SHG29409 - Imputed genomes and haplotype-based analyses of the Picts of early medieval Scotland reveal fine-scale relatedness between Iron Age, early medieval and the modern people of the UK
| Type | Text/Publication/Article |
|---|---|
| Title | Imputed genomes and haplotype-based analyses of the Picts of early medieval Scotland reveal fine-scale relatedness between Iron Age, early medieval and the modern people of the UK |
| Author/Originator | Morez, A., Britton, K., Noble, G., Günther, T., Götherström, A., Rodríguez-Varela, R. et al. |
| Date/Year | 2023 |
Abstract/Summary
We report two high-quality autosomal and eight mitochondrial genomes sequenced from individuals associated with the Pictish period of early medieval Scotland (ca. 300–900 CE). We demonstrate genetic affinities between the Pictish genomes and Iron Age people who lived in Britain, which supports current archaeological theories of a local origin. The autosomal genomes also allowed us to detect haplotype sharing between the Pictish genomes and present-day Europeans. Our results demonstrate a proportionally higher degree of haplotype sharing, and thus genetic affinity, between the Pictish genomes and individuals from western Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Northumbria. We also detected genetic structure in Scotland during the Iron Age, likely driven by the combination of genetic drift and small population size, which we also detect in present-day Orcadians. Lastly, the seven mitochondrial DNA from the Lundin Links cemetery showed that these individuals had no direct maternal ancestors which could suggest exchanges of people, or at least females, between groups during the Pictish period, challenging older ideas that the Picts were a matrilineal society. Overall, our results show that high-quality ancient genomes combined with haplotype imputation are highly informative for obtaining novel insights to population structure and migration over the past 2,000 years.
External Links (1)
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1010360 (View published article online)
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