Field and Desk Archaeology


Sites, Old and New

Genes

To lay the groundwork, we shall take a look at genetics in Iceland. Until recently thought to have been first settled by Norse Vikings around 875AD, recent excavations of a Viking longhouse, point to an earlier date of 800AD or before. This earlier date ties in with the early Viking raids on Britain. The latter date probably represents a major exodus of disaffected Vikings after Norway became a monarchy in 872AD. For a 13th century Icelandic account about this period, read Egil's Saga. Cumbrian dialect has its closest linguistic match with Iceland. At the time of Viking settlement this was Old West Norse. Quoting the recent highly technical study, part of the deCODE initiative, Ancient genomes from Iceland reveal the making of a human population (S. Sunna Ebenesersdottir et al, Science, June 2018). Additional comments in italics.

Opportunities to directly study the founding of a human population and its subsequent evolutionary history are rare. Using genome sequence data from 27 ancient Icelanders (5 women, 1 intersex - Klinefelter, 21 men), we demonstrate that they are a combination of Norse, Gaelic, and admixed individuals.
Studies of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosomes from contemporary Icelanders indicate that 62% of their matrilineal ancestry stems from Scotland and Ireland and 75% of their patrilineal ancestry is Scandinavian. Note: at 38%, the proportion of Scandinavian women is approx. half that of Scandinavian men.
... allele frequencies in ancient Icelanders are more similar to those of the source populations than to those of contemporary Icelanders. Furthermore, ancient Icelanders show no evidence of the geographic patterns of genetic variation found in contemporary Icelanders. The implication that source populations experienced much less drift than Icelanders is supported by PCA projections of ancient individuals (n = 16) from the British-Irish Isles dating from ~4000 to 1100 calibrated years before the present, who cluster within contemporary British and Irish populations.
... raises the possibility that reproductive success among the earliest Icelanders was stratified by ancestry, as genetic drift alone is unlikely to systematically alter ancestry at thousands of independent loci. We note that many settlers of Gaelic ancestry came to Iceland as slaves, whose survival and freedom to reproduce is likely to have been constrained. Some shift in ancestry must also be due to later immigration from Denmark... Note: I would expect that given male nature, the reproductive success of Gaelic women would be higher than that of Gaelic men, but perhaps less than that of Norse women. Especially given the imbalance between the numbers of Norse men and Norse women.


In The Fine-scale Genetic Structure of the British Population study (Leslie S. et al, Nature 2015), the different populations are delineated by successively working out the dissimilarities between potential sub-groups. The population clusters are determined using a statistical technique called Principal Component Analysis (PCA), which only tells you about Diversity. This process only measures decreasing dissimilarity, albeit the converse of similarity. It tells you nothing about the nature of the similarities within / between sub-groups. The major diversity is marked by the survival of stable genetic populations in the Western and Northern parts of the British archipelago. The English Lowland Zone is the province of the largely homogeneous mainstream English group. Usually over time, populations tend to absorb the genetics of their neighbours. Geography plays a large part in the distributions. The most significant differences lie in the early major diversities. In the British study, listing the populations by the most diverse first, we get:

  1. UK / Orkney
  2. UK / Wales
  3. Wales North / Wales South
  4. England / Scotland
  5. England / Cornwall
  6. Orkney / Westray
  7. Scotland / Northern England


It is not clear how any later diversities in the British Study may be a result of specific identifiable historic influences. To set this British analysis into context, we can look at the 2018 Irish DNA Atlas.


The first thing to note on The Irish DNA Atlas is that Orkney DNA is more closely related to Irish DNA than British. There are 2 obvious influences that may be at play here. The position of Ireland and Orkney on the fringe of the archipelago, may have left similar genetics in place, dating back to when the original Caucasian Celts arrived, bringing the Proto Indo European language (which we think of as Celtic) and precipitating the Bronze Age around 2500BC. The second influence was the arrival of the Norwegian Vikings around 800AD whose specific genetic signature is still quite strong in both Ireland and Orkney. The signal is much stronger in Orkney and this may partly explain the major difference between Orkney and Irish DNA. Due to geography and size, Orkney would have been subject to many more external influences than Ireland.

There are a couple of other points to note on the Irish DNA Atlas. It used data from the British DNA study, but came to a different conclusion regarding Northern England (III and IV). According to the British Study, Northern England is genetically closer to Scotland and not England. I am not sure how this discrepancy arose. The second point is the inter-relationship of the Northern Irish and Western / Southern Scotland genetics. This is a complicated relationship based on 2 invasions and potential trade links between the 2 neighbouring areas. The first invasion was of Scotland by the Irish (called Scots) in the 6th century AD. The second invasion was by natives of Scotland during the Plantation of Ulster at the beginning of the 17th century.

