http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3407267/The-English-one-Anglo-Saxon-Study-reveals-time-immigrants-mixed-British-population.htmlAnglo-Saxon immigrants genetically similar to modern Dutch and Danish
Contributed 38% of the DNA of modern people from East England
Figure dropped to 30% for modern Welsh and Scottish
For the first time, researchers have been able to directly estimate the Anglo-Saxon ancestry of the British population from ancient skeletons.
Human remains excavated from burial sites near Cambridge provided the material for the first whole-genome sequences of ancient British DNA.
Using a new analysis method to compare these ancient genomes with modern-day sequences, researchers have estimated that approximately a third of British ancestors were Anglo-Saxon immigrants.
An Anglo-Saxon woman is carefully excavated from a fifth and sixth century burial ground in Oakington. DNA from Cambridgeshire archaeological sites were sequenced to reveal Anglo-Saxon immigration history in England.
An Anglo-Saxon woman is carefully excavated from a fifth and sixth century burial ground in Oakington. DNA from Cambridgeshire archaeological sites were sequenced to reveal Anglo-Saxon immigration history in England.
WHAT THEY FOUND
Modern British and continental European genomes from the UK10K project and the 1000 Genomes Project were compared with the genomes from the ancient skeletons.
Researchers discovered that the Anglo-Saxon immigrants were genetically very similar to modern Dutch and Danish, and that they contributed 38% of the DNA of modern people from East England, and 30% for modern Welsh and Scottish.
The Anglo-Saxons first settled in the South East of England so this pattern is consistent with their migration pattern.
According to historical accounts and archaeology, the Anglo-Saxons migrated to Britain from continental Europe from the 5th Century AD.
They brought with them a new culture, social structure and language.
Recently excavated skeletons dating to the late Iron Age and from the Anglo-Saxon period gave researchers the opportunity to solve this question with genomics.
'By sequencing the DNA from ten skeletons from the late Iron Age and the Anglo-Saxon period, we obtained the first complete ancient genomes from Great Britain,' said Dr Stephan Schiffels, first author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridgeshire and the Max Plank Institute in Germany.
'Comparing these ancient genomes with sequences of hundreds of modern European genomes, we estimate that 38% of the ancestors of the English were Anglo-Saxons.
'This is the first direct estimate of the impact of immigration into Britain from the 5th to 7th Centuries AD and the traces left in modern England.'
It is nearly 13 centuries since the English nation first appeared in the historical record thanks to the Venerable Bede, the monk who chronicled how the Anglo-Saxons moved to Britain and became Christian.
Previous DNA studies have relied entirely on modern DNA and suggested anything between 10% and 95% contribution to the population.
One such study suggested that Anglo Saxons didn't mix with the native population, staying segregated.
However, this newly published study uses ancient genetic information and disproves the earlier idea, showing just how integrated the people of Britain were.
The ancient skeletons from Cambridgeshire were carbon dated, proving they were from the late Iron Age (approximately 50BC) and from the Anglo-Saxon era (around 500-700 AD).
