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Genetic analysis of Ancient Britain
Eupedia Home > Genetics > Ancient European Genomes > Britain

Author: Maciamo Hay (last update : March 2021)

Contents
1. Dodecad K12b admixtures of: 1.1 Neolithic Britons 1.2 Bell Beaker Britons 1.3 Early Bronze Age Britons 1.4 Middle to Late Bronze Age Britons 1.5 Anglo-Saxons & Vikings 2. Comparison with modern populations

Dodecad K12b admixtures of ancient British

Several studies have looked into ancient British DNA. Brace et al. (2019) tested the genomes of 6 Mesolithic and 67 Neolithic individuals found in Britain, dating 8500–2500 BCE. Olalde et al. (2018) tested 27 Bell Beaker and 55 Bronze Age individuals from the British Isles.

Note: You can check the location, carbon dating and haplogroups of any sample in the AmtDB database.

Neolithic Britons

Sample ID	Gedrosia	Siberia	NW Africa	SE Asia	Atlantic Med	North Europe	South Asia	East Africa	SW Asia	East Asia	Caucasus	Sub-Saharan Africa

I2605	0	0	3.36	0.38	66.07	12.15	0.56	0	6.73	0	10	0.74
I2630	0	0	4.13	0	66.89	9.03	0	0.09	7.45	0.32	12.01	0.09
I2631	0	0	5.05	0.00	65.99	13.28	0.00	0.00	5.75	0.00	9.47	0.46
I2633	0	0	4.55	0.13	64.48	14.07	0.2	0.29	7.32	0.11	8.44	0.42
I2634	0	0	6.63	1.42	60.56	11.65	0	0.21	7.56	0	11.96	0
I2635	0	0	5.08	0	63.3	10.42	0	0	7.31	0.94	12.53	0.42
I2636	0.00	0.00	4.36	0.41	65.99	10.89	0.00	0.00	6.85	0.42	10.89	0.2
I2637	0.00	0.00	3.17	0.00	65.44	11.19	0.00	0.00	6.21	0.30	13.22	0.47
I2650	0	0	3.6	0	64.85	15.06	0	0.23	9.39	0	6.75	0.13
I2651	0	0	5.28	0	67.31	13.08	0	0	5.34	0.15	8.63	0.2
I2657	0	0	3.84	0	65.61	18.75	0.32	0	3.85	0	7.63	0
I2659	0	0	4.98	0	65.79	15.78	0	0	7.85	0	5.31	0.28
I2660	0	0	4.32	0.00	68.75	14.77	0.00	0.00	4.52	0.27	7.04	0.32
I2691	0.00	0.00	5.04	0.34	65.83	23.08	0.00	0.06	3.58	0.52	1.54	0.02
I2932	0	0	2.95	0.00	65.62	15.14	0.00	0.09	6.12	0.44	9.38	0.26
I2933	0	0	3.3	0.4	66.45	15.78	0.28	0.26	8.81	0.49	3.98	0.24
I2934	0	0	5.09	0.58	64.14	13.86	0.00	0.00	6.81	0.00	9.19	0.32
I2935	0	0	5.91	0	65.55	11.56	0	0	7.61	0	9.38	0
I2977	0	0	3.13	0	67.51	12.21	0	0	7.31	0.22	9.22	0.39
I2978	0	0	3.99	0.13	67.17	11.95	0	0	7.06	0	9.39	0.31
I2979	0	0	4.36	0.21	66.98	10.95	0.1	0.26	6.65	0.11	10.17	0.22
I2980	0	0.04	6.13	0.31	64.38	11.27	0	0	6.77	0	10.55	0.56
I2988	0	0	3.88	0.45	64.68	9.42	0.16	0	8.77	0.13	12.34	0.17
I3068	0.00	0.00	5.03	0.00	65.04	11.36	0.00	0.00	7.25	0.84	10.48	0.00
I3085	0	0	5.87	0.28	64.09	10.50	0.00	0.10	8.06	0.00	10.89	0.22
