Mr Llywelyn's article shows the Basques are also closely related to the Welsh. He quotes Professor David Goldstein of University College London. "On the Y-chromosome the Celtic population turn out to be statistically indistinguishable from the Basques." The Basques, he says, are the descendants of the same Palaeolithic hunters from Siberia as the Welsh. The Welsh, however, adopted a Celtic language but the Basques retained their original language. Mr Llywelyn says: "The first significant fact is that the Welsh are considerably older than thought and are not, as previously believed, the result of a wave of Celts who spread across Europe a few centuries BC. "The second is that Welsh culture therefore is a continuous development over the ages and not a series of invasions. Continuity ought to be the main theme of Welsh history." Mr Llywelyn goes on "The chromosomes also give a clear picture of another period in Welsh history - the Dark Ages. After the Romans left Britain there was an invasion of newcomers from the continent which was responsible for destroying between 50pc to 100pc of the native inhabitants. Only the genetic barrier of Offa's Dyke saved the Welsh from a similar fate." Researchers at the University of London Centre for Genetic Anthropology compared the population on both sides of Offa's Dyke. All on the English side showed the same characteristics as those of people from the continental region from which the Saxons are presumed to originate. "Those on the Welsh side were completely different. According to Dr Mark Thomas it appears that England was created by an ethnic cleansing event by people crossing from the continent after the Romans left." 10 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT SIBERIA 1. The capital is Novosibirsk. 2. If you don't like Novosibirsk, you can catch the Trans-Siberian express, which would take you to Moscow or China, or even Rhyl if you don't mind changing trains. 3. The train journey to Moscow takes about 51 hours. 4. The train journey to Rhyl takes longer. 5. Chelsea's new mega-rich owner Roman Abramowich is governor of the Chukotka region of Siberia. 6. In 1908, a massive explosion occurred in the skies over Siberia. It turned out to be an asteroid breaking up - although some UFO enthusiasts insist it was the crashing of a nuclear-powered spacecraft. 7. The Siberian Tiger is the largest living cat in the world. There are probably no more than 200 left in the wild. 8. The Siberian Taiga is the largest forest in the world. 9. In February 1933, the temperature in Oimyakon, Siberia plunged to -90 Fahrenheit (-68 Celsius), the world's lowest temperature outside of Gwynedd. 10. Rasputin was born in 1864 in Pokrovskoe, Siberia. If this had not happened, we might never have heard of Boney M. | 
