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NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
[2] Genetics: Ancient DNA sheds light on Britain's history of
migration *IMAGES*
New analyses of the ancient DNA of British individuals help disentangle the impact of migration
events from continental Europe into Britain before and after the Anglo-Saxon invasion (circa fifth
century AD). The results are described in two separate papers published in Nature
Communications.
Past genetics studies based on modern genomes have resulted in mixed opinions about the
migratory history of people in and out of the British Isles. The recent refinement of techniques
that allow the extraction of ancient genetic information can provide insight into the major
migration events in human history.
In one paper, Daniel Bradley and colleagues sequence the DNA of nine individuals from north
Britain, including seven individuals from a Roman era (late BC/early AD) cemetery in York, one
from an earlier Iron Age burial and one from a later Anglo-Saxon burial. They find that the whole
genomes of Roman-era individuals from northern Britain are similar to the modern British Celtic
population and to the earlier Iron Age genomes, but differ significantly from modern day
Yorkshire genomes or Anglo-Saxon genomes. The authors show that all Roman-era individuals
except one were indigenous Britons in terms of their genomic signal. A single Roman individual
possessed high genetic similarity to modern day Middle Eastern and North African populations,
suggesting movement of people from very distant areas was taking place within the Roman
Empire.
In the other paper, Stephan Schiffels and colleagues sequence the genome of ten individuals
dating back to the Iron Age and the Anglo-Saxon period, from cemeteries in east England, close
to Cambridge. They use present-day genetic data to characterize the relationship of these
ancient individuals to contemporary British and other European populations. They show that the
contemporary population in eastern England derives approximately 30% of its ancestry from
Anglo-Saxon migrations, with a lower percentage in Welsh and Scottish individuals, and find that
Anglo-Saxon samples share more genetic similarities with modern Dutch and Danish populations
than with Iron Age samples.
ARTICLE DETAILS
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10326
Corresponding Author:
Daniel Bradley
Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Email: dbradley@tcd.ie Tel: +353 1 896 1088
DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10408
Corresponding Author:
Stephan Schiffels
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
Email: schiffels@shh.mpg.de Tel: +49 151 2350 3215
Please link to the article in online versions of your report (the URL will go live after the embargo ends):
http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/ncomms10326 & http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/ncomms10408
Image captions and credits
Image 1
Caption: Archaeologists and geneticists work together to explore Anglo-Saxon immigration history in England by
analysing ancient Anglo-Saxon skeletons from Cambridgeshire. Photo of an adult female from Oakington
complete with early Anglo-Saxon brooches. Credit: Duncan Sayer.
Image 2
An Anglo-Saxon woman is carefully excavated from a fifth and sixth century burial ground in Oakington, Caption:
DNA from Cambridgeshire archaeological sites were sequenced to reveal Anglo-Saxon immigration history in
England. Credit: Duncan Sayer.
Image 3
Caption: Excavating a triple grave from Oakington early Anglo-Saxon cemetery. A multidisciplinary team of
geneticists and archaeologists work together to explore ancient DNA from sites in Cambridgeshire and reveal
Anglo-Saxon immigration history. Credit: Duncan Sayer.
Image 4
Caption: This skeleton from a 5th-6th century burial ground in Oakington, East England, was one of 10 samples
from which we extracted and sequenced DNA to learn about English population history. Credit: Duncan Sayer.
Image 5
Caption: This triple burial from Oakington Cambridgeshire included metal and amber grave goods with
continental European characteristics. DNA of ten samples from Oakington and from nearby sites were
sequenced to reveal Anglo-Saxon immigration history in England. Credit: Duncan Sayer.