Loborubro writes:
> .. > .. The Indo-European speaking migrants did not enter
> .. > .. a cultural vacuum in the Mediterranean basin.
> .. > .. Population flow from North Africa to Southern
> .. > .. Europe goes back into pre-history, if I understand
> .. > .. correctly. These non-Indo-European migrants into the
> .. > .. region, even if they lacked the political power needed
> .. > .. to change the language in use, would have brought
> .. > .. their culture with them.
> .. To what extent?
S/he's kidding me, right? I'm serious, here. I really am wondering if
what I am seeing here is an elaborate put-on, and I just haven't had
enough of a sense of humor to pick up on it. It wouldn't be the first
time.
I wonder if Loborubro has ever been to the United States, or any other
place that has seen a series of waves of immigration. One can barely hold
a conversation, or even order dinner, without seeing the imprint of those
previous waves. Go into the Jewel, and watch the Zapotec produce manager
look on in bewilderment, as he confronts a line of infuriated pale-skinned
customers, who can't believe that he doesn't understand the significance
of not ordering pumpkins in November. "But it's not Halloween", he says,
as somebody tries to explain to him what "pumpkin pie" is. Note that this
originally English dish, is now spiked with a German spice combination,
and apparently will now be counterfeited with a African-American
substitution of sweet potatoes, as the predominantly bilingual,
often Slavic speaking clientele replaces the bell peppers which they were
hoping that they were going to be able to put into their tomato-based
gravy, with the poblano chilis that our Zapotec manager has heard of,
going on to find a nice jar of lingonberry preserves from Sweden to go
with their plum pierogis, because the plums were bland this year.
What impact have those waves of immigrants had on the local culture?!
Que? Surely somebody must be joking.
Ask an Anthropologist, and he will tell you that that Southern Europe, in
all likelihood, was settled from North Africa originally, not Central
Asia. Travel, even then, was by boat - there are signs of primitive travel
by sea going back tens of thousands of years. This was the preferred
method of travel during the classical period for obvious reasons:
- Sails don't work very well on land.
- It is much easier to lie in wait for an unsuspecting traveler
on land, than at sea. Brigandry (and the slaughter of those
passing without the local tribal ruler's permission) made
travel by land dangerous.
End result: In the Mediterranean world, the sea was a highway, not a
barrier. One traveled between Roman and Alexandria with far greater
ease, than one traveled between Rome and Germany, or Alexandria and the
African interior. Speaking of "Indo-Europeans" (or Aryans, if one
prefers) and Semites makes little sense in such a setting. The gene pools
were sloshing around too much, from early on. One might add, that they
sloshed with greater vigor during the Imperial period, when veterans of
the Roman army were given land on retirement. During the late imperial
period, the Roman army had a large North African contingent, meaning that
the farmer who was given a farm near Nimes, very often had come from
Carthage. Nor did this end with antiquity.
I'm amazed that Loborubro, who apparently comes from Portugal, judging
from his (or her) e-mail address, hasn't though of the most obvious
objection : the Arab conquest of Iberia, which came far more recently than
even the Germanic invasions, with migrants in far greater numbers. There
is even an expression that comes out of it : "Old Christian", one who is
not of partially Islamic or Jewish extraction. This, apparently, was a
term used with some snobbish pride in Spain, because most of the
population couldn't claim it. (The US equivalent, in social terms, would
be "Mayflower descendent). So much for Indo-European purity.
How does one manage to live in an Iberian country, and not notice the
Moorish impact on the culture? It is like a fish not noticing the sea.
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