Post by galvez on Nov 29, 2003 17:18:23 GMT -5
Genes show Welsh are the true Britons
(Filed: 01/07/2002)
Scientists say they have discovered big genetic differences between the English and Welsh, reinforcing the idea that the "true" Britons were pushed to the fringes by a large-scale Anglo-Saxon invasion.
Researchers at University College London found the genes of a sample of English men were almost identical to those of people in an area of the Netherlands where the Anglo-Saxons are thought to have originated.
But there were clear differences between the genetic make-up of English and Welsh subjects studied.
The researchers concluded that the most likely explanation for this was a large-scale Anglo-Saxon invasion, which wiped out most of the indigenous population in England but did not reach Wales.
The team studied the Y-chromosome, which is usually inherited unchanged from father to son, and looked for certain genetic markers.
It chose seven market towns mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and studied the genes of 313 male volunteers whose paternal grandfather had also lived in the area.
They then compared them with samples from Friesland, now a northern province of the Netherlands.
The English and Frisians studied had almost identical genetic make-up but the English and Welsh were very different. It appeared that a "genetic barrier" existed along Offa's d*ke, a 150-mile long early medieval border between England and Wales.
Dr Mark Thomas, of the Centre for Genetic Anthropology at UCL, said: "It appears that England is made up of an ethnic cleansing event from people coming across from the Continent after the Romans left."
Archaeologists after the Second World War rejected the traditionally-held view that an Anglo-Saxon invasion pushed the indigenous Celtic Britons to the fringes of Britain.
Instead, they said the arrival of Anglo-Saxon culture could have come from trade or a small ruling elite. But the latest research "using genetics as a history book" supports the original view.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003
(Filed: 01/07/2002)
Scientists say they have discovered big genetic differences between the English and Welsh, reinforcing the idea that the "true" Britons were pushed to the fringes by a large-scale Anglo-Saxon invasion.
Researchers at University College London found the genes of a sample of English men were almost identical to those of people in an area of the Netherlands where the Anglo-Saxons are thought to have originated.
But there were clear differences between the genetic make-up of English and Welsh subjects studied.
The researchers concluded that the most likely explanation for this was a large-scale Anglo-Saxon invasion, which wiped out most of the indigenous population in England but did not reach Wales.
The team studied the Y-chromosome, which is usually inherited unchanged from father to son, and looked for certain genetic markers.
It chose seven market towns mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and studied the genes of 313 male volunteers whose paternal grandfather had also lived in the area.
They then compared them with samples from Friesland, now a northern province of the Netherlands.
The English and Frisians studied had almost identical genetic make-up but the English and Welsh were very different. It appeared that a "genetic barrier" existed along Offa's d*ke, a 150-mile long early medieval border between England and Wales.
Dr Mark Thomas, of the Centre for Genetic Anthropology at UCL, said: "It appears that England is made up of an ethnic cleansing event from people coming across from the Continent after the Romans left."
Archaeologists after the Second World War rejected the traditionally-held view that an Anglo-Saxon invasion pushed the indigenous Celtic Britons to the fringes of Britain.
Instead, they said the arrival of Anglo-Saxon culture could have come from trade or a small ruling elite. But the latest research "using genetics as a history book" supports the original view.
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003