I3133	0	0.05	3.55	0.08	64.03	14.6	0	0.14	7.11	0	10.34	0.1
I3134	0	0	3.62	0.00	68.98	13.24	0.00	0.00	6.68	0.20	6.98	0.31
I3135	0	0	3.51	0	65.88	26.23	0.42	0.4	2.61	0	0.54	0.41
I3136	0	0	3.67	0	65.93	12.38	0	0	8.39	0.01	9.63	0
I3138	0.00	0.00	2.26	0.30	64.61	12.25	0.00	0.00	9.97	0.48	9.55	0.57
I4949	0	0	5.74	0	71.4	19.3	0	2.12	1.44	0	0	0
I5358	0.00	0.00	6.75	0.00	64.19	10.60	0.34	0.00	7.57	0.53	9.45	0.58
I5366	0	0	4.18	1.27	66.45	9.92	0.12	0.00	7.05	0.00	10.49	0.52
I7554	0.00	0.07	4.79	0.00	64.94	10.80	0.00	0.00	8.84	0.06	10.35	0.15
SB338B2	0.00	0.00	3.33	0.35	68.92	11.72	0.00	0.00	8.43	0.16	6.97	0.12
SB350C3	0.00	0.00	2.88	0.02	69.55	10.32	0.00	0.00	8.51	0.00	8.44	0.28
SB379D2	0.00	0.00	5.00	0.00	65.03	11.32	0.00	0.00	7.28	0.81	10.56	0.00
SB381B3	0.00	0.00	3.29	0.00	66.11	11.35	0.00	0.00	8.85	0.00	10.16	0.23
SB415A	0.00	0.00	0.34	0.00	56.65	20.82	0.01	0.18	9.83	0.00	12.08	0.09
SB416B3	0.00	0.00	5.09	0.06	68.19	9.29	0.27	0.00	5.40	0.00	11.70	0.00
SB422B2	0.00	0.00	3.11	0.00	65.23	14.83	0.00	0.00	9.99	0.00	6.85	0.00
SB451B	0.00	0.00	4.48	0.00	66.93	11.60	0.00	0.00	6.75	0.00	10.23	0.00
SB462A2	0.00	0.00	2.95	0.62	72.32	12.33	0.75	0.00	3.62	0.00	7.42	0.00
SB467A	0.00	2.70	0.00	0.00	56.53	21.21	0.00	0.00	9.46	0.00	10.10	0.00
SB470A3	0.00	0.00	2.38	0.10	66.84	11.44	0.00	0.00	7.47	0.04	11.23	0.51
SB474C3	0.00	0.00	5.58	0.93	66.38	13.23	0.05	0.00	5.78	0.00	8.05	0.00
SB488B3	0.00	0.00	4.44	0.00	65.28	11.63	0.00	0.00	8.39	0.00	10.26	0.00
SB492A3	0.00	0.00	5.75	0.00	67.98	11.98	0.00	0.00	6.55	0.45	7.19	0.10
SB493A2	0.00	0.00	2.77	0.68	67.93	9.36	0.41	0.00	4.38	2.37	12.10	0.00
SB495A2	0.00	1.72	4.53	0.90	70.33	7.30	0.00	0.00	9.21	0.00	5.70	0.30
SB511A3	0.00	0.00	4.84	0.00	66.65	13.24	0.00	0.00	5.73	0.12	8.89	0.53
SB513A2	0.00	0.00	3.79	0.00	67.27	20.61	0.15	0.00	5.19	0.10	1.77	1.11
SB515A2	0.00	0.00	1.95	0.00	65.08	13.32	0.00	0.00	10.53	0.46	8.66	0.00
SB519A2	0.00	0.00	4.29	0.40	62.99	12.40	0.00	0.00	8.20	0.00	10.60	1.11
SB527A	0.00	0.00	2.84	0.00	65.45	15.00	0.00	0.00	13.35	0.00	3.36	0.00
SB528A	0.00	0.00	3.58	1.73	68.57	16.86	0.00	0.00	5.52	0.00	3.73	0.00
SB543A3	0.00	0.00	2.97	0.24	64.61	13.89	0.00	0.00	8.51	0.43	9.36	0.00
SB568A	0.00	0.00	6.87	0.00	66.41	13.13	0.00	0.00	4.13	0.00	8.52	0.94
SB570A	0.00	0.00	6.33	0.00	64.48	10.88	0.61	0.00	7.58	0.54	9.02	0.56
SB573A	0.00	0.00	3.67	0.00	66.91	9.93	0.00	0.00	7.04	0.39	12.05	0.00
SB577A	0.00	0.00	0.00	3.49	67.40	15.12	0.09	0.00	8.90	0.00	5.00	0.00
SB603A	0.00	0.00	4.18	1.09	66.73	9.64	0.40	0.00	6.73	0.00	10.74	0.50

