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I was really hoping for new information on a statistically significant difference in the amount of Neanderthal DNA in old Viking skeletons versus modern time Sc

I was really hoping for new information on a statistically significant difference in the amount of Neanderthal DNA in old Viking skeletons versus modern time Scandinavians.

bpodgursky 6y ago
The Viking era was only about a thousand years ago (vs Neanderthals who died about 35,000 years ago). It's highly unlikely they weren't completely modern humans in every sense of the word. If there were populations with significant relict Neanderthal DNA, you'd be looking at more like the Celt/Gaul populations, and talking at least a thousand years before that -- think the British isles, before the Angles/Saxons moved in. And even that is very... speculative history.
- udp 6y ago
  > If there were populations with significant relict Neanderthal DNA, you'd be looking at more like the Celt/Gaul populations, and talking at least a thousand years before that -- think the British isles, before the Angles/Saxons moved in. And even that is very... speculative history. Very speculative indeed, considering there was plenty of movement of people between the British Isles and the continent before the Anglo-Saxons arrived (who themselves had surprisingly little impact on the genetic makeup of the British people [0]). And if there was significant Neanderthal DNA in the British Isles 1500 years ago, it would still be detectable among living generations (it isn't). [0] https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14230 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14230
  - drocer88 6y ago
    There is significant amounts of Neanderthal genes in British (and all European ) genomes. "Neanderthal-derived DNA was found in the genome of all contemporary populations". [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbreeding_between_archaic_and_modern_humans#Neanderthals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbreeding_between_archaic_... See also: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/01/genetic-data-half-million-brits-reveal-ongoing-evolution-and-neanderthal-legacy https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/01/genetic-data-half-mi... ( Genetic data on half a million Brits reveal ongoing evolution and Neanderthal legacy ) https://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6363/655 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6363/655 : "We find that non-African populations outside Oceania carry between 1.8 and 2.6% Neandertal DNA"
    - udp 6y ago
      As you said, all contemporary populations. So there is nothing to suggest that the British Isles was a Neanderthal genetic time capsule prior to occupation by the Anglo-Saxons, Romans, or Celts. Likely all of these incoming populations were equally as Neanderthal as the existing inhabitants.
- reillyse 6y ago
  Atlantic Archipelago please, only half joking.
Tagbert 6y ago
Even going back 5500 years to Ötzi, he still only had about 5.5% Neanderthal DNA (compared to about 3% for a modern European). These Vikings would likely have been closer to us than to him.
mongol 6y ago
Considering that Scandinavia was covered in ice (Weichselian glaciation) when the Neanderthals died out, there is no reason to believe that there would be any such differenve.

I was really hoping for new information on a statistically significant difference in the amount of Neanderthal DNA in old Viking skeletons versus modern time Scandinavians.

bpodgursky 6y ago

The Viking era was only about a thousand years ago (vs Neanderthals who died about 35,000 years ago). It's highly unlikely they weren't completely modern humans in every sense of the word. If there were populations with significant relict Neanderthal DNA, you'd be looking at more like the Celt/Gaul populations, and talking at least a thousand years before that -- think the British isles, before the Angles/Saxons moved in. And even that is very... speculative history.

udp 6y ago
> If there were populations with significant relict Neanderthal DNA, you'd be looking at more like the Celt/Gaul populations, and talking at least a thousand years before that -- think the British isles, before the Angles/Saxons moved in. And even that is very... speculative history. Very speculative indeed, considering there was plenty of movement of people between the British Isles and the continent before the Anglo-Saxons arrived (who themselves had surprisingly little impact on the genetic makeup of the British people [0]). And if there was significant Neanderthal DNA in the British Isles 1500 years ago, it would still be detectable among living generations (it isn't). [0] https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14230 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14230
- drocer88 6y ago
  There is significant amounts of Neanderthal genes in British (and all European ) genomes. "Neanderthal-derived DNA was found in the genome of all contemporary populations". [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbreeding_between_archaic_and_modern_humans#Neanderthals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbreeding_between_archaic_... See also: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/01/genetic-data-half-million-brits-reveal-ongoing-evolution-and-neanderthal-legacy https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/01/genetic-data-half-mi... ( Genetic data on half a million Brits reveal ongoing evolution and Neanderthal legacy ) https://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6363/655 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6363/655 : "We find that non-African populations outside Oceania carry between 1.8 and 2.6% Neandertal DNA"
  - udp 6y ago
    As you said, all contemporary populations. So there is nothing to suggest that the British Isles was a Neanderthal genetic time capsule prior to occupation by the Anglo-Saxons, Romans, or Celts. Likely all of these incoming populations were equally as Neanderthal as the existing inhabitants.
reillyse 6y ago
Atlantic Archipelago please, only half joking.

Tagbert 6y ago

Even going back 5500 years to Ötzi, he still only had about 5.5% Neanderthal DNA (compared to about 3% for a modern European). These Vikings would likely have been closer to us than to him.

mongol 6y ago

Considering that Scandinavia was covered in ice (Weichselian glaciation) when the Neanderthals died out, there is no reason to believe that there would be any such differenve.