The Orkney Islands experienced the same massive migration from Europe 4,500 years ago as the rest of the UK, with much of the local population being replaced.
That’s the conclusion of experts led by the University of Huddersfield who analyzed ancient DNA from human remains found at the Links of Noltland site on the island of Westray.
This settlement – which was occupied from the 4th millennium BC to the middle of the 1st millennium BC – was found to contain at least 35 buildings.
The DNA results, the team say, challenge assumptions that the archipelago was a relatively insular community during the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age.
Also, while early Bronze Age resettlements were generally male-led as herding developed, the reverse seems to have been the case for Orkney.
Based on the survival for at least a thousand years of the male lines of the island’s original Neolithic population, it appears that the newcomers were predominantly female.
According to the researchers, such a demographic composition is “unique” among Bronze Age migrations across northern and central Europe.
Experts have also said they believe the new arrivals were likely the first visitors to Orkney Island to speak Indo-European languages.
The immigrants appear to have a genetic ancestry derived, at least in part, from herders who lived in the steppe north of the Black Sea.
The Orkney Islands experienced the same massive migration from Europe 4,500 years ago as the rest of the UK, with much of the local population being replaced. That’s the conclusion of experts led by the University of Huddersfield who analyzