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British and Irish ancestry ‘widespread’ in Scandinavia from Viking period

During the Viking period, a migration from the west impacted all of Scandinavia, scientists said.

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It's been 900 years since the legendary warriors roamed parts of Europe. (via SWNS)

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

Viking raids and settlement left their mark on us in our gene pool, but British and Irish ancestry dating from the Viking period also appears back in Scandinavia, according to new research.

It's been 900 years since the legendary warriors roamed our shores but their spirit lives on - in many of us.

The first analysis of its kind captures a genetic history across the region over 2,000 years - from the Iron Age to the present day.

During the Viking period, a migration from the west impacted all of Scandinavia, say scientists.

Co-author Dr. Anders Gotherstrom of Stockholm University said: "Gene flow from the British-Irish Isles during this period seems to have had a lasting impact on the gene pool in most parts of Scandinavia.

"This is perhaps not surprising given the extent of Norse activities in the British-Irish Isles, starting in the 8th century with recurrent raids and culminating in the 11th century North Sea Empire, the personal union that united the kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and England.

"The circumstances and fate of people of British-Irish ancestry who arrived in Scandinavia at this time are likely to have been variable, ranging from the forced migration of slaves to the voluntary immigration of more high-ranking individuals such as Christian missionaries and monks."

He added: "Different processes brought people from different areas to Scandinavia at different times."

Experts say any surname ending in "sen" or "son" is likely to be of Viking descent - like Emma Watson, Emma Thompson and Robert Pattinson.

Surnames such as Rogers, Rogerson and Rendall also hint at a touch of the marauder.

Overall, the findings show the Viking period in Scandinavia was a very dynamic time - with people moving around and doing many different things.

They are based on almost 300 ancient human genomes from multiple archaeological sites and genetic data from more than 16,500 people living in Scandinavia today.

The study in Cell sheds fresh light on migration patterns and gene flow during the Viking age (750–1050 CE).

It also shows ancestries that were introduced into the area during the Viking period later declined for reasons that aren't clear.

Co-author Dr. Ricardo Rodríguez-Varela, also from Stockholm, said: "Although still evident in modern Scandinavians, levels of non-local ancestry in some regions are lower than those observed in ancient individuals from the Viking to Medieval periods.

"This suggests ancient individuals with non-Scandinavian ancestry contributed proportionately less to the current gene pool in Scandinavia than expected based on the patterns observed in the archaeological record."

The researchers hadn’t originally planned to piece together Scandinavian history over time and space.

Rather, they were working on three separate studies focused on different archaeological sites.

via GIPHY

Dr. Rodriguez-Varela said: "When we were analyzing the genetic affinities of the individuals from different archaeological sites we start to see differences in the levels and origin of non-local ancestry across the different regions and periods of Scandinavia."

They included Viking period chamber and boat burials, Sandby borg ringfort known for a 500 CE massacre and individuals from the 17th-century royal Swedish warship Kronan.

Gotherstrom said: "Initially, we were working with three different studies - one on Sandby borg, one on the boat burials and one on the man-of-war Kronan.

"At some point, it made more sense to unite them to one study on the Scandinavian demography during the latest 2,000 years."

The goal was to document how past migrations have affected the Scandinavian gene pool across time and space to better understand the current Scandinavian genetic structure.

The researchers found regional variation in the timing and magnitude of gene flow from three sources - the eastern Baltic, the British Irish Isles and southern Europe.

Rodrigues-Varela said: "We need more pre-Viking individuals from north Scandinavia to investigate when the Uralic ancestry entered in this region.

"Also, individuals from 1000 BCE to 0 are very scarce and retrieving DNA from Scandinavian individuals with these chronologies will be important to understand the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in this part of the world.

"Finally, more individuals from the Medieval period until the present will help us to understand when and why we observe a reduction in the levels of non-local ancestry in some current regions of Scandinavia."

Gotherstrom added: "There is so much fascinating information about our prehistory to be explored in ancient genomes."

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