eric/anna/dianne/cardikel, page-26

re: ridge Snooker, Oh Boy and others this made very interesting reading thanks.

Ridge regarding Viking and Britain something I found:

The survey
The UCL genetics survey set out to discover if any genetic traces of the Vikings remained in the British Isles - and what this might reveal about the Viking Age. We hoped to find out where Vikings settled and roughly how significant those settlements were. DNA samples were taken from men at a number of sites. In the main, small towns were chosen and the men tested were required to be able to trace their male line back two generations in the same rural area - within 20 miles of the town chosen. The aim was to reduce the effects of later population movements, assuming that in between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the 20th century movement would have been limited.
The tests looked at the Y chromosome, which is only carried by men. This chromosome is particularly useful for population genetics studies as it is passed directly from father to son with virtually no alteration. Other chromosomes exist in pairs, one member of which is passed on from the mother and the other from the father. But because women do not carry a Y chromosome, geneticists can always be sure that this part of a man's DNA has come from his father, and from his grandfather before him. This chromosome allows geneticists to begin to unravel the male ancestry of the British Isles.
Samples taken in modern day Norway were used to represent the Norwegian Vikings, and samples from Denmark represented the Danish input. The population of the British Isles before the invasions of the Saxons was considered to be the Ancient Britons, which would include the Celts.
The Blood of the Vikings Genetics Survey at UCL (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/biology/goldstein/Gold.htm) was headed by Professor David Goldstein. The members of the research team were Cristian Capelli, Nicola Redhead, Julia Abernethy, Neil Bradman and Jim Wilson. Extra sampling was done in the Wirral by Prof Steve Harding and in the Channel Islands by Frank Falle.
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North and East England
Testing sites:
Uttoxeter (Staffordshire), Penrith (Cumbria), Morpeth (Northumberland), Horncastle (Lincolnshire), York (North Yorkshire), Sheringham (Norfolk), Wirral
Difficulties arose early on in the Blood of the Vikings survey as the geneticists tried to establish differences between DNA taken in Denmark (representative of Danish Vikings), Schleswig-Holstein and Northern Saxony (representative of the invading Angles and Saxons respectively, groups who invaded England in the 5th century AD). The two regions of Europe these settlers came from are very close, so it is not surprising their DNA is so similar. Because of this set-back the team at UCL was forced to take a different approach. By referring to both the Danish and Saxon DNA as 'invaders' a comparison could then be made against how much Ancient Briton (or Celtic) DNA was found.
The results were interesting. England (and most of mainland Scotland) were a mixture of Angles, Saxons, Danish Vikings and Ancient Britons. The highest percentage of DNA signatures from the invading groups (Angles, Saxons and Danish Vikings) was found in the North and East of England. Interestingly the place with the highest 'invader input' was York, a well-known Viking settlement site.
There was one result in the North and East of England which did not fit this pattern. In Penrith a significant proportion of the men tested had Norwegian DNA signatures on their Y chromosomes. It seems likely that the Norwegian Vikings who travelled along the sea road from Shetland down to the Isle of Man may well have stopped off in Cumbria. It may also have been a safe haven for Vikings expelled from Dublin at the beginning of the 10th century. This finding fits in remarkably well with archaeological finds of Viking burials, Norse-style place-names and stone sculpture. The input of the Angles and Saxons, who arrived in England in the 5th century AD, were represented by DNA samples from Schleswig-Holstein and Northern Saxony respectively.
The Vikings are also though to have settled in the north of the Wirral, but not to have reached as far as the south of this region. The evidence comes from place-names, archaeological finds on the coast and sculpture - although there isn't as much as in Cumbria. Samples were collected in the Wirral by a local man, Prof Stephen Harding from Nottingham University, and two of his students. However, the analysis by Golstein's lab was unable to see a significant difference between the north and south of this region, in terms of the Norwegian DNA. It appeared very similar to the rest of England, but very different from nearby North Wales, which is mostly Ancient Briton (Celtic).
