temperatures during the last 100 years occurred between, the late 20’s-mid 30’s, the last 3 years has been showing a slight cooling trend, 32,000 PhD, MS, BS hard scientists have signed a petition questioning the whole premise, I could go on, but I imagine you are getting the picture. If I owned ocean front property I wouldn’t be too worried, unless I didn’t enjoy cool breezes coming off the water.