Dear Colleagues (including many
of you who took part in the genetic survey of northwest England, 2002-2007, or
the Nordic Festival in 2008)
Apologies if you get this message more
than once! We are writing to bring to your attention a publication
we have just produced. It focuses on
the first part of a genetic
survey of northern England –
the Wirral and West Lancashire project in the northwest – and explains the basis behind the DNA
method to probe ancestry, the use of
surnames to help to localize volunteers to specific regions of the country, and
how genetic methods are being used in conjunction with historical,
archaeological and linguistic evidence to learn about Viking ancestry. It also gives some examples from
individual results and from comparing populations of people to help show what
these new technologies can achieve.
Publication of the book has been supported by one of the UK
Research Councils who have been supporting the study (the Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences Research Council) – and Nottingham University Press in
conjunction with Countyvise Limited have very kindly produced this for us and
indeed done a splendid job.
We would like to stress that we as authors are not taking any Royalties
or profit!
The book is introduced with a
brilliant foreword by famous UK/BBC historian/broadcaster Michael Wood after which we set out to
show as clearly as we can, with the help of full colour illustrations – what DNA
is and how DNA methods can be used to probe both individual and population
ancestry. For probing Viking
ancestry it shows the importance of using DNA in conjunction with historical,
linguistic, place name and archaeological evidence – again with the help of many colour
illustrations, and explains how DNA can be used to probe paternal
ancestry and maternal ancestry either for individuals or for populations of
people, explaining also some of the sometimes complicated jargon that scientists
use.
A major problem in studying
population ancestry is the large population movements that have occurred since
the Industrial Revolution. However
there is a strong link between surnames and paternal DNA ancestry and the book
explains how information such as Henry VIII’s tax rolls, , and even criminal
records (including someone accused of killing a dog in 1348 …. found not
guilty!) can be used to help establish the volunteer base for specific regions
of northern England. Using these methods significant
Scandinavian ancestry (up to 50% of the mixture of DNA from the old populations)
has been shown for Wirral and West Lancashire.
One youngster from Wirral was
so impressed with the results for her father she wrote a School project “My Viking Dad
and his Viking Dog”! The book finishes with a look towards the current testing
of other regions of Northern England and the research currently being undertaken with
colleagues in Norway to study the genetic profile of Scandinavia in the
Viking Age.
This broadcast on BBC Radio 4 gives some more
information about the survey: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/making_history/making_history_20080520.shtml (after
the first minute or so)
So we think it will be a useful read for anyone interested in DNA
ancestry and, after seeing what we have done in the North West, give people
from other regions an idea of how their own past could be researched. The book is 150 pages long and
extensively illustrated in colour. The book has just become available in all good
bookshops in the north
West or from Amazon.co.uk *and would make an
excellent Christmas present.
Steve Harding, Mark Jobling and Turi King