Prof Harding is conducting a new Y-chromosome survey involving Nottingham colleague Prof Judith Jesch and Dr. Mark Jobling of Leicester University based on a list of surnames of all people in Wirral in 1542. The new survey will also include West Lancashire which, based on place name evidence, was also populated by Vikings. For more information, visit the University of Nottingham's website (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~sczsteve/survey.htm).
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South and West England
Testing sites:
Dorchester (Dorset), Midhurst (West Sussex), Faversham (Kent), Penzance (Cornwall)
Difficulties arose early on in the Blood of the Vikings survey as the geneticists tried to establish differences between DNA taken in Denmark (representative of Danish Vikings), Schleswig-Holstein and Northern Saxony (representative of the invading Angles and Saxons respectively, groups who invaded England in the 5th century AD). The two regions of Europe these settlers came from are very close, so it is not surprising their DNA is so similar. Because of this set-back the team at UCL was forced to take a different approach. By referring to both the Danish and Saxon DNA as 'invaders' a comparison could then be made against how much Ancient Briton (or Celtic) DNA was found.
Like in the North and East of England, a mixture of Angles, Saxons, Danish Vikings, and Ancient Britons were found in the South and West of England. But the percentage of DNA from the 'invaders' (Angles, Saxons and Danish Vikings) decreased as the test sites moved towards the south coast and Cornwall (the most Ancient Briton/Celtic part of England). It seems this part of the country has more genetic input from the Ancient Britons than the North and East of England. Curiously, mainland Scotland was not appreciably more Ancient Briton (Celtic) than southern England.
Scotland
Testing sites:
Durness (Highlands), Kirkwall (Orkney), Oban (Argyll), Pitlochry (Perthshire), Stonehaven (Aberdeenshire), Lerwick (Shetland), Lewis, Harris, Uist
The UCL team encountered difficulties in distinguishing between the DNA of Saxon and Danish invaders. The Saxons and Angles arrived in the 5th century AD. They came from northern Saxony, just to the south of Denmark, so it is not surprising that DNA samples from this region are very similar to that of the Danes. In mainland Scotland, as in England, these groups were lumped together as 'invaders' (Angles, Saxons and Danish Vikings). Most of mainland Scotland did contain some evidence for these invading groups, with the results being remarkably similar for this part of Scotland as for the South of England.
The outlying Scottish isles provided the most conclusive evidence of a Viking presence. In the Northern and Western Isles, as well as in the far north of the Scottish mainland, Norwegian genetic signatures were found. In Shetland and Orkney 60% of the male population had DNA of Norwegian origin, most probably passed on from the Vikings. Here the Y chromosomes of the rest of the population could be identified as similar to those of the Ancient Britons (Celts) - no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon or Danish influx was found.
In a special case study, Jim Wilson looked more closely at his native Orkney. It's known that immigration from Scotland occurred in centuries between the end of direct rule from Norway and the 20th Century. The extent of this immigration could have distorted our results significantly, so Jim focussed on a sub-group who had ancient Orcadian names which would date back roughly to the time of the end of Norwegian rule. He discovered that when he did this, the proportion of Norwegian Y chromosomes increased. While it's difficult to put an exact figure on it, we can say that as a result of Jim's study, Viking input in Orkney was somewhere between 60-100%. This figure does not rule out complete replacement of the indigenous Picts by Vikings - the genocide theory suggested by Brian Smith from his study of place-names.
In the Western Isles traces of Norwegian settlers were also prominent, although not in quite such high numbers as in the Northern Isles. Over 30% of the men tested in the Hebrides showed evidence of Norwegian ancestry in their DNA. The DNA results supported the historical and archaeological record, which shows the Vikings travelling from Norway across to the Northern Isles of Scotland, then around the west coast and into the Irish Sea.
Wales
Testing sites:
Llanidloes (Powys), Haverfordwest (Pembrokeshire), Anglesey
As in England the DNA typically found in Wales either had an Ancient Briton (Celtic) signature or had the signature of the 'invading' populations (Angles, Saxons and Danish Vikings). Large parts of Wales, in particular in the western area of the country, were virtually entirely Ancient Briton, suggesting no Vikings settled in these regions.