Getting back to the British Study and Cumbria / Northumberland, examining the PCA analysis and particular genetics at a large scale, would at first suggest that Cumbrian genetics may be based to native Celtic and Danish genes. However this may be misleading. Looking at genetics at an individual level, would also suggest an Irish Celtic component. The Cumbrian dialect is most similar to Icelandic, both being based on Old West Norse.

Analysis of Viking identities is fraught with difficulties due to the recurrence of the same names. These are often conflated by later chroniclers. We also have difficulty in establishing the true political character of Cumbria, which was probably independent and fluid, like many of the allegiances of the time. So while it may at different points of time, the native Celts were successively influenced by outside Irish / Northumbrian / Strathclyde / Hiberno Norse / English influences, the genetics of the Eden Valley suggest that it was the Hiberno Norse who mostly displaced the native population. There are no records which clearly support the early political history of Cumbria. In Simeon of Durham's 11th century document, Historia de sancto Cuthberto, Tilred, Abbot of Heversham, decamped to Northumbria, some time berween 902 and 910. Eventually becoming Bishop of Lindisfarne around 915. Later in the same document, it records Alfred, son of Beorhtwulf, 'fleeing pirates, came over the mountains to the West and sought mercy of St Cuthbert and Bishop Cutheard, so that they might present him with some lands.'

To understand the context, we first need to understand the history of the Hiberno Norse in Dublin. Viking Dublin was first established as a Longphort (naval base) in 841AD. In 853AD, the Viking warlord Amlaíb (Óláfr) arrived and became king of Dublin. He ruled along with his brothers Ímar (Ívarr) and Auisle (Ásl). During the next few years, sometimes briefly allied to Irish kings, the Dublin Vikings fought with other Irish kings and the other Vikings in Ireland). They also carried out a number of raids in Britain. The schematic below contains the Irish versions of their names. If coinage was issued, then it was conventional to use Latinised names. Identification is further complicated by the limited palette of names used and by their routinely inconsistent spelling. In addition there are likely to be some record-keeping errors.

Following the deaths of Auisle (867), Ímar (873) and Amlaib (874), the kingship passed to their sons in quick succession, but their hold on the kingship was tenuous. In 902AD, Cerball mac Muirecáin, king of Leinster, and Máel Findia mac Flannacáin, king of Brega, attacked Dublin and ejected many of the Vikings. Ímar the Younger went to Scotland, where he died in 904AD. The schematic may be misleading as he may have been the oldest grandson of Ímar the Older.

The largest section of coins in the Cuerdale Hoard (Lancashire 905AD?) were minted in York (including those of Siefridus - which may be the newest). There is also a large number of coins from the Danelaw. The remaining coins come from the South or abroad. The evidence suggests that they might all have been part of one large coin hoard in York. The silver bullion in the hoard however, is thought to be Irish in origin. The considerable size of the hoard indicates that it was the property of someone important. It has been suggested that the hoard constituted a War Chest to fund the invasion of Dublin and that the York and Irish components of the hoard were brought together at Cuerdale. An alternative suggestion is that the Irish component might have arrived in York earlier, possibly with Siefridus and that this was combined with the coinage from York before going to Cuerdale. That part of Lancashire, Amounderness, may have been under Northumbrian dominion at that time and is handy for the Irish Sea. However this is just heaping speculation on top of speculation.

Æthelwold (Alwaldus), son of Æthelred (king of Wessex from 865 to 871), after a dispute with his cousin Edward the Elder, retreated to York, where the locals accepted him as king in 901. In 903 he left York to begin a campaign to obtain the crown of Wessex. In the following years, Wessex was to take an increasing interest in York, first as overlord for Danish / Norse Viking incumbents and then finally incorporating York into the newly formed kingdom of England upon the death of Eric Bloodaxe in 954.

Some of the Vikings ejected from Dublin in 902AD, were documented as causing havoc in Cheshire and the Wirral (Mercia) lead by Ingimundr. The deposition of the Galloway Hoard is thought to date from this period. The hoard was buried in 2 separate layers. The bottom layer contains many ornate objects thought to be Anglo Saxon in origin. This suggests that they date from an earlier period of Northumbrian dominion.

