Genetics and the Anglo-Saxon Migrations

This is fascinating.

Who are the English, Scots and Welsh? Did the Anglo-Saxons wipe out the Romano-British population or intermarry with them? Did the Romans or the Vikings leave behind any genetic legacy in the English population? How related are the Scots-Irish to the English?

Oxford University:

“The genetic map of Britain shows that most of the eastern, central and southern parts of England form a single genetic group with between 10 and 40 per cent Anglo-Saxon ancestry. However, people in this cluster also retain DNA from earlier settlers. The invaders did not wipe out the existing population; instead, they seem to have integrated with them. …”

The Telegraph:

“Britons are still living in the same ‘tribes’ that they did in the 7th Century, Oxford University has found after an astonishing study into our genetic make-up.

Archaeologists and geneticists were amazed to find that genetically similar individuals inhabit the same areas they did following the Anglo-Saxon invasion, following the fall of the Roman Empire.

In fact, a map showing tribes of Britain in 600AD is almost identical to a new chart showing genetic variability throughout the UK, suggesting that local communities have stayed put for the past 1415 years.

Many people in Britain claim to feel a strong sense of regional identity and scientists say they the new study proves that the link to birthplace is DNA deep. …

Geneticist Professor Sir Walter Bodmer of Oxford University said: “What it shows is the extraordinary stability of the British population. Britain hasn’t changed much since 600AD.

“When we plotted the genetics on a map we got this fantastic parallel between areas and genetic similarity.

“When we plotted the genetics on a map we got this fantastic parallel between areas and genetic similarity. …

And the research has finally answered the question of whether the Romans, Vikings and Anglo-Saxons interbred with the Britons or wiped out communities.

The team found that people in central and southern England have a significant DNA contribution from the Anglo-Saxons showing that the invaders intermarried with, rather than replaced, the existing population. …”

Independent:

“The results are astonishing. They show how Britons in different parts of the country have evolved in relative isolation, for a combination of geographical, cultural, and linguistic reasons, over huge periods of time. We may think of the modern era as one of unrivalled mobility, but for much of our history Britons have proved champions at staying put.

One distinct genetic group can only be seen in what is now West Yorkshire. This is deeply puzzling. But the historians and archaeologists in our project eventually worked out that after the decline of the Roman Empire there was a Celtic Kingdom, called Elmet, exactly in this region. It seems the genetic patterns we see today have been shaped by the geopolitical landscape of millennia gone by.

Another Celtic Kingdom, Rheged, matched a genetic group in modern Cumbria. There were also separate Celtic Kingdoms at that time in North and South Wales (Gwynedd and Dyfed), where we found different genetic groups.

As for the Kingdom of Dalriada, which flourished in 550AD in what is now Northern Ireland and Western Scotland, we found a contemporary genetic group matching that, too. …”