The genetic history of Scandinavia from the Roman Iron Age to the present

Ricardo Rodríguez-Varela; Kristjan H.S. Moore; Sigríður Sunna Ebenesersdóttir; Gulsah Merve Kilinc; Anna Kjellström; Ludvig Papmehl-Dufay; Clara Alfsdotter; Birgitta Berglund; Loey Alrawi; Natalija Kashuba; Verónica Sobrado; Vendela Kempe Lagerholm; Edmund Gilbert; Gianpiero L. Cavalleri; Eivind Hovig; Ingrid Kockum; Tomas Olsson; Lars Alfredsson; Thomas F. Hansen; Thomas Werge; Arielle R. Munters; Carolina Bernhardsson; Birgitte Skar; Axel Christophersen; Gordon Turner-Walker; Shyam Gopalakrishnan; Eva Daskalaki; Ayça Omrak; Patxi Pérez-Ramallo; Pontus Skoglund; Linus Girdland-Flink; Fredrik Gunnarsson; Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson; M. Thomas P. Gilbert; Kerstin Lidén; Mattias Jakobsson; Lars Einarsson; Helena Victor; Maja Krzewińska; Torun Zachrisson; Jan Storå; Kári Stefánsson; Agnar Helgason; Anders Götherström

doi:10.1016/j.cell.2022.11.024

The genetic history of Scandinavia from the Roman Iron Age to the present

Ricardo Rodríguez-Varela^*, Kristjan H.S. Moore, Sigríður Sunna Ebenesersdóttir, Gulsah Merve Kilinc, Anna Kjellström, Ludvig Papmehl-Dufay, Clara Alfsdotter, Birgitta Berglund, Loey Alrawi, Natalija Kashuba, Verónica Sobrado, Vendela Kempe Lagerholm, Edmund Gilbert, Gianpiero L. Cavalleri, Eivind Hovig, Ingrid Kockum, Tomas Olsson, Lars Alfredsson, Thomas F. Hansen, Thomas WergeArielle R. Munters, Carolina Bernhardsson, Birgitte Skar, Axel Christophersen, Gordon Turner-Walker, Shyam Gopalakrishnan, Eva Daskalaki, Ayça Omrak, Patxi Pérez-Ramallo, Pontus Skoglund, Linus Girdland-Flink, Fredrik Gunnarsson, Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Kerstin Lidén, Mattias Jakobsson, Lars Einarsson, Helena Victor, Maja Krzewińska, Torun Zachrisson, Jan Storå, Kári Stefánsson, Agnar Helgason^*, Anders Götherström^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We investigate a 2,000-year genetic transect through Scandinavia spanning the Iron Age to the present, based on 48 new and 249 published ancient genomes and genotypes from 16,638 modern individuals. We find regional variation in the timing and magnitude of gene flow from three sources: the eastern Baltic, the British-Irish Isles, and southern Europe. British-Irish ancestry was widespread in Scandinavia from the Viking period, whereas eastern Baltic ancestry is more localized to Gotland and central Sweden. In some regions, a drop in current levels of external ancestry suggests that ancient immigrants contributed proportionately less to the modern Scandinavian gene pool than indicated by the ancestry of genomes from the Viking and Medieval periods. Finally, we show that a north-south genetic cline that characterizes modern Scandinavians is mainly due to the differential levels of Uralic ancestry and that this cline existed in the Viking Age and possibly earlier.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	32-46.e19
Journal	Cell
Volume	186
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.11.024
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge support from the National Genomics Infrastructure in Stockholm funded by Science for Life Laboratory , the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Swedish Research Council , and SNIC/Uppsala Multidisciplinary Center for Advanced Computational Science for assistance with massively parallel sequencing and access to the UPPMAX computational infrastructure. We used resources from projects SNIC 2022/23-132 , SNIC 2022/22-117 , SNIC 2022/23-163 , SNIC 2022/22-299 , and SNIC 2021-2-17 . This research was supported by the Swedish Research Council project ID 2019-00849 _VR and ATLAS (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond). Part of the modern dataset was supported by a research grant from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), grant number 16/RC/3948, and co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund and by FutureNeuro industry partners.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s)

Other keywords

gene flow
human population genomics
migration period
Scandinavian genetic structure
Viking
Humans
Europe
United Kingdom
Scandinavian and Nordic Countries
Genetic Variation
White People/genetics
Genome, Human
Human Migration

Access to Document

10.1016/j.cell.2022.11.024

Cite this

Rodríguez-Varela, R., Moore, K. H. S., Ebenesersdóttir, S. S., Kilinc, G. M., Kjellström, A., Papmehl-Dufay, L., Alfsdotter, C., Berglund, B., Alrawi, L., Kashuba, N., Sobrado, V., Lagerholm, V. K., Gilbert, E., Cavalleri, G. L., Hovig, E., Kockum, I., Olsson, T., Alfredsson, L., Hansen, T. F., ... Götherström, A. (2023). The genetic history of Scandinavia from the Roman Iron Age to the present. Cell, 186(1), 32-46.e19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.11.024

