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What’s the Genetic (DNA) History of Wales? A Window Into Post-Ice-Age Britain

The genetic history of Wales shows that the Welsh are the most genetically similar to the people of ancient Britain following the last ice age compared to other groups in the British Isles. The reason for this is simple geography.

This is a map of Wales in the context of Europe. Over the centuries, the main migrations and invasions into Britain have come from the Vikings sailing from Scandinavia to the northeast of Britain, the Anglo-Saxons from the east, from places such as Denmark and Germany, and the Normans from modern France. The geography of Wales has meant that it is sheltered from the brunt of these migrations to a large degree. Furthermore, it seems that at times when there was foreign migrations into Britain, ancient Britons fled west to Wales for safety.

This is not to say that Wales was immune from invasions, with the Romans conquering large parts of Wales for instance, but they never had the same degree of migration patterns as other countries. The Anglo-Saxons left a notable genetic legacy on much of England for instance, and the Vikings left a notable genetic impression on Scotland, yet Wales seems to have escaped such impressions.

There is more to the story however. Various studies have noted a north/south split in Wales. Professor Peter Donnelly, a professor of statistical science at Oxford University, who conducted a 2012 study on Welsh DNA, stated that “people in north Wales look relatively distinct from people in south Wales."

The People of British Isles study also found that Wales forms a distinct genetic group from the rest of Britain, with a further division between north and south Wales. In fact, this study found that “north and south Wales are about as distinct genetically from each other as are central and southern England from northern England and Scotland.” This north-south division corresponds well with the ancient kingdoms of Gwynedd (gwinneth) in the north and Dyfed (Daved) in the south.

As we have seen, the Welsh are the most genetically similar to the earliest settlers of the British Isles after the last ice age than any other group in the British Isles. What’s your thoughts...

Sources:

Settlers: Genetics, Geography and the Peopling of Britain - Oxford University Museum of Natural History - http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/settlers/

Oxford University Museum of Natural History - Genetic Ancestry and the People of the British Isles    • Genetic Ancestry and the People of th...  

University of Oxford - Who do you think you really are? A genetic map of the British Isles https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2015-03-19-...

University of Oxford - People of the British Isles - Population Genetics and Facial Genetics https://www.peopleofthebritishisles.org/ https://www.peopleofthebritishisles.o...

BBC News, Welsh people could be most ancient in UK, DNA suggests https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-1...

#wales #history #dna

Chapters:
0:00 Welsh DNA
1:40 North/South Genetic Split
2:45 Support