Greek Racial Purity
This website shows that Greeks of today, are scientifically proven to be direct blooded descendants of the great ancient Greeks.
A common myth that persists among some today, is that modern Greeks of today, are not descendants of ancient Greeks, because the Greeks of ancient times were supposedly ''blond haired, blue eyed Germanic'' people that originally came from Northern Europe. And that when the Ottoman Turks came and occupied Greece for 400 years, they supposedly breed with Greek women, and that’s why the Greeks of today generally have dark brown or black hair and dark eyes.
Others myths spread, are that today's Greek population is simply made of Slavs and Albanians.
However recent DNA testing on ancient Greeks, by the Harvard University, shows that most modern Greeks are indeed the descendants of ancient Greeks.
Also famous Anthropologist Scientists (people that study humans) such as John Lawrence Angel, Giuseppe Sergi and Carleton Coon and others, show that modern Greeks are a racial continuation from ancient Greeks.
DNA testing proves that modern Greeks are descendants of ancient Greeks
DNA testing on ancient Greeks, by Harvard University shows that most modern Greeks are indeed the descendants of Mycenaean Greeks with only a small proportion of DNA from later migrations into Greece.
DNA testing proves modern Greeks are not descendants of Slavs
German historian Jacob Philipp Fallmerayer proposed that the medieval Peloponnesians were totally extinguished by Slavic and Avar invaders and replaced by Slavic settlers during the 6th century AD in the Peloponnese (South region of Greece).
DNA testing has shown that this is not the case. The Slavic mix in the Peloponnesian population only ranges for 0.2% to 14.4%. In other words, from non-existent, to very small. The study also shows Peloponnesians had very similar DNA to Italians and Sicilians.
Anthropologists
Biological Anthropologist, Professor John Lawrence Angel
John Lawrence Angel studied skeletal material from the Palaeolithic times (pre 12,000 years ago) to modern times, and participated in examinations of skeletal material throughout the East Mediterranean. With respect to Greece, he found that the morphological types already established in the third millennium BC, if not before that, persisted in all subsequent ages. Thus, he emphasized the racial continuity of Greeks, stating: “Racial continuity in Greece is striking.”
Anthropologist, Professor Giuseppe Sergi
Italian Anthropologist, Giuseppe Sergi, also shares the same opinion when he states, "...types of Greek and Roman statuary (statues) which, though in the case of divinities they may be conventionalised, do not in the slightest degree recall the features of a northern [European] race; …. "When looking at classical sculpture one sees a very Mediterranean people. Curly thick hair, low smooth foreheads, fleshy faces, round chins, a somewhat broad face, a large fleshy straight nose, full lips as well as almond shaped eyes are seen among the beautiful sculptures of the Greeks. These descriptions would never be taken to characterize someone of Germanic decent. Germanic or Nordic (Northern European) men are defined as having sharp angular features; thin straight noses, many ending in an upturned point, high cheek bones, thin lips, high mounded foreheads, fine straight blond hair, and eyes that are more round then almond in shape. Germanic men are seen as having sharp, hard faces, whereas the ancient Greeks have a much rounder, fuller, softer face. When looking at [ancient] Greek sculpture one would never take its subjects to be Germanic, but instantly recognize them as Greek."
Physical Anthropologist, Professor Carleton Coon
"It is inaccurate to say that the modern Greeks are different physically from the ancient Greeks; such a statement is based on an ignorance of the Greek ethnic character…. The Greeks, in short, are a blend of [sub]racial types, of which two are most important: the Atlanto-Mediterranean and the Alpine. Dinaricism here is present, but not all pervading; true Alpines are commoner than complete Dinarics. The Nordic element is weak, as it probably has been since the days of Homer. The racial type to which Socrates belonged [Alpine] is today the most important, while the Atlanto-Mediterranean, prominent in Greece since the Bronze Age, is still a major factor. It is my personal reaction to the living Greeks that their continuity with their ancestors of the ancient world is remarkable, rather than the opposite."
