Interesting use of genetics to elucidate ancient population structure: mtDNA analysis of human remains from an early Danish Christian cemetery:
One of Denmark’s earliest Christian cemeteries is Kongemarken, dating to around AD 1000-1250…A surprising amount of haplogroup diversity was observed (Area 1: 1 U7 (male), 1 H, 1 I, 1 J, and 1 T2; Area 2: 2 H, 1 I, and 1 T, with one H being male); even the three subjects of haplogroup H were of different subtypes. This indicates that no subjects within each area were maternally related. The observed haplogroup, U7, while common in India and in western Siberian tribes, was not previously observed among present-day ethnic Scandinavians, and haplogroup I is rare (2%) in Scandinavia. These observations suggest that the individuals living in the Roskilde region 1,000 years ago were not all members of a tightly knit local population and comprised individuals with genetic links with populations that were from much farther away.
This was a harbor town, so patrilocality and “foreign women” might have been rather exaggerated, but it underscores that it is plausible that men who returned from viking and trading might have brought more than goods.
Posted by razib at 01:36 AM