Neolithic Britain	0.00	0.07	4.07	0.28	65.93	13.23	0.08	0.07	7.13	0.20	8.68	0.25

Bell Beaker Britons (2300-2000 BCE)

Sample ID	Gedrosia	Siberia	NW Africa	SE Asia	Atlantic Med	North Europe	South Asia	East Africa	SW Asia	East Asia	Caucasus	Sub-Saharan Africa
I1765	14.62	0.00	0.00	0.00	31.55	48.56	0.16	0.90	0.00	0.00	4.21	0.00
I1767	9.62	0.10	0.00	0.29	37.24	44.10	0.28	0.43	1.08	0.00	6.50	0.35
I2416	4.42	2.18	0.00	0.00	48.88	37.29	0.00	1.35	1.66	0.40	3.82	0.00
I2418	12.40	0.63	0.00	0.00	33.29	49.36	1.61	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.77	0.93
I2443	14.10	1.90	0.00	0.00	30.56	47.79	0.78	0.00	0.00	0.00	3.41	1.46
I2445	10.27	1.51	0.00	0.24	34.19	47.37	1.83	0.14	1.25	0.00	2.48	0.72
I2446	9.93	0.38	0.00	0.00	44.94	41.80	2.64	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.31
I2447	13.42	0.72	0.00	0.11	33.57	47.63	1.01	0.86	0.00	1.08	0.56	1.04
I2450	14.73	0.85	0.00	0.00	29.03	51.60	1.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.89	0.91
I2452	11.28	0.65	0.00	0.00	33.45	50.01	0.98	0.38	0.00	0.00	2.50	0.76
I2453	13.29	1.05	0.08	0.00	31.04	46.94	0.93	0.00	0.00	0.00	6.00	0.67
I2454	15.52	0.20	0.00	0.00	31.12	49.93	1.03	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.62	0.59
I2455	9.42	0.00	0.00	0.00	33.34	50.25	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	6.99	0.00
I2459	15.12	1.01	1.31	0.00	27.69	52.42	0.00	0.93	0.00	0.86	0.00	0.66
I2566	10.46	2.85	1.35	0.00	35.36	46.44	0.75	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.03	1.77
I2568	9.42	0.00	0.58	0.00	40.38	43.74	1.35	0.24	1.59	0.88	1.36	0.46
I2598	14.24	0.00	0.00	1.00	30.29	49.29	2.93	0.00	0.00	0.00	2.25	0.00
I3255	14.61	0.76	0.00	0.00	34.94	46.64	0.47	0.87	0.00	0.00	1.09	0.61
I3256	13.59	0.00	0.03	0.00	35.75	46.00	2.95	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.43	1.24
I5367	11.80	0.64	0.00	0.00	35.53	49.25	0.27	0.17	0.00	0.00	1.67	0.67
I5376	16.92	0.00	0.00	0.69	27.08	50.89	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	3.95	0.47
I5379	10.52	1.35	0.01	0.42	36.20	43.00	0.32	0.00	0.00	0.00	6.58	1.60
I5382	12.52	0.00	0.00	0.00	35.52	46.49	0.40	0.09	0.00	1.25	2.53	1.20
I5385	14.11	1.50	0.00	0.00	30.25	48.45	0.20	0.40	0.00	0.28	4.39	0.42
I5471	13.13	0.84	0.59	0.74	37.91	41.93	0.00	0.81	0.00	0.00	3.69	0.37
I6679	13.08	0.00	0.00	0.00	32.51	47.90	0.00	1.47	2.80	0.00	2.24	0.00
I6774	16.81	0.83	0.00	0.00	29.06	49.76	0.75	0.87	0.00	0.00	1.49	0.44