In central Wales, there was a significant amount of 'invading' DNA found. But the geneticists were unable to distinguish individual DNA types within this 'invading' population. A representative sample of Danish Vikings DNA came from Denmark, while that of the Saxons, invaders in the 5th century, came from Saxony. These two types of DNA were indistinguishable. So, in Wales, it is impossible to know whether the DNA of these 'invaders' reached east Wales as a results of Viking settlement or Anglo-Saxon settlement.
Isle of Man
Testing sites:
Ramsey
The genetics results from the Isle of Man show the Norwegian Vikings to have travelled right down from Shetland and Orkney, past the Hebrides, and into the Irish Sea. Of the men tested in the Isle of Man over 15% had Norwegian DNA signatures. This is not as high as in the Hebrides (over 30%) or Shetland, Orkney and the far north of the Scottish mainland (60%), but is still a significant proportion and suggests the Vikings did also settle here. The rest of the DNA sampled in the Isle of Man had an Ancient Briton (Celtic) or Anglo-Saxon/Danish signature.
Ireland
Testing sites:
Rush (north county of Dublin, Eire), Castlerea (Roscommon - Eire)
Samples were taken at two sites in Ireland. Castlerea, a site right in the heart of rural Ireland, was the first to be tested. Unsurprisingly, analysis of the DNA samples from the area within 20 miles of this small Irish town turned out to be almost completely of Ancient Briton (Celtic) ancestry. Historians had never suggested the Vikings had settled this far inland, so the UCL team was expecting this result. It provided a very useful reference for an example of an 'Ancient Briton' population. However the other testing site was quite different.
The team had chosen to sample within a 20 mile radius of Rush, in the north county of Dublin. They wanted to see if the Vikings had settled around Dublin, as history claims. The city is known to have been a very important Viking trading centre and town. The Irish historical record is supported by archaeological excavations undertaken near the River Liffey which revealed large numbers of Viking artefacts and suggested a prosperous trading site had existed here.
Because of the large amount of mixing of different populations which has happened in Dublin over the past centuries, the geneticists needed to take samples from another area, close by. They thought the rural area around Rush was such that the genetic contribution of people whose families went back two generations in the area would not have been influenced by later immigration. But it also seemed close enough to Dublin to give a picture of what might have been happening in this region during the Viking Age.
When the DNA samples from Rush were analysed it seemed there was virtually no genetic contribution from Norway here either. So how can we explain these similar results from both Rush and Castlerea? Perhaps the Vikings who settled Dublin never settled outside the city walls, so their genetic inheritance does not spread as far as Rush. Or perhaps they did move outside Dublin, but not into Rush. But because of the difficulties of finding suitable people to sample within Dublin itself, we may never find their genetic legacy here.
Channel Islands
Testing sites:
Jersey, Guernsey
The Channel Islands were once part of Normandy, a region of France founded by the Norwegian Viking Rollo. With the help of local historian Frank Fale, the UCL team decided to test the people of Jersey and Guernsey to see if any evidence of these early Viking settlers in France could be found in their DNA. The volunteers were split into two groups, those with Norman surnames, and those with English surnames.
The DNA of those with non-Norman surnames was found to be very similar to that from men in England. This was a mixture of Ancient Briton with those of the 'invading' populations. These invaders included both the Angles and Saxons who arrived in England in the 5th and 6th centuries and the Danish Vikings. These two types of DNA could not be distinguished but, like men tested in England, Channel Islanders with English surnames had a significant proportion of DNA from these 'invaders'.
The DNA of those with Norman surnames was markedly different. These men were found to be very similar to the Ancient Britons. But on top of this ancestry was a hint of the Norwegian DNA signature, indicating that Rollo could possibly have had an effect on the genes of people from the Channel Islands today.
This page can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/vikings/genetics_results_01.shtml
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