Migrations and our moving ancestors

[Hærfest Leah]

Hope the title fits. Now people move around from place to place so easily how was it for our ancestors? I know there were two main migrations when it comes to Europe, the Migration Period 300-900 CE. Then there was the Puritan migration of Europeans to the US in the 1630 and even thru to the 1900's that they were coming to the US.

How much did they move around in between these times? I've always had the impression that families didn't stray far at all then.

Well while doing my genealogy I was wondering if you have no information to track them after a while (say to Germany and then your stuck) is it logical to assume that your family did indeed reside in one reasonable area or atleast a country for a atleast a few hundred years. Or is there really no way to tell?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migrations_period (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migrations_period)

[Kaylara]

Well, depending on your family and heredity, there may be no actual way to tell... I've been looking into my family's history too, and I can't take past a particular point right now, which is frustrating, but hopefully I'll find one piece of info that will blow the whole thing wide open. :)

[Moon Flower]

When it comes to britain, people have been coming and going for centuries.
The norman conquest brought loads of people in, the saxons before them, the romans before that.
Even now loads of people are coming here.

However, on a TV program, not long ago, they dug up a body from millenia ago. (it was an archaeology program)
They decided to see if the dead man still had relatives in that village.
It turned out he did. In fact they reconstructed his face and found a relative that looked a lot like him.
There have also been recent genetic investigation into how much viking bolld there is here.
There was a fair bit.

I would say that although some people moved a lot, others didn't at all. for centuries.
So, when you have a lack of information, looking back into the history of the last known place might bring something up.

In the end, for any individual, it is impossible to say. But on the whole, a lot of people stayed put.

Good luck with your investigation

[Hærfest Leah]

When it comes to britain, people have been coming and going for centuries.
The norman conquest brought loads of people in, the saxons before them, the romans before that.
Even now loads of people are coming here.

However, on a TV program, not long ago, they dug up a body from millenia ago. (it was an archaeology program)
They decided to see if the dead man still had relatives in that village.
It turned out he did. In fact they reconstructed his face and found a relative that looked a lot like him.
There have also been recent genetic investigation into how much viking bolld there is here.
There was a fair bit.

I would say that although some people moved a lot, others didn't at all. for centuries.
So, when you have a lack of information, looking back into the history of the last known place might bring something up.

In the end, for any individual, it is impossible to say. But on the whole, a lot of people stayed put.

Good luck with your investigation

Interesting stuff, thanks for the input.

[Choro's Mom]

When it comes to britain, people have been coming and going for centuries.
The norman conquest brought loads of people in, the saxons before them, the romans before that.
Even now loads of people are coming here.

However, on a TV program, not long ago, they dug up a body from millenia ago. (it was an archaeology program)
They decided to see if the dead man still had relatives in that village.
It turned out he did. In fact they reconstructed his face and found a relative that looked a lot like him.
There have also been recent genetic investigation into how much viking bolld there is here.
There was a fair bit.

I would say that although some people moved a lot, others didn't at all. for centuries.
So, when you have a lack of information, looking back into the history of the last known place might bring something up.

In the end, for any individual, it is impossible to say. But on the whole, a lot of people stayed put.

Good luck with your investigation

Oh, I remember reading about that; I thought that was really very neat. :smileroll