MessageToEagle.com – Over the course of history Britain has been invaded on a number of occasions by several ancient civilizations from various corners of the world. Many people in Britain have therefore DNA that can be traced far back to ancient Romans, Vikings, Anglo-Saxons or Normans.
If you are from Britain you might have wondered who your ancestors were. A group of scientists have created the most genetic map of the British Isles that can help people trace their true origin.
In 2004, a group of scientists from the Oxford University started a projected called People of the British Isles (PoBI). By examining differences at more than 500,000 positions in the DNA of more than 2,000 people from the UK, the researchers were able to produce the most detailed genetic map of any country in the world.
The goal of the study was to look for regional differences in genetic patterns and inferred ancestry from various past migrations and the results are now beginning to show how much the popultaion of Britain was influenced by various ancient civilizations.
The result from the study was very intriguing. Scientists were for example able to conclude that Orkney is more genetically distinct from the rest of the UK than any other regions are from each other.
As much as 25% of DNA from Orkney appears to have come from the groups found in Norway. This supports the long-held belief that Norse Vikings settled Orkney, but also shows that the majority of Orcadian ancestry predates this settlement.
However, Orkney was not the only area of the country to have been conquered by Vikings. The Danelaw was a large area of northern and eastern England, ruled over by Danish Vikings. Interestingly, the study found no genetic signature of this, suggesting that the Danelaw was overwhelmingly inhabited by pre-existing English people, and ruled over by a very small number of Danes.
See also:
Picts: Facts And History About Mysterious People Of Northern Scotland
Incredible 5,000-Year-Old Temple Complex In Orkney Could Re-Write History Of Scotland
Another interesting result revealed that Wales differ a lot from the rest of the UK and Cornwall from most of England. DNA showed that “Celtic” groups are all genetically distinct from “Anglo-Saxon” England, but also from each other, and, for example, the Scottish and English are more similar to each other than either is to the Welsh.
People in central, southern and eastern England have much ancestry from pre-Saxon groups, but also 10-40% from continental groups who barely contributed to the Welsh gene-pool at all. It seems altogether very likely that these were the Anglo-Saxons.
The study also found evidence of migrations not found in history books. These include contributions from France, Spain and Scandinavia, after the peopling of Britain, but probably before the Saxon invasions, and even a later one from France into Wales which didn’t seem to go through England.
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