Germs and ancient migrations help explain our world of haves and have nots

The dramatic decline in the indigenous prehistoric populations of remote Scandinavia — and their subsequent replacement by culturally and genetically dissimilar peoples — mirrored earlier events in other parts of Europe, where a collapse of established neolithic communities 5,000-6,000 years ago is clearly evident in the archaeological record. Diamond summarises his argument in a single sentence: “History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples’ environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves.” Nevertheless, while the recent Swedish study lends support to Diamond’s thesis, other research — such as the persistent findings of cognitive differences between different groups — appear far less compatible with Diamond’s argument, at least as it stands.

Source: geneticliteracyproject.org