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Genomic signals of migration and continuity in Britain before the Anglo-Saxons.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Martiniano, Rui 
Caffell, Anwen 
Holst, Malin 
Hunter-Mann, Kurt 
Montgomery, Janet 

Abstract

The purported migrations that have formed the peoples of Britain have been the focus of generations of scholarly controversy. However, this has not benefited from direct analyses of ancient genomes. Here we report nine ancient genomes (∼ 1 ×) of individuals from northern Britain: seven from a Roman era York cemetery, bookended by earlier Iron-Age and later Anglo-Saxon burials. Six of the Roman genomes show affinity with modern British Celtic populations, particularly Welsh, but significantly diverge from populations from Yorkshire and other eastern English samples. They also show similarity with the earlier Iron-Age genome, suggesting population continuity, but differ from the later Anglo-Saxon genome. This pattern concords with profound impact of migrations in the Anglo-Saxon period. Strikingly, one Roman skeleton shows a clear signal of exogenous origin, with affinities pointing towards the Middle East, confirming the cosmopolitan character of the Empire, even at its northernmost fringes.

Description

Keywords

Emigration and Immigration, Genetics, Population, Genomics, Humans, United Kingdom, White People

Journal Title

Nat Commun

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2041-1723
2041-1723

Volume Title

7

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC