I live in Australia and I'm descended from the Quine/Cowell/Quirk families on the Isle of Man. Interestingly I have an email friend in Iceland and we've often discussed that we might have common bloodlines. She was always taught that Iceland was settled by the Vikings and it's generally thought in Iceland that the Vikings also settled in parts of Britain, the Isle of Man and in Ireland, but in Iceland before they moved to Britain. I once saw a TV program about the Vikings and the remains of Viking longships have been found in various parts of the world, including Ireland. I also understood that the Celts travelled in the opposite direction to the Vikings, passing them along the way. The Vikings travelled to Europe and the Middle East, as well as to America in search of riches, including gold from the monasteries in Europe.

The Vikings also settled a lot of the western part of what is now Russia. I also have a Russian email friend and we've also discussed this.

Whilst we may think that 2 people living in Iceland and Australia are at opposite ends of the earth, how exciting to think that we might have common ancestors. Anthropology is one of my amateur interests. A global village indeed.