The Uí Ímar dynasty had 3 other grandsons of Ímar the Older who take up the story. Ragnall (Rognvaldr), Sitric Caech and Gofraid. They were most probably among those Vikings expelled from Dublin in 902AD. It appears Ragnall settled in southern Scotland or the Isle of Man (or Cumbria?). Ragnall fought a sucessful naval battle off the Isle of Man in 914. Sitric helped by his cousins, recaptured Dublin around 917 and became its King. It was after this time that Dublin expanded into a city. Ragnall helped by Gofraid, fought against Constantin mac Aeda, King of Scotland in the Battle of Corbridge in 918, and although the battle was not decisive, it did allow Ragnall to establish himself as king of York.

Dublin was a more secure base for the Uí Ímar than York, York being surrounded by the Scots in the North and Anglo Saxons in the South. Edward the Elder established a defensive burh on his northern border at Bakewell in 920. In the same year, Ragnall travelled south to Bakewell in order to establish a peace treaty with the Anglo Saxons. Great care was taken over Uí Ímar succession in York. Each successor arrived in York from Dublin, leaving their kingship in Dublin to their own successors. Thus Ragnall was succeeded by his kinsman Sitric, leaving Dublin in the hands of his kinsman Gofraid.

Athelstan was one of 14 children of Edward the Elder. When Edward died on 17 July 924, he was probably succeeded by his son Ælfweard on the Wessex throne, while Athelstan succeeded to the Mercian throne of his aunt and foster-mother, Æthelflæd. Ælfweard died 16 days after his father. In Tamworth, Mercia on 30 January 926, Sitric Caech married Edith, full sister of Athelstan. Sitric died "at an unripe age" early in 927. Athelstan was later directly implicated in the death of his half brother Edwin in 933. King Alfred's throne of Wessex was no stranger to family strife.

Julian Richards BBC series 'Blood of the Vikings' documents a study which shows high concentrations of 'Viking' Y chromosones in the Eden valley around Penrith, Shetland, Orkney and the far north of the Scotland. However this does not preclude an earlier date for the arrival of the first Viking settlers, as in Iceland.

Six Viking Graves (NY 503 525) dating to 900 - 950AD were excavated near Cumwhitton, Cumbria - possibly 4 men and 2 women, judging by the range of grave goods found. The location is 1 mile from a rare fording point on the River Eden at Brocklewath. Brocklewath might represent the lowest fording point and also the highest navigable point on the river. Given the early date for the graves, this may have been important to the Vikings at that time. The nearby coin hoard at Scotby (935 - 940AD) contains coins of Athelstan and may tally with the later date for the burials. The Penrith silver hoard is thought to be of a similar period (930AD).

The most recent carbon dating from Bryant's Gill, Kentmere, Cumbria, give a date range of 691 - 997 cal AD (Newman 2006, HAR-8067). This should be more accurate than the previous reading as that was 21 years earlier. Calibration is continuously being refined, notably by the use of Bayesian statistics and modern Machine Learning modelling in this century. This date range is calculated as 1 Standard Deviation (1σ) from the mean (844 cal AD) and at 1σ, the end dates of the range are by no means unlikely. The period we are interested in, the early 900's, is at approx 0.5σ, which means that it is even more likely. That is to say, from a statistical point of view, the carbon dating could be entirely consistent with a Viking occupation at that time. If a Viking helmet with non-existant horns was found at Bryant's Gill, nobody should be surprised. Currently there is no supporting evidence.

On a culinary note, as noted in Horrible Histories - Much Maligned Vikings, the Vikings ate "cauldron snake", which was sausage spiced with thyme and garlic. Could this be the true origin of the Cumberland sausage and not the usual Elizabethan German copper miners proposition?

Looking at the Cumbrian group, it is difficult to know whether I would have been a typical or extreme member of the group. According to MyHeritage, 61.6% of my Cumbrian Eden Valley DNA is Scandinavian. 36.5% is Scottish / Irish / Welsh (Celtic) and then there is 1.9% Meso American. It should be noted that my DNA matches in Ireland usually have no Scandinavian component and consequently they would seem to be genuine Irish DNA matches. Native Cumbrian Celtic DNA may also play its part. As this DNA mix seems to be largely unmitigated by outside influences, could it be representative of the Cumbrian DNA from over 1000 years ago?

Part of the answer may lie in the work of Francis Galton, the early pioneer of Statistics and 'inventor' of Standard Deviation. He wanted to answer the question: "Why do the characteristics (mean and variance) of a hereditary attribute (such as height) from an isolated human population remain constant from generation to generation?"

This sounds similar to the question that I wanted to answer, especially with the genetic component. Originally Galton thought that this was a genetic matter, but eventually came to realise that it was a purely Statistical effect which we now know as Regression towards the mean. Another way of expressing this is "an extreme event is likely to be followed by a less extreme event". When the Vikings arrived in Cumbria, did they substantially displace the original population, thus establishing a new genetic norm? This new genetic norm in a remote part of England, then remaining relatively isolated from surrounding populations until very recently.

