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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

The BBC reports on two genomic studies, one showing the extent of Anglo-Saxon ancestry in modern England [bbc.com], and another analyzing the genomes of Roman-era individuals who were possibly gladiators:

The present-day English owe about a third of their ancestry to the Anglo-Saxons, according to a new study. Scientists sequenced genomes from 10 skeletons unearthed in eastern England and dating from the Iron Age through to the Anglo-Saxon period. Many of the Anglo-Saxon samples appeared closer to modern Dutch and Danish people than the Iron Age Britons did.

[...] Dr Stephan Schiffels of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany sequenced genomes of human remains from Hinxton, Saffron Walden, Linton and Oakington - all of which are near Cambridge. The burials fall into three different age categories: Iron Age, early Anglo-Saxon and Middle Anglo-Saxon.

Contrary to narratives suggesting large-scale displacement of the Britons by Anglo-Saxon invaders, the researchers found evidence of intermarriage in the earliest phase of settlement.

In order to disentangle the Anglo-Saxon signal from the indigenous British genetic background, the researchers looked at many rare mutations across the whole genome. "We found that these rare mutations were the key to studying historical samples. We could compare our ancient samples with modern samples in an improved way," Dr Schiffels told BBC News.

[...] In another study, also published in Nature Communications, Prof Dan Bradley from Trinity College Dublin and colleagues analysed the genomes of nine individuals from Roman-era York. They found that six of the individuals - presumably indigenous Britons - were similar to the modern Welsh, but different from populations living in Yorkshire today. However, one of the individuals had genetic affinities with people from North Africa and the Middle East, providing evidence of long-scale migration in Roman times.

The burials at Driffield Terrace, from which the genetic data was drawn, fit the profile of Roman gladiators. The majority were male, under 45 years old and had been decapitated. They were also slightly taller than the average for Roman Britain, with most showing signs of trauma to their bones. However, Prof Bradley and his colleagues point out that the remains might also be compatible with Roman legionaries.

Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon genomes from East England reveal British migration history [nature.com] (open, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10408)

Genomic signals of migration and continuity in Britain before the Anglo-Saxons [nature.com] (open, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10326)

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