‘DNA and the Middle Ages: Genetics, History and Archaeology’
The Beehive, Newcastle
University
22 October 2004
Organiser: Dr Scott Ashley, School of Historical Studies
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Mark Thomas (Centre for Genetic Anthropology, University College, London)
Title: ‘Y Chromosome Evidence for a substantial Anglo-Saxon contribution to the modern gene pool in Central England’
Abstract: The role and extent of mass migration from continental Europe in the Anglo-Saxon transition remains controversial. We have previously examined genetic data for evidence of male immigration at particular times into Central England and North Wales. To do this, we used 12 biallelic polymorphisms and six microsatellite markers to define high resolution Y chromosome haplotypes in a sample of 313 males from seven towns located along an east-west transect from East Anglia to North Wales. The Central English towns were genetically very similar, whereas the two North Welsh towns differed significantly both from each other and from the Central English towns. When we compared our data with an additional 177 samples collected in Friesland and Norway, we found that the Central English and Frisian samples were statistically indistinguishable. Using novel population genetic models that incorporate both mass migration and continuous gene flow, we conclude that these striking patterns are best explained by a substantial introgression of Anglo-Saxon Y chromosomes into Central England (contributing 50% - 100% to the contemporary gene pool) but not into North Wales. The tempo and mode of this introgression event remain unclear. However, computer simulations indicate that an economic apartheid social structure with limited intermarriage between indigenous Britons and an initially small Anglo-Saxon elite provides one plausible explanation of the observed genetic patterns.