BB Britain	12.57	0.74	0.15	0.13	34.10	47.22	0.84	0.37	0.31	0.18	2.76	0.65

Early Bronze Age Britons (2200-1600 BCE)

Sample ID	Gedrosia	Siberia	NW Africa	SE Asia	Atlantic Med	North Europe	South Asia	East Africa	SW Asia	East Asia	Caucasus	Sub-Saharan Africa
I2601	11.76	0	0.07	0	37.07	46.89	0.54	0	0	0	2.02	1.66
I2602	12.32	0.37	1.12	0.59	37.52	45.24	0.3	0.16	0	0.47	0.02	1.89
I2604	13.28	2.01	0.00	0.00	28.82	48.62	0.99	0.00	0.00	0.00	5.01	1.26
I2609	13.80	0.00	2.10	0.00	30.77	46.91	1.91	0.15	0.00	0.07	4.30	0.00
I2610	16.43	0.28	0	0	31.91	48.61	0	0	1.18	0	1.08	0.52
I2612	5.27	1.42	3.19	3.76	25.43	54.93	1.38	4.33	0.29	0.00	0.00	0.00
I2618	13.2	0.12	0.00	0	35.97	48.28	1.2	0.01	0.26	0	0	0.95
I2981	11.38	0.98	0.76	0.00	36.76	45.11	0.82	0.01	1.71	0.00	1.02	1.45
I3132	12.13	2.01	0	0	34.18	44.97	0	0	0	0	5.14	1.57
I5373	12.96	0	0	3.45	31.05	50.32	0	0	0	0	1.46	0.77
I5377	13.24	0	0	0.96	35.86	43.93	0.87	0.03	0	0	4.19	0.92
I5441	15.68	1.36	0.00	0.00	32.89	44.81	0.82	0.00	0.00	0.00	3.26	1.18
I5515	13.77	0.82	0	0	32.86	46.8	0	0	0.15	0.85	1.75	2.99
I5516	12.37	0.19	0	0	36.8	45.16	3	0	0.81	0	0	1.67
I6680	11.59	1.46	0.64	0.00	35.22	40.72	0.78	0.00	0.13	0.00	8.03	1.41
I7635	11.13	1.14	0.32	0.08	34.58	48.42	0.99	0.00	0.00	0.00	3.14	0.21
I7638	9.96	0.41	0.04	0.00	30.83	48.60	0.58	0.00	0.00	0.00	8.41	1.16
I7639	12.44	0	0	0	32.55	40.75	0	0	0	0	14.27	0

EBA Britain	11.99	0.65	0.40	0.43	34.02	46.75	0.72	0.21	0.28	0.08	3.35	1.11

Middle to Late Bronze Age Britons (1500-800 BCE)

Sample ID	Gedrosia	Siberia	NW Africa	SE Asia	Atlantic Med	North Europe	South Asia	East Africa	SW Asia	East Asia	Caucasus	Sub-Saharan Africa

