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MBE Advance Access originally published online on November 20, 2007
Molecular Biology and Evolution 2008 25(2):301-309; doi:10.1093/molbev/msm255
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© 2007 The Authors.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Research Articles

Excavating Past Population Structures by Surname-Based Sampling: The Genetic Legacy of the Vikings in Northwest England

Georgina R. Bowden*, Patricia Balaresque*, Turi E. King*, Ziff Hansen{dagger}, Andrew C. Lee*,1, Giles Pergl-Wilson{dagger}, Emma Hurley{dagger}, Stephen J. Roberts{ddagger}, Patrick Waite§, Judith Jesch||, Abigail L. Jones, Mark G. Thomas#, Stephen E. Harding{dagger} and Mark A. Jobling*

* Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
{dagger} National Centre for Macromolecular Hydrodynamics, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, United Kingdom
{ddagger} The Queen Katherine School, Kendal, Cumbria, United Kingdom
§ West Lancashire Heritage Association, Ormskirk, United Kingdom
|| School of English Studies, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, United Kingdom
The Centre for Genetic Anthropology, Department of Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
# Department of Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Email: maj4{at}leicester.ac.uk.

Accepted for publication November 14, 2007.

The genetic structures of past human populations are obscured by recent migrations and expansions and have been observed only indirectly by inference from modern samples. However, the unique link between a heritable cultural marker, the patrilineal surname, and a genetic marker, the Y chromosome, provides a means to target sets of modern individuals that might resemble populations at the time of surname establishment. As a test case, we studied samples from the Wirral Peninsula and West Lancashire, in northwest England. Place-names and archaeology show clear evidence of a past Viking presence, but heavy immigration and population growth since the industrial revolution are likely to have weakened the genetic signal of a 1,000-year-old Scandinavian contribution. Samples ascertained on the basis of 2 generations of residence were compared with independent samples based on known ancestry in the region plus the possession of a surname known from historical records to have been present there in medieval times. The Y-chromosomal haplotypes of these 2 sets of samples are significantly different, and in admixture analyses, the surname-ascertained samples show markedly greater Scandinavian ancestry proportions, supporting the idea that northwest England was once heavily populated by Scandinavian settlers. The method of historical surname-based ascertainment promises to allow investigation of the influence of migration and drift over the last few centuries in changing the population structure of Britain and will have general utility in other regions where surnames are patrilineal and suitable historical records survive.

Key Words: human • Y chromosome • surnames • population • Vikings • admixture

1 Present address: Division of GI Surgery, University of Nottingham Medical School at Derby, Derby City General Hospital, Derby DE22 3DT, United Kingdom.

Lisa Matisoo-Smith, Associate Editor


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Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
T. E. King and M. A. Jobling
Founders, Drift, and Infidelity: The Relationship between Y Chromosome Diversity and Patrilineal Surnames
Mol. Biol. Evol., May 1, 2009; 26(5): 1093 - 1102.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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