This essay looks at published genetic research into the origins of pre-Viking people in England. Studies have used both Ancient DNA and Modern DNA. The details of the research into aDNA are given in their Supplementary Information, Supplementary Note 3.
Genetic material was retrieved from individuals found in the places listed in Appendix 1 and shown in Figure 1 below (Gretzinger, see references below). Each individual’s DNA was analysed to identify the proportion of WBI (referred to here as “Celtic”) ancestry versus CNE (referred to here as “Germanic” and including Scandinavian) ancestry. The majority of sites were in the East or South with clusters in Cambridgeshire and Kent. There are significant gaps in the North, Mercia, the Home Counties and the South West.
The authors report two methods used to identify likely European origins in their Supplementary Note 3. The first method only uses DNA from the 109 individuals having very high levels of Germanic ancestry.
The second method uses DNA from all 285 individuals, Celtic, Germanic and mixed. It balances out the effect of the Celtic ancestry by also including Iron Age DNA (ie from before the arrival of the Germanic people) in the statistical model. This allows the Germanic origins to be separated out.
The results from both methods are similar as shown in their Supplementary Figure 3.9a. This figure overlays the results from the two methods. For clarity I only reproduce the results from a single method. See my Figure 2. I used their method 2, primarily because the detailed origins are given in Figure 3.9b.
These results will be surprising to many, particularly those who believe that a continuum of Germanic peoples were involved in the invasion of England, and that those peoples came predominantly from Danish Anglia and adjacent areas in Germany and the Netherlands. What is particularly surprising here is that the genetic origins include places from the far north east of Denmark and into Sweden. Unfortunately there is a shortage of DNA reported from Angeln to test the “continuum” hypothesis. The only site in that area shown on the authors’ Figure 3.9a appears to be in the neighbourhood of Schleswig itself. This site does not show a strong association with Early English DNA. Inevitably the DNA they use is restricted by the availability of samples.
In England place names containing the element “by” are abundant in much of Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Yorkshire (measured as a proportion of all place names). Their most likely origins can be inferred from their distribution in Scandinavia. Their scarcity in other North European Viking age settlements makes it likely that the English “by” place names are pre-Viking. This possibility is supported by the similarity between the “by” place name distribution and the distribution of likely sources of pre-Viking DNA in Scandinavia (my Figure 3). Clusters of both appear in North-East Zealand (near Copenhagen).
Another study, by Margaryan (see references below, 2020), examined ancient DNA in the North European Scandinavian world. The authors warn that we need to treat the findings with caution because of the scarcity of ancient DNA. Their methodology used DNA from the burial sites of 442 individuals. It was radiocarbon dated, with individuals classified as: Bronze Age, Iron Age, Early Viking Age, Late Iron age or Medieval/Early Modern. From this data set it was possible to examine the predecessors of Viking Age populations. With this information, together with other ancient DNA, they found that similarities existed in the DNA of Danish and English people before the Viking Age. Further analysis used a sample of modern European DNA. From this they identified typical components for Denmark, Sweden, Norway and a grouping of other "North Atlantic" areas. Using these typical components, the authors were able to say whether ancient samples contained "Danish-like", "Swedish-like", "Norwegian-like" or "North Atlantic-like" ancestry. This enabled them to conclude that, "... eastward movements (ie towards Finland and beyond – KB) mainly involved Swedish-like ancestry, whereas individuals with Norwegian-like ancestry travelled to Iceland, Greenland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. The first settlement in Iceland and Greenland also included individuals with North-Atlantic-like ancestry. A Danish-like ancestry is seen in present-day England, in accordance with historical records, place names, surnames and modern genetics, but Viking Age Danish-like ancestry in the British Isles cannot be distinguished from that of the Angles and Saxons, who migrated in the fifth to sixth centuries AD from Jutland and northern Germany." Among their sample were two Viking Age groups of adult males, one from Oxford and the other from Dorset. These may have been dead enemy combatants who had been thrown into burial pits. The groups probably contained mercenaries. The remains in Dorset predominantly comprised "British-like" DNA (35%) possibly from Scotland and/or Ireland, followed by "Norwegian-like" DNA (22%), "Danish-like" DNA (18%) and "Italian-like" DNA(16%). The remains in Oxford were also of mixed ancestry and comprised "Danish-like" DNA (52%), "Italian-like" DNA (17%), Swedish-like" DNA (14%), "British-like" DNA (8%) and "Norwegian-like" DNA (6%). The percentages were derived from the Supplementary Tables S6 (Margaryan, see references below, 2020). The same study reports that the DNA evidence from Ireland implies a Norwegian origin for the remains of three Viking Age individuals found in Dublin and one found in Connemara.
These three independent studies all point to the presence of people of Scandinavian descent in England before the Viking age. It would be interesting to know whether their language differed from that of their Saxon neighbours, if it did, that would increase the likelihood that they imported Scandinavian place names and language into England.
There is also some support for Scandinavian DNA origins in pre-Viking English pottery as shown by the Oxford Scholar and specialist in early medieval pottery J N L Myres (see references below). See Appendix 3. It is interesting that Myres believed that some of the Scandinavian pottery arrived quite late in the settlement era. If this were the case we would expect less mixing, and correspondingly a stronger signal from the Scandinavian group.
The evidence in favour of a pre-Viking tribal migration of Scandinavian people into England is mounting. Myres found substantial amounts of pottery. Gretzinger et al found substantial amounts of ancient Scandinavian DNA in pre-Viking England. Leslie et al (see references below) used modern DNA and found no evidence for a second wave of mass immigration after the initial Anglo-Saxon conquest. I found that “by” names, so common in parts of England were largely absent from other north European settlements. So what is the evidence in favour of a Viking age origin for the extensive distribution of Scandinavian place names, and does it matter?
