“Unlocking History: How Ancient DNA Reveals the Pathways of Our Ancestors”

Scientists have disclosed how a novel approach to examining ancient DNA has empowered them to create a clearer understanding of how populations traversed the globe.

The technique termed Twigstats, announced today in Nature, provides a more accurate method of gauging the distinctions among genetically similar populations, a task that was previously challenging.

The research, conducted by the Francis Crick Institute, implemented the new technique on over 1500 European genomes (the complete set of DNA from an individual) from individuals who primarily existed during the first millennium AD. Spanning from year 1 to 1000, it incorporated the Iron Age, the collapse of the Roman Empire, the early medieval ‘Migration Period,’ and the Viking Age.

The Romans, whose empire was prospering at the onset of the first millennium, documented confrontations with Germanic tribes beyond the Empire’s borders.

Utilizing this new technique, researchers identified surges of these groups migrating southward from Northern Germany or Scandinavia early in the first millennium, adding genetic proof to the historical narrative.

Co-author of the study, Professor Peter Heather, a Medieval History academic at King’s, stated that Twigstats unveils an intriguing opportunity to ultimately address some vital inquiries.

The investigation uncovered evidence indicating that groups migrated southward from Northern Germany or Scandinavia, as their genetic lineage was traced in populations from southern Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, and southern Britain, with one individual in southern Europe exhibiting 100% ancestry resembling Scandinavian origins. The research team demonstrated that numerous groups ultimately intermingled with existing populations.

Two primary zones of migration and interaction reflect the three dominant branches of Germanic languages, one group remaining in Scandinavia, another going extinct, and the third forming the foundation of contemporary German and English.

Examination of the ancestry of an individual from 2nd-4th century York, who may have been a Roman soldier or gladiatorial slave, revealed that 25% of their genetic material originated from early Iron Age Scandinavia. This emphasizes that individuals with Scandinavian lineage were present in Britain prior to the Anglo-Saxon and Viking eras, which commenced in the 5th century AD.

The team also utilized the new technique to reveal a subsequent influx of migration into Scandinavia at the termination of the Iron Age (300-800 AD) and just before the Viking Age. They illustrated that many individuals from the Viking Age throughout southern Scandinavia displayed ancestral ties to Central Europe.

Leo Speidel, the lead author, a former postdoctoral researcher at the Crick and UCL, now a group leader at RIKEN, Japan, mentioned that robust evaluations of more detailed population shifts, such as the migrations uncovered in this research, had largely been veiled until this moment.

Pontus Skoglund, Group Leader of the Ancient Genomics Laboratory at the Crick and senior author, remarked: “Inquiries that were previously unattainable are now within our grasp, and we must now expand the repository of ancient whole-genome sequences.”