Anthropologist, Professor Aris Poulianos
Professor Aris Poulianos, who wrote his famous thesis called ''The origin of Greeks'', at the Moscow Institute of Anthropology wrote ''...This historical continuity [of ancient Greeks with modern Greeks] is also proved by the comparison of the contemporary inhabitants with those of the ancients skulls of Greece, which statistically show no differences. Despite the occasional influences and limited migrations of the populations, the anthropological research has shown that the population of Greece is basically native and the contemporary (modern) Greeks are descendants of the ancient peoples who resided in the Greek peninsula.''
Anthropologist, Professor Roland Dixon
The American anthropologist Roland Dixon, in his book ''The Racial History of Man'' on page 94, says that the Dorian Greeks, whom were the ancestors of the
Spartans, were racially Alpine like the majority of Greeks are today,
rather than Nordic.
He states, ''The evidence for the Alpine character of the Dorians is twofold... Here [Southern Peloponnese] are what are suppose to be the purest descendants of the Dorians, and their measurements show that the dominant factor is of Alpine type...''
Alpine (Sparta)
Dinaric (Epirus)
Mediterranean (Crete)
West Asia Minor
Ancient Greek sculptures compare to Modern Greeks
However one would not even need anthropologists to tell you that modern Greeks are direct blooded descendants of ancient Greeks.
All you need to do is look at ancient sculptures from ancient Greece. And you’ll find that the facial features of these ancient Greek sculptures, contain the same facial features that modern Greeks have which are: low smooth foreheads, fleshy faces, round chins, a somewhat broad face, a large fleshy straight nose, full lips, and not the features that Nordic (Northern) Europeans have, which are: thin straight noses, many ending in an upturned point, high cheek bones, thin lips, high mounded foreheads.
To test whether ancient and modern Greeks look alike, Dienekes Pontikos (More can be read about him at www.nature.com/news/2010/101215/full/468880a.html) created averaged faces of 16 modern Greeks (Greek football players from the 2002-2003 Champions League) and of 16 ancient Greeks (from ancient marble portraits), using Morpher, a software package for morphing. The results are shown below:
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Near exact Identical features shown here between the ancient Greek and modern Greek.
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A further image was created with the left side taken from the ancient average and the right one taken from the modern one. Again, features look near exactly identical.
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Hercules – Has facial features completely identical to many modern Greek males.
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Left: Greek from Tinos, 1911. Right: Greek sculpture of Diadoumenos, 430 BC
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Left: Poseidon of Artemision. Right: Old Cretan Man
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Modern Greek with ancient Greek statue.Click on picture to enlarge
Left: Minoan Painting of a Greek woman. Right: Modern Greek woman
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Greek women through the ages: Minoan, Cycladic, Mycenaean, Classical, Modern
DNA testing proves modern Greeks are descendants of ancient Greeks
DNA testing on ancient Greeks, by Harvard University shows that most modern Greeks are indeed the descendants of Mycenaean Greeks with only a small proportion of DNA from later migrations into Greece.
So why do Greeks look like some Turks?
The reason for this, is not because the Ottoman Turks supposedly raped all the Greek women when they occupied Greece for 400 years. The reason for this, is because during the occupation under the Turks, due to persecution and pressure, many weaker Greeks converted to Islam, therefore under the Turkish government’s ‘’Millet system’’ at the time, which identified a person by religion rather than race, these Greeks that converted to Islam, became recognised as Turks.
Hence why it should be said that many Turks look like Greeks, and not the other way around. Because many modern Turks are in fact Greek blooded Muslims.
It should also be noted that the Turks were originally Mongols from Mongolia. From the 6th-8th century AD, they began to migrate west slowly through Asia, eventually reaching what is now Modern Turkey around the 11 century AD. As they moved through the Middle East, they mixed with Arabs and than eventually, after conquering Greece and occupying it for 400 years, many Greeks and Armenians became Turks after converting to Islam.
Because of this, Turks have a sizable amount of Mongolian and Arabic blood in them. If Greek DNA really is influenced by Turkish blood, you’d think that Greeks would have a sizable amount of Arabic and Mongolian blood in them as well.
Because of this, Turks have a sizable amount of Mongolian and Arabic blood in them. If Greek DNA really is influenced by Turkish blood, you’d think that Greeks would have a sizable amount of Arabic and Mongolian blood in them as well.
Therefore the above studies clearly prove that modern Greeks are in fact descendants of the great ancient Greeks.
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