Open AccessAncient DNA at the edge of the world: Continental immigration and the persistence of Neolithic male lineages in Bronze Age Orkney
Author(s) -
Katharina Dulias,
M. George B. Foody,
Pierre Justeau,
Marina Silva,
Rui Martiniano,
Gonzalo Oteo–García,
Alessandro Fichera,
Suzane Kelly Gomes Rodrigues,
Francesca Gandini,
Alison Meynert,
Kevin Donnelly,
Tim Aitman,
Andrew Chamberlain,
Olivia Lelong,
George R. Kozikowski,
Dominic Powlesland,
Clive Waddington,
Valeria Mattiangeli,
Daniel G. Bradley,
Jarosław Bryk,
Pedro Soares,
James F. Wilson,
Graeme Wilson,
Hazel Moore,
Maria Pala,
Ceiridwen J. Edwards,
Martin B. Richards,
Tim Aitman,
Zosia Miedzybrodzka,
Nicola Williams,
Alison Meynert,
Andrew V. Biankin,
Javier Santoyo-López
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2108001119
Subject(s) - bronze age , ancient dna , bronze , archaeology , beaker , geography , iron age , human settlement , prehistory , population , mesolithic , ancient history , archipelago , chalcolithic , history , demography , sociology
Significance The Orcadian Neolithic has been intensively studied and celebrated as a major center of cultural innovation, whereas the Bronze Age is less well known and often regarded as a time of stagnation and insularity. Here, we analyze ancient genomes from the Orcadian Bronze Age in the context of the variation in Neolithic Orkney and Bronze Age Europe. We find clear evidence for Early Bronze Age immigration into Orkney, but with an extraordinary pattern: continuity from the Neolithic on the male line of descent but immigration from continental Europe on the female side, echoed in the genome-wide picture. This suggests that despite substantial immigration, indigenous male lineages persisted for at least a thousand years after the end of the Neolithic.