德国马克斯·普朗克演化人类学研究所Stephan Schiffels、英国中央兰开夏大学Duncan Sayer等研究人员合作揭示盎格鲁-撒克逊人的迁移和早期英国基因库的形成。这一研究成果于2022年9月21日在线发表在国际学术期刊《自然》上。

研究人员检测了460个中世纪西北欧人的全基因组古DNA（包括278个来自英格兰的个体）以及考古数据，来推断当代人口动态。研究人员发现在中世纪早期的英格兰，大陆性的北欧血统大量增加，这与中世纪早期和现在的德国和丹麦的居民密切相关，这意味着在中世纪早期，大规模的大量移民跨越北海进入英国。因此，研究人员分析的来自英格兰东部的个体有高达76%的祖先来自北海大陆区，尽管在遗址内有大量的区域差异和异质性。结果表明，具有移民血统的妇女比具有本地血统的妇女更经常配备墓葬用品，而拥有武器的男子则很可能没有移民血统。与现今英国的比较表明，随后的人口统计事件减少了北欧大陆血统的比例，同时将更多的血统成分引入英国的基因库，包括与铁器时代法国最密切相关的大量西南欧血统。

据悉，不列颠群岛和爱尔兰历史的特点是多个时期的重大文化变化，包括罗马统治结束后的有影响力的转变，这催生了语言、定居模式和物质文化的转变。来自欧洲大陆的移民在多大程度上促成了这些转变是一个长期争论的问题。

附：英文原文

Title: The Anglo-Saxon migration and the formation of the early English gene pool

Author: Gretzinger, Joscha, Sayer, Duncan, Justeau, Pierre, Altena, Eveline, Pala, Maria, Dulias, Katharina, Edwards, Ceiridwen J., Jodoin, Susanne, Lacher, Laura, Sabin, Susanna, Vgene, shild J., Haak, Wolfgang, Ebenesersdttir, S. Sunna, Moore, Kristjan H. S., Radzeviciute, Rita, Schmidt, Kara, Brace, Selina, Bager, Martina Abenhus, Patterson, Nick, Papac, Luka, Broomandkhoshbacht, Nasreen, Callan, Kimberly, Harney, adaoin, Iliev, Lora, Lawson, Ann Marie, Michel, Megan, Stewardson, Kristin, Zalzala, Fatma, Rohland, Nadin, Kappelhoff-Beckmann, Stefanie, Both, Frank, Winger, Daniel, Neumann, Daniel, Saalow, Lars, Krabath, Stefan, Beckett, Sophie, Van Twest, Melanie, Faulkner, Neil, Read, Chris, Barton, Tabatha, Caruth, Joanna, Hines, John, Krause-Kyora, Ben, Warnke, Ursula, Schuenemann, Verena J., Barnes, Ian, Dahlstrm, Hanna, Clausen, Jane Jark, Richardson, Andrew, Popescu, Elizabeth, Dodwell, Natasha, Ladd, Stuart, Phillips, Tom, Mortimer, Richard, Sayer, Faye, Swales, Diana, Stewart, Allison, Powlesland, Dominic, Kenyon, Robert, Ladle, Lilian, Peek, Christina, Grefen-Peters, Silke, Ponce, Paola, Daniels, Robin, Spall, Cecily, Woolcock, Jennifer

Issue&Volume: 2022-09-21

Abstract: The history of the British Isles and Ireland is characterized by multiple periods of major cultural change, including the influential transformation after the end of Roman rule, which precipitated shifts in language, settlement patterns and material culture1. The extent to which migration from continental Europe mediated these transitions is a matter of long-standing debate2,3,4. Here we study genome-wide ancient DNA from 460 medieval northwestern Europeans—including 278 individuals from England—alongside archaeological data, to infer contemporary population dynamics. We identify a substantial increase of continental northern European ancestry in early medieval England, which is closely related to the early medieval and present-day inhabitants of Germany and Denmark, implying large-scale substantial migration across the North Sea into Britain during the Early Middle Ages. As a result, the individuals who we analysed from eastern England derived up to 76% of their ancestry from the continental North Sea zone, albeit with substantial regional variation and heterogeneity within sites. We show that women with immigrant ancestry were more often furnished with grave goods than women with local ancestry, whereas men with weapons were as likely not to be of immigrant ancestry. A comparison with present-day Britain indicates that subsequent demographic events reduced the fraction of continental northern European ancestry while introducing further ancestry components into the English gene pool, including substantial southwestern European ancestry most closely related to that seen in Iron Age France5,6.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05247-2

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05247-2