What effect would a small introduction of different genetics have on this isolated population? In my own case, this may have been the rather exotic Meso American. However this is at a very low level and might be a mistaken interpretation. If true, the amount of Meso American must have been increasingly larger on one line of my ancestry as you go back through the preceding generations. My own genetic mix may be a result of regression to the local genetic norm ever since the original introduction of Meso American genes. For privacy reasons, most statistics that are produced in this area talk about percentages within the local population. Here we are considering the DNA of one individual, which gives a different perspective. Alternatively at 1.9%, the Meso American DNA may be of ancient origin - something of a Holy Grail for Viking geneticists. So how widespread is Meso American DNA in the Eden valley?

On MyHeritage, I have a 20.8cM patch of DNA on Chromosome 5 which matches identical DNA from 3 Faroese contributors. So we have a common ancestor somewhere, but I suspect that it belongs to the early Viking migrations and is a statistical survival of stable DNA from then. There is a genome project in the Faroes, FarGen, which is analysing the genome for the whole Faroese population, in a similar way to the deCODE initiative in Iceland and for similar reasons. In Greenland, there is a wealth of frozen Viking burials from the time of Eric the Red (985) until their demise in the 15th century. Due to global warming, the integrity of the defrosting DNA is being threatened. The threat has recently been assessed and has lead to prompt action to recover some of this valuable genetic resource.

So where do my personal genetics lie? It would be interesting if I was substantially Hiberno Norse. However the Scandinavian element is potentially a mixture of Danish / Norse, while the Celtic element may almost certainly be a mixture of Cumbrian / Irish. Or to put it another way, part Hiberno Norse, part Northumbrian. The difference between these may be too subtle to appear in PCA. The genetic studies of Norway, Faroes, Iceland and Greenland could throw up some interesting matches, but no one is thinking of the Eden valley in that context.

Thomas Orphan (1764 - 1843)

One unanswered question is where did my possible Meso American DNA come from? One candidate for the source of Meso American DNA in my family tree is Thomas Orphan. We know he was a foundling at Thomas Coram's Foundling Hospital in London. The record exists from when he was apprenticed to Sir James Lowther of Lowther Hall in 1774. The surname Orphan suggests that we will never know who his parents were. It is unlikely that he came from the same genetic background as most of my ancestors. This does not mean that he was the source of Meso American DNA. The Lowthers claim ancestry back to before the Norman Conquest in the Eden valley. Their DNA may well provide good evidence for this. The pro-forma instructions from the Coram's Hospital to Thomas were:

HOSPITAL for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children, in Lamb's-Conduit Fields.

INSTRUCTIONS to Thomas Orphan upon his being put Apprentice to Sir James Lowther of Lowther Hall in the County of Westmorland, 26 Day of March in the Year 1774. Who on the 25 Day Of April is 10 Years old. Is to serve his Master till 21 Years old.

You are placed out Apprentice by the Governors of this Hospital. You were taken into it very young, quite helpless, forsaken and deserted by Parents and Friends. Out of Charity have you been fed, clothed and instructed; which many have wanted. You have been taught to fear GOD, to love him, to be honest, careful, laborious, and diligent. As you hope for Success in this world, and Happiness in the next, you are to be mindful of what has been taught you. You are to behave honestly, justly, soberly, and carefully, in every thing, to every body, and especially towards your Master and his family; and to execute all lawful Commands with Industry, Chearfulness and good manners.

You may find many Temptations to do wickedly, when you are in the World, but by all means fly from them. Always speak the Truth. Though you may have done a wrong thing, you will, by a sincere confession, more easily obtain Forgiveness, than if by an obstinate Lye you make the Fault the greater, and thereby deserve a far greater Punishment. Lying is looked upon to be the Beginning of every thing that is bad; and a Person used to it, is never believed, esteemed, or trusted.

Be not ashamed that you were bred in this Hospital. Own it; and say, that it was through the good Providence of Almighty GOD that you were taken care of. Bless Him for it, and be thankful to those worthy Benefactors who have contributed towards your Maintenance and Support. And if ever it be in your Power, make a grateful Acknowledgement to the Hospital for the Benefits you have received.

Be constant in you Prayers, and going to Church; and avoid Gaming, Swearing, and all evil Discourses. By this means the Blessing of GOD will follow your honest Labours, and you will also gain the Good will of all good Persons.

If you follow the Instructions which have all along been taught you, and which we now give you, you may be happy, otherwise you will bring upon yourself Misery, Shame, and Want.