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How to understand the phrase in bold in other words especially the meaning of "taking over", in this article?

Lynx is thought to have gone by the 10th Century, in England at least. It is thought that the Neolithic settlers mingling with peoples already present or taking over, came from the continent and brought their own animals;

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    That is not good English. Poor punctuation. Also, 'Lynx' needs an article.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 15:55
  • Link to the text bellaonline.com/articles/art4944.asp
    – Jane
    Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 15:57
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    This is clumsy writing "The last English wolf in England was probably killed and the population extinct by the 16th century", That article is very poor English. Possibly by a non-native speaker, or a schoolchild.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 16:19
  • 2
    "The last English wolf in England"... sounds like a very early Brexit supporter.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 20:03
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    Not an answer because I don't have a source, but it sounds like the Neolithic settlers were mixing with "people who were there already" as well as "other people who had recently invaded (?) and were seeking to take over" the country. And those Neolithic people brought their own animals.
    – seventyeightist
    Commented Feb 9, 2019 at 20:09

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This sentence isn't 100% clear as it is written. It needs at least one comma.

I think it should be:

"It is thought that the Neolithic settlers[comma], mingling with peoples already present[comma], or taking over, came from the continent and brought their own animals..."

In other words, Neolithic settlers came to England from the Continent. Either they mingled with the people already there, or they "took over" (displaced and/or eventually eliminated those other people), and they brought their own animals with them from the Continent.

Another possible meaning is that the Neolithic settlers came into England. There were other people either already in England or coming very soon to take over. The Neolithics brought their own animals when they mingled with those other people in England.

This interpretation only requires 1 comma:

"It is thought that the Neolithic settlers[comma], mingling with peoples already present or taking over, came from the continent and brought their own animals..."

Hard to be sure if you don't know the history, but either way, the point is a lot of the native animals disappeared because of the imported ones.

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