Genomic history and selection in Roman and early medieval Britain

Abstract Leading biomedical resources rely on genome variation in Britain 1–3 , but the historical processes that shaped present-day fine-scale diversity remain debated 4–13 . Here we sequenced 1039 ancient shotgun genomes from Britain (median 1.4-fold coverage), primarily dating to the first millennium CE. We imputed ∼660 million variants in the UK Biobank 14–16 and employed genealogy-based ancestry reconstruction. We found an association between Iron Age consanguinity and matrilineal burial practices 17 , later disrupted following the Roman Conquest. Despite this societal impact, only 20% of Roman-period individuals carried detectable ancestry from outside Britain. In contrast, from the 6th century CE we detect widespread influx of ancestry in over 70% of individuals in southern’Anglo-Saxon’ Britain, with limited local admixture. We find previously underappreciated heterogeneity, with ancestries associated with Central and Southern Europe rising in prevalence from the 7th century CE. We demonstrate distinct Scandinavian-related ancestry in many Viking-associated contexts, but show that the population-level impact of the Viking Age in Britain was limited. Finally, we detect pre-medieval selection on variants linked with key immunity genes TLR10-TLR1 and IRF8 . These results identify population-level and selective processes that shape variation and disease risk in Britain today.

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Publication Details

Journal
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Published
2026-04-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.28.721361
Primary Topic
Forensic and Genetic Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Genomic history and selection in Roman and early medieval Britain

Adrián Maldonado, Alex Davie, Margaret Crawford, Pooja Swali et al.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Forensic and Genetic Research
article

Genomic history and selection in Roman and early medieval Britain

Adrián Maldonado, Alex Davie, Margaret Crawford, Pooja Swali, Kyriaki Anastasiadou, Matthew G. Knight, Gordon Noble, Elizabeth Craig‐Atkins, Hugh Wilmott, Leo Speidel, Lisa Brown, Selina Brace, Annsofie Witkin, Alexandre Gilardet, Kate Britton, Monica Kelly, Christopher Barrington, Rick Schulting, Frankie Tait, Ian Armit, Gabrielle Delbarre, Helen Fewlass, Adelle Bricking, Katie A. Hemer, Martyn Allen, Sarah Stark, Gaynor Western, Keith Parfitt, Maya Hoole, Pontus Skoglund, Britta van Tiel, Isabelle Glocke, Alexander J.E. Pryor, Jo Seaman, Edward Biddulph, Neil Curtis, Johan du Preez, Mackenzie Masters, Andrew Young, M. Thomas, Jessica Peto, Peter Heather, Sam Leggett, Marina Silva, James C. Lee, Jo Buckberry, J. Alison Sheridan, Malin R. Holst, Milena A. Grzybowska, Louise Loe, David Gilbert, Ian Barnes, Oscar R. Aldred, Christopher Booth, Jesse McCabe, Ceridwen V. Boston, Emer Bealin-Kelly, Simon Mays, Andy Hood, Laura H. Evis, Adelina C. Teoaca, Lucy J. Koster, Ceri Falys, Sarah Johnston, Yusuf Mohamedy, Amal N. R. H. Kreisheh, Jess E. Thompson, Megan C. Stoakley, Colin Shell, Thomas Booth, Kerry L. Sayle, Mark Gibson, Rebecca Redfern, Katherine Buckland, Don Walker, Sharon J. Clough, Linus Girdland-Flink, Ciara Clarke, Mia Williams
article en

Abstract

Abstract Leading biomedical resources rely on genome variation in Britain 1–3 , but the historical processes that shaped present-day fine-scale diversity remain debated 4–13 . Here we sequenced 1039 ancient shotgun genomes from Britain (median 1.4-fold coverage), primarily dating to the first millennium CE. We imputed ∼660 million variants in the UK Biobank 14–16 and employed genealogy-based ancestry reconstruction. We found an association between Iron Age consanguinity and matrilineal burial practices 17 , later disrupted following the Roman Conquest. Despite this societal impact, only 20% of Roman-period individuals carried detectable ancestry from outside Britain. In contrast, from the 6th century CE we detect widespread influx of ancestry in over 70% of individuals in southern’Anglo-Saxon’ Britain, with limited local admixture. We find previously underappreciated heterogeneity, with ancestries associated with Central and Southern Europe rising in prevalence from the 7th century CE. We demonstrate distinct Scandinavian-related ancestry in many Viking-associated contexts, but show that the population-level impact of the Viking Age in Britain was limited. Finally, we detect pre-medieval selection on variants linked with key immunity genes TLR10-TLR1 and IRF8 . These results identify population-level and selective processes that shape variation and disease risk in Britain today.

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Canterbury Christ Church University (GB), Museum of London Archaeology (GB), Museum of London (GB), Natural History Museum (GB), English Heritage (GB), National Museums Scotland (GB), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE), University of Bradford (GB), United States Army War College (US), King's College London (GB), University of Aberdeen (GB), University of Exeter (GB), University of Cambridge (GB), Canterbury Archaeological Trust (GB), Wiltshire Council (GB), Historic England (GB), Historic Environment Scotland (GB), Wiltshire College (GB), York Archaeological Trust (GB), RIKEN Center for Brain Science (JP), The Francis Crick Institute (GB), London Borough Of Lewisham (GB), University of Bristol (GB), University of Oxford (GB), Friends United (US), York Osteoarchaeology (United Kingdom) (GB), Thames Valley Archaeological Services (GB), Kent Archaeological Society (GB), Wessex Regional Genetics Laboratory (GB), Oxford Archaeology (GB), Centre for Palaeogenetics (SE), National Museum Wales (GB), Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (GB), Department of Archaeology (LK), University of Southampton (GB), University College London (GB), University of York (GB), University of Reading (GB), Newcastle University (GB), University of Sheffield (GB), Bournemouth University (GB), University of Edinburgh (GB)
European Molecular Biology Organization
Openalex Percentile: Top 8%
Forensic and Genetic Research
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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