Iceland and Genetic Studies

[Gooding]

Iceland seems to be a country where anything potentially useful in academia or anything else is going to be used and this includes genetic studies. It hasn't been without friction among the Icelandic rank and file, however:http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27903831. People from the northern areas of Europe seem to be specially zealous in protecting their privacy and that legitimately can include sharing genetic information which can prove to be extremely useful and not only on genealogical fronts.

[Neon Knight]

Genetic plot for Icelanders, Norwegians and Scots:

http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu295/Alchemyst/GeneticMapofIcelandmodern.jpg

We can see that after about 1000 years of isolation the Icelanders have genetically drifted away somewhat from their origins.

A collection of various studies: http://dienekes.blogspot.nl/search/label/Iceland

"Based on the available data, the optimal linear combination yielded an estimate of 64% Norse and 36% Scottish ancestry, with a standard error of less than 2%. [...] For each region, the estimate of Norse ancestry was between 62% and 65%, with a standard error of less than 2% (except region 1, for which we obtained 61% with a standard error of less than 3%).

Admixture took place so long ago, that it has spread evenly across Iceland, with no regions being particularly "Norse" or "Scottish" in ancestry. But, while the ancestral components are regionally the same, it is clear from the accuracy of region estimates that the various populations of Icelanders have not been panmictic, and thus some barriers to gene flow even in this very homogeneous population has allowed for the emergence of regional structure."

Whether they can tell the difference between Scottish and Irish seems doubtful but I would guess the Norse Vikings picked up slaves from both Scotland and Ireland (especially Ulster).

Also: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-incest-is-best-kissi/

[Grace O'Malley]

Genetic plot for Icelanders, Norwegians and Scots:

http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu295/Alchemyst/GeneticMapofIcelandmodern.jpg

We can see that after about 1000 years of isolation the Icelanders have genetically drifted away somewhat from their origins.

A collection of various studies: http://dienekes.blogspot.nl/search/label/Iceland

"Based on the available data, the optimal linear combination yielded an estimate of 64% Norse and 36% Scottish ancestry, with a standard error of less than 2%. [...] For each region, the estimate of Norse ancestry was between 62% and 65%, with a standard error of less than 2% (except region 1, for which we obtained 61% with a standard error of less than 3%).

Admixture took place so long ago, that it has spread evenly across Iceland, with no regions being particularly "Norse" or "Scottish" in ancestry. But, while the ancestral components are regionally the same, it is clear from the accuracy of region estimates that the various populations of Icelanders have not been panmictic, and thus some barriers to gene flow even in this very homogeneous population has allowed for the emergence of regional structure."

Whether they can tell the difference between Scottish and Irish seems doubtful but I would guess the Norse Vikings picked up slaves from both Scotland and Ireland (especially Ulster).

Also: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-incest-is-best-kissi/

All 4 members of my family have Iceland in their COA which I suppose is not too surprising as it is known that a lot of the original population of Iceland were actually Hiberno-Norse. A lot of the people who populated Iceland had already spent some time in Ireland and this is why they have shared ancestry.

There was a Hiberno-Norse network which more centred on the east coast of Ireland, the Irish Sea and West Scottish islands but there were Viking settlements in other areas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse%E2%80%93Gaels