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title = "The genetic history of Scandinavia from the Roman Iron Age to the present",

abstract = "We investigate a 2,000-year genetic transect through Scandinavia spanning the Iron Age to the present, based on 48 new and 249 published ancient genomes and genotypes from 16,638 modern individuals. We find regional variation in the timing and magnitude of gene flow from three sources: the eastern Baltic, the British-Irish Isles, and southern Europe. British-Irish ancestry was widespread in Scandinavia from the Viking period, whereas eastern Baltic ancestry is more localized to Gotland and central Sweden. In some regions, a drop in current levels of external ancestry suggests that ancient immigrants contributed proportionately less to the modern Scandinavian gene pool than indicated by the ancestry of genomes from the Viking and Medieval periods. Finally, we show that a north-south genetic cline that characterizes modern Scandinavians is mainly due to the differential levels of Uralic ancestry and that this cline existed in the Viking Age and possibly earlier.",

keywords = "gene flow, human population genomics, migration period, Scandinavian genetic structure, Viking, Humans, Europe, United Kingdom, Scandinavian and Nordic Countries, Genetic Variation, White People/genetics, Genome, Human, Human Migration",

author = "Ricardo Rodr{\'i}guez-Varela and Moore, {Kristjan H.S.} and Ebenesersd{\'o}ttir, {Sigr{\'i}{\dh}ur Sunna} and Kilinc, {Gulsah Merve} and Anna Kjellstr{\"o}m and Ludvig Papmehl-Dufay and Clara Alfsdotter and Birgitta Berglund and Loey Alrawi and Natalija Kashuba and Ver{\'o}nica Sobrado and Lagerholm, {Vendela Kempe} and Edmund Gilbert and Cavalleri, {Gianpiero L.} and Eivind Hovig and Ingrid Kockum and Tomas Olsson and Lars Alfredsson and Hansen, {Thomas F.} and Thomas Werge and Munters, {Arielle R.} and Carolina Bernhardsson and Birgitte Skar and Axel Christophersen and Gordon Turner-Walker and Shyam Gopalakrishnan and Eva Daskalaki and Ay{\c c}a Omrak and Patxi P{\'e}rez-Ramallo and Pontus Skoglund and Linus Girdland-Flink and Fredrik Gunnarsson and Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson and Gilbert, {M. Thomas P.} and Kerstin Lid{\'e}n and Mattias Jakobsson and Lars Einarsson and Helena Victor and Maja Krzewi{\'n}ska and Torun Zachrisson and Jan Stor{\aa} and K{\'a}ri Stef{\'a}nsson and Agnar Helgason and Anders G{\"o}therstr{\"o}m",

note = "Funding Information: The authors acknowledge support from the National Genomics Infrastructure in Stockholm funded by Science for Life Laboratory , the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Swedish Research Council , and SNIC/Uppsala Multidisciplinary Center for Advanced Computational Science for assistance with massively parallel sequencing and access to the UPPMAX computational infrastructure. We used resources from projects SNIC 2022/23-132 , SNIC 2022/22-117 , SNIC 2022/23-163 , SNIC 2022/22-299 , and SNIC 2021-2-17 . This research was supported by the Swedish Research Council project ID 2019-00849 _VR and ATLAS (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond). Part of the modern dataset was supported by a research grant from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), grant number 16/RC/3948, and co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund and by FutureNeuro industry partners. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Author(s)",

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doi = "10.1016/j.cell.2022.11.024",

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Rodríguez-Varela, R, Moore, KHS, Ebenesersdóttir, SS, Kilinc, GM, Kjellström, A, Papmehl-Dufay, L, Alfsdotter, C, Berglund, B, Alrawi, L, Kashuba, N, Sobrado, V, Lagerholm, VK, Gilbert, E, Cavalleri, GL, Hovig, E, Kockum, I, Olsson, T, Alfredsson, L, Hansen, TF, Werge, T, Munters, AR, Bernhardsson, C, Skar, B, Christophersen, A, Turner-Walker, G, Gopalakrishnan, S, Daskalaki, E, Omrak, A, Pérez-Ramallo, P, Skoglund, P, Girdland-Flink, L, Gunnarsson, F, Hedenstierna-Jonson, C, Gilbert, MTP, Lidén, K, Jakobsson, M, Einarsson, L, Victor, H, Krzewińska, M, Zachrisson, T, Storå, J, Stefánsson, K , Helgason, A & Götherström, A 2023, 'The genetic history of Scandinavia from the Roman Iron Age to the present', Cell, vol. 186, no. 1, pp. 32-46.e19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2022.11.024

TY - JOUR

T1 - The genetic history of Scandinavia from the Roman Iron Age to the present

AU - Rodríguez-Varela, Ricardo

AU - Moore, Kristjan H.S.

