re: #232 freetoken

The ancient line of Russian royalty has Norse roots. Though later they would fight wars against Swedes, etc., it should be noted that what we think of as Russia today is an agglomeration of many lands comprising many peoples originating from ancient hunter gatherer groups as well as the farming invasion from the south. There is a history, sort of but with missing pieces, of this: The Rus People.

Contemporary genomics isn’t as widespread in Russia as it is in the US or NW Europe, but I’m pretty sure that over time DNA testing will reveal many interesting things about “Russians”.

You know there’s an interesting picture of Nicholas II and George V(I believe) of England on the eve of WWI. The two are wearing a military officer’s uniform of the other’s nation and the two look virtually identical. It’s funny that here in the US we associate inbreeding with poverty and low class but in Europe, Queen Victoria had the well earned title “The Grandmother of Europe.” Kaiser Wilhelm was also a first cousin of Nicholas and George.