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Did the English kill off the Britons? Part 2


Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon genomes from East England reveal British migration history [Nature Communications]

English DNA 'one-third' Anglo-Saxon [BBC News  19/1/2016]



Were one million or more Britons wiped out by the English in a Dark Ages holocaust?


The research cited (and summarised) above estimates that on average people in modern Eastern England get 38% of their genes from Anglo-Saxon immigrants dating from the 5th century onwards. They also suggest that this 38% has a particularly strong correlation with modern Dutch and Danish populations.

The evidence has been gathered from three burial sites near Cambridge: Linton for the Late Iron /Early Romano-British period; Oakington for the Late Romano-British/Early Anglo-Saxon period; and Hinxton for the Middle Anglo-Saxon period.

The research contradicts linguistic evidence (and previous DNA research) that the Anglo-Saxons wiped out the indigenous Britons.  Even in the east where the Anglo-Saxon influence could be expected to be at its strongest there is evidence of integration and intermarriage in the genetic record. Further west we would expect to see a much lower Anglo-Saxon contribution.

This suggests a band of immigrants emerging as a cultural, political and military élite and imposing  themselves, their language and their way of life on the indigenous Britons. The result over several generations was a cultural and linguistic takeover with the Anglo-Saxons calling all the shots. 

 The burial sites reveal a genetically diverse but culturally integrated population.
So less of a holocaust , more of a shotgun wedding.

See: Did the English kill off the British?

Comments

  1. veik13 December 2021 at 09:15

    The People we call English/Anglo-Saxons today ,the descents of the of the Germanic Tribes from Northern Germany and Danish peninsula pushed the Britons westwards and call them Welas(Wales)Land of the Foreigner.
    As the British will push westwards the Amerindians to reservations in America.

    ReplyDelete

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