AU - Ebenesersdóttir, Sigríður Sunna

AU - Kilinc, Gulsah Merve

AU - Kjellström, Anna

AU - Papmehl-Dufay, Ludvig

AU - Alfsdotter, Clara

AU - Berglund, Birgitta

AU - Alrawi, Loey

AU - Kashuba, Natalija

AU - Sobrado, Verónica

AU - Lagerholm, Vendela Kempe

AU - Gilbert, Edmund

AU - Cavalleri, Gianpiero L.

AU - Hovig, Eivind

AU - Kockum, Ingrid

AU - Olsson, Tomas

AU - Alfredsson, Lars

AU - Hansen, Thomas F.

AU - Werge, Thomas

AU - Munters, Arielle R.

AU - Bernhardsson, Carolina

AU - Skar, Birgitte

AU - Christophersen, Axel

AU - Turner-Walker, Gordon

AU - Gopalakrishnan, Shyam

AU - Daskalaki, Eva

AU - Omrak, Ayça

AU - Pérez-Ramallo, Patxi

AU - Skoglund, Pontus

AU - Girdland-Flink, Linus

AU - Gunnarsson, Fredrik

AU - Hedenstierna-Jonson, Charlotte

AU - Gilbert, M. Thomas P.

AU - Lidén, Kerstin

AU - Jakobsson, Mattias

AU - Einarsson, Lars

AU - Victor, Helena

AU - Krzewińska, Maja

AU - Zachrisson, Torun

AU - Storå, Jan

AU - Stefánsson, Kári

AU - Helgason, Agnar

AU - Götherström, Anders

N1 - Funding Information: The authors acknowledge support from the National Genomics Infrastructure in Stockholm funded by Science for Life Laboratory , the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Swedish Research Council , and SNIC/Uppsala Multidisciplinary Center for Advanced Computational Science for assistance with massively parallel sequencing and access to the UPPMAX computational infrastructure. We used resources from projects SNIC 2022/23-132 , SNIC 2022/22-117 , SNIC 2022/23-163 , SNIC 2022/22-299 , and SNIC 2021-2-17 . This research was supported by the Swedish Research Council project ID 2019-00849 _VR and ATLAS (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond). Part of the modern dataset was supported by a research grant from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), grant number 16/RC/3948, and co-funded under the European Regional Development Fund and by FutureNeuro industry partners. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)

PY - 2023/1/1

Y1 - 2023/1/1

N2 - We investigate a 2,000-year genetic transect through Scandinavia spanning the Iron Age to the present, based on 48 new and 249 published ancient genomes and genotypes from 16,638 modern individuals. We find regional variation in the timing and magnitude of gene flow from three sources: the eastern Baltic, the British-Irish Isles, and southern Europe. British-Irish ancestry was widespread in Scandinavia from the Viking period, whereas eastern Baltic ancestry is more localized to Gotland and central Sweden. In some regions, a drop in current levels of external ancestry suggests that ancient immigrants contributed proportionately less to the modern Scandinavian gene pool than indicated by the ancestry of genomes from the Viking and Medieval periods. Finally, we show that a north-south genetic cline that characterizes modern Scandinavians is mainly due to the differential levels of Uralic ancestry and that this cline existed in the Viking Age and possibly earlier.

AB - We investigate a 2,000-year genetic transect through Scandinavia spanning the Iron Age to the present, based on 48 new and 249 published ancient genomes and genotypes from 16,638 modern individuals. We find regional variation in the timing and magnitude of gene flow from three sources: the eastern Baltic, the British-Irish Isles, and southern Europe. British-Irish ancestry was widespread in Scandinavia from the Viking period, whereas eastern Baltic ancestry is more localized to Gotland and central Sweden. In some regions, a drop in current levels of external ancestry suggests that ancient immigrants contributed proportionately less to the modern Scandinavian gene pool than indicated by the ancestry of genomes from the Viking and Medieval periods. Finally, we show that a north-south genetic cline that characterizes modern Scandinavians is mainly due to the differential levels of Uralic ancestry and that this cline existed in the Viking Age and possibly earlier.

KW - gene flow

KW - human population genomics

KW - migration period

KW - Scandinavian genetic structure

KW - Viking

KW - Humans

KW - Europe

KW - United Kingdom

KW - Scandinavian and Nordic Countries

KW - Genetic Variation

KW - White People/genetics

KW - Genome, Human

KW - Human Migration

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U2 - 10.1016/j.cell.2022.11.024

DO - 10.1016/j.cell.2022.11.024

M3 - Article

C2 - 36608656

AN - SCOPUS:85145351166

SN - 0092-8674

VL - 186

SP - 32-46.e19

JO - Cell

JF - Cell

IS - 1

ER -

The genetic history of Scandinavia from the Roman Iron Age to the present

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Other keywords

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