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Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon genomes from East England reveal British migration history

Author

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  • Stephan Schiffels

    (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton
    Present address: Department for Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany)

  • Wolfgang Haak

    (Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, University of Adelaide
    Present address: Department for Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany)

  • Pirita Paajanen

    (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton
    Present address: The Genome Analysis Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK)

  • Bastien Llamas

    (Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, University of Adelaide)

  • Elizabeth Popescu

    (Oxford Archaeology East)

  • Louise Loe

    (Oxford Archaeology South)

  • Rachel Clarke

    (Oxford Archaeology East)

  • Alice Lyons

    (Oxford Archaeology East)

  • Richard Mortimer

    (Oxford Archaeology East)

  • Duncan Sayer

    (School of Forensic and Applied Sciences, University of Central Lancashire)

  • Chris Tyler-Smith

    (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton)

  • Alan Cooper

    (Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences and The Environment Institute, University of Adelaide)

  • Richard Durbin

    (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton)

Abstract

British population history has been shaped by a series of immigrations, including the early Anglo-Saxon migrations after 400 CE. It remains an open question how these events affected the genetic composition of the current British population. Here, we present whole-genome sequences from 10 individuals excavated close to Cambridge in the East of England, ranging from the late Iron Age to the middle Anglo-Saxon period. By analysing shared rare variants with hundreds of modern samples from Britain and Europe, we estimate that on average the contemporary East English population derives 38% of its ancestry from Anglo-Saxon migrations. We gain further insight with a new method, rarecoal, which infers population history and identifies fine-scale genetic ancestry from rare variants. Using rarecoal we find that the Anglo-Saxon samples are closely related to modern Dutch and Danish populations, while the Iron Age samples share ancestors with multiple Northern European populations including Britain.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephan Schiffels & Wolfgang Haak & Pirita Paajanen & Bastien Llamas & Elizabeth Popescu & Louise Loe & Rachel Clarke & Alice Lyons & Richard Mortimer & Duncan Sayer & Chris Tyler-Smith & Alan Cooper , 2016. "Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon genomes from East England reveal British migration history," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-9, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms10408
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10408
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    Cited by:

    1. Irina M. Velsko & Zandra Fagernäs & Monica Tromp & Stuart Bedford & Hallie R. Buckley & Geoffrey Clark & John Dudgeon & James Flexner & Jean-Christophe Galipaud & Rebecca Kinaston & Cecil M. Lewis & E, 2024. "Exploring the potential of dental calculus to shed light on past human migrations in Oceania," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-17, December.

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