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