The evidence amounts to a couple of much quoted sentences in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. These tell us that elements of the Great Heathen Army, after spending 9 years rampaging around Britain, and presumably living off the land eventually settled down in East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria (where they grew their own food, presumably on the estates they had taken over). This is weak evidence for a mass Viking age immigration as authors like Sawyer (see references below), p209 have noted. It matters because the distribution of Scandinavian place names is taken as a proxy for Viking Age settlements. Perhaps less importantly it also matters because the Scandinavian influence on the English language is usually attributed to the Viking age conquests. If widespread pre-Viking Scandinavian settlement had occurred, then the re-integration of Northern and Western Germanic in the common speech of England could have been a much longer process.
Much of the information in this article has been reproduced in accordance with the requirements of the Creative Commons agreement, with acknowledgement to Gretzinger et al 2022
mDNA from the period is still scarce, but is gradually accumulating. There is evidence that mass settlement occurred on only one occasion after the Roman withdrawal. This comes from a study of the genetic structure of the British Population (Leslie et al, see references below, 2015). The research used a modern sample of 2039 people throughout the United Kingdom and a comparison group of 6,209 people from across Europe. The study found that the present population of the United Kingdom clustered into groups with various combinations of European mDNA. To find out how many waves of immigrants had arrived since the Roman withdrawal they examined the length of strands of DNA in the individuals within their sample. It seems that DNA mixes somewhat like paint in a pot. Starting with two colours, paint would form strands when stirred. If we subsequently add a third colour and stir again, it would not be as well mixed as the first two. In this way we could see the sequence in which colours were added. In an analogous way, DNA mixes in strands or sequences of code. DNA from both parents is combined at conception, but it seems that some sequences can remain intact. The more frequently the population reproduces, the shorter those sequences become. Their length can be used as a guide to the number of generations after an "admixture event". A later addition to a mixed population should be identifiable by the longer DNA sequences associated with it. Assuming that the post Roman invaders mixed with the native Celtic population, that would have been a first "admixture event". If a significant Viking age immigration occurred subsequently and bred with the existing population, that would have been a second admixture. However, there was no evidence for this in mainland Britain. This led the authors to conclude, "… we see no clear genetic evidence of the Danish Viking occupation and control of a large part of England, either in separate UK clusters in that region or in the estimated ancestry profiles, suggesting a relatively limited input of DNA from the Danish Vikings ..."
Schiffels (2015, see references below) also published genetic research that year. They used a different technique, which focussed on the presence of relatively rare sequences of DNA. These were identified from a sample of modern Europeans. This enabled the researchers to construct a "tree" of European ancestry showing the occurrence of rare sequences within European lineages. They were also able to identify when those lineages diverged. The Dutch (taken as a proxy for Saxon) and Danish lineages separated more than 5,000 years ago. Ancient DNA samples from individuals buried at three sites in the east of England were compared with the European lineages. The sample size was small, consisting of only seven individuals with carbon 14 dates in the Anglo-Saxon period (the period that immediately predated the Viking age). Of three people in a group from Oakington, two had some Dutch ancestry and one had some Danish ancestry. Of three people in another group from Hinxton, a similar mix was found. The seventh person, also from Oakington, had a wider mix of ancestries including ancestry common to Finland, Cornwall, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Gretzinger, J. et al., 2022.The Anglo-Saxon migration and the formation of the early English gene pool Nature Springer Nature. Retrieved 2023, Copyright © 2022.
Leslie, S., Winney, G. & Hellenthal, D., 2015. The Fine-Scale Genetic Structure of the British Population. Nature, pp. 309-314.
Margaryan, A., & al, e. (2020). Population Genomics of the Viking World. Nature , 390-396.
Sawyer, P. H., 1971. The Age of the Vikings. 2nd ed. London: Edward Arnold.
Schiffels, S. e. (2016). Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon Genomes from East England Reveal British Migration History. Retrieved from www.Nature.com.
Apple Down, Chichester, West Sussex
Dover Buckland, Dover, Kent
Widemouth Bay, Bude, Cornwall
Fox Holes Cave, Clapdale, North Yorkshire
Eastry Updown, Dover District, Kent
Ely, East Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire
Hartlepool, Olive Street, Unitary Authority Hartlepool
Dover Hill, Folkestone, Kent
Hatherdene Close, Cherry Hinton, Cambridgeshire
RAF Lakenheath, Eriswell parish, Suffolk
Lincoln Castle, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Newquay, Crantock, Cornwall
Norton, Bishopsmill, Stockton on Tees
Norton, East Mill, Stockton on Tees
Oakington, South Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire
Polhill, Maidstone District, Kent
Rookery Hill, Bishopstone, East Sussex
Sedgeford, King's Lynn and West Norfolk, Norfolk
West Heslerton, Ryedale District, North Yorkshire
Wolverton, Radcliffe School Mid-Saxon Cemetery, Borough of Milton Keynes
Worth Matravers, Football Field, Dorset
Liebenau
Hiddesdorf
Dunum Lower Saxony
Issendorf
Drantum
Schortens
Zetel
Haeven
Lejre
Besser
Alken Enge
Trekroner
Barse
Hessum
Bodkergarden
Kumle
Gerdrup
Oland
kane
P95- p96. Northern Kent (probably first half of 5th century, similar to pottery found in Esbjerg (Western Jutland), Drensted (Western Jutland), Ribe (Western Jutland), Rubjerg (Northern Jutland).
P99. Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and East Anglia, first half 5th century, similar to pottery found in Danish Anglia as well as some Anglo-Frisian pottery.
P103. Deira and Lindsey, second half of fifth century, similar to pottery found in southern Scandinavia.
P111. Sussex, fifth century pottery with similarities to Norwegian pottery.