I2458	10.35	0.67	0.00	0.00	40.22	40.80	1.74	0.00	0.32	0.00	4.84	1.06
I2573	9.17	1.40	0.00	0.00	37.25	42.64	0.69	0.00	0.00	0.00	7.85	1.00
I2574	16.36	0.00	1.50	0.00	36.31	39.90	1.70	0.00	0.00	0.23	4.00	0.00
I2639	10.18	0.88	0.86	0	31.15	48.9	1.42	0	0	0	5.89	0.73
I2655	9.88	0.61	0	0.39	37.2	45.77	0.76	0	0.29	0	4.27	0.82
I2656	14.41	0.27	0.15	0.33	36.45	41.99	0.72	0	0	0.03	5.39	0.26
I2659	0	0	4.98	0	65.79	15.78	0	0	7.85	0	5.31	0.28
I2660	0	0	4.32	0	68.75	14.77	0	0	4.52	0.27	7.04	0.32
I2691	0.00	0.00	5.04	0.34	65.83	23.08	0.00	0.06	3.58	0.52	1.54	0.02
I3082	9.37	0.09	0.4	0.65	39.07	40.87	2.98	0	0.33	0	5.28	0.97
I3130	11.91	1.17	0.45	0	38.59	43.83	1.12	0	0	0	2.1	0.83
I7569	7.15	0	0	0	28.9	44.47	2.05	0	0	0	17.43	0
I7570	10.32	1	0.00	0.00	32.35	47.90	1.37	0.00	0.00	0.00	5.64	1.42
I7571	13.03	1.41	0	0.46	36.87	47.54	0	0.12	0	0	0	0.57
I7572	12.02	0.47	0.99	0.00	37.71	45.30	0.00	0.58	0.54	0.37	1.55	0.47
I7573	10.25	0.65	0.00	0.00	36.99	46.07	0.24	1.14	0.00	0.00	3.79	0.87
I7574	11.67	0.71	0.00	0.00	35.48	48.47	1.47	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.70	0.51
I7575	11.14	0.17	0	0.96	38.45	44.75	0.81	0.00	0.46	0.00	2.11	1.15
I7576	9.15	0.25	0.00	1.48	40.6	41.8	0.64	0	0.15	0	4.62	1.3
I7577	12.14	0.37	0	0	36.55	43.8	1.65	0.7	0	0	4.1	0.69
I7578	12.59	1.12	0.62	0.00	36.34	45.96	0.11	0.00	0.00	0.00	1.68	1.57
I7579	10.8	0.94	0	0	33.34	47.12	1.84	0.34	0	0	4.55	1.07
I7580	11.97	1.29	0.00	0.00	33.35	47.17	0.32	0.04	0.00	0.00	4.82	1.05
I7626	10.47	0.58	0	0	35.92	48.01	0	0.06	0	0.33	3.03	1.6
I7627	11.83	0.29	0.00	0.00	38.70	45.39	1.22	0.00	0.07	0.00	1.63	0.86
I7628	10.35	0	0.97	0	35.46	44.54	1.37	0.46	0	0	6.4	0.45
I7640	14.12	0.87	0	0	35.17	46.23	0.92	0	0	0	2.25	0.43

MLBA Britain	10.02	0.56	0.75	0.17	39.58	41.96	0.93	0.13	0.67	0.06	4.40	0.75

Anglo-Saxons & Vikings

=> See Genetic analysis of Medieval Germanic tribes

Comparison with modern populations

Using the average values for each era above and comparing it with the Dodecad K12b averages for modern populations on Vahaduo, the genetic distance between populations can be compared. The smaller the value for the genetic distance, the most similar the population (1 being a perfect match). Under 5 is considered very close, 5 to 10 moderately similar, while over 10 is not genetically similar. Neolithic Britons were not genetically close to any modern population, but the most similar were modern Spaniards. The Bell Beakers from Central Europe almost completely replaced the Neolithic population. They were the ancestors of both Celtic and Germanic peoples so it is not surprising to find relatively close matches in Scandinavia and Celtic populations like Scotland and Ireland. The best match are Icelanders, who are about 2/3 Scandinavian and 1/3 Irish/Scottish in origins. The Atlantic Bronze Age (1300–700 BCE) saw population exchanges between Britain, Ireland, western France, Spain and Portugal, so that the percentage of Atlantic_Med increases again. The Late Bronze Age Britons were already genetically the same ethnic Celts as modern Irish, Scots and Bretons and contributed a lot to the modern English gene pool as well.