Viking Age DNA in Northwest England

[Oresai]

Excavating Past Population Structures by Surname-Based Sampling: The Genetic Legacy of the Vikings in Northwest England

http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/25/2/301?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&minscore=5000&resourcetype=HWCIT

[Oresai]

British history contains several periods of major cultural change. It remains controversial as to how much these periods coincided with substantial immigration from continental Europe, even for those that occurred most recently. In this study, we examine genetic data for evidence of male immigration at particular times into Central England and North Wales. To do this, we used 12 biallelic polymorphisms and six microsatellite markers to define high-resolution Y chromosome haplotypes in a sample of 313 males from seven towns located along an east-west transect from East Anglia to North Wales. The Central English towns were genetically very similar, whereas the two North Welsh towns differed significantly both from each other and from the Central English towns. When we compared our data with an additional 177 samples collected in Friesland and Norway, we found that the Central English and Frisian samples were statistically indistinguishable. Using novel population genetic models that incorporate both mass migration and continuous gene flow, we conclude that these striking patterns are best explained by a substantial migration of Anglo-Saxon Y chromosomes into Central England (contributing 50%–100% to the gene pool at that time) but not into North Wales.


http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/19/7/1008?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&minscore=5000&resourcetype=HWCIT

[Treffie]

Oresai, I'm glad you posted this. The same study discovered an unusual abundance of haplo E1b1b1a2 around the corner in the little town of Abergele in north Wales.


Recent genetic studies as part of the Genetic history of Europe on the y-chromosomes of men in Abergele have revealed that there is a substantial percentage of North African DNA in Abergele. Membership in Y chromosome haplogroup E1b1b1a2 (E-V13) was found to average at 38.97% in male y-chromosomes in Abergele. This genetic marker is found at its highest concentrations in the Balkans at up to approximately 40% in areas, but at much lower percentages in Northern Europe at less than 5%. The reason for the high levels of E1b1b in Abergele is most likely due to the heavy Roman legionary presence in Abergele as most of the Romans that came to Britain did not come from Italy, rather from other parts of the Roman Empire such as North Africa, including eastern Europe. Above average levels of genetic marker E-V13 have been found in other towns in Britain that were known to have had a heavy Roman presence nearly 2000 years ago.

http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/19/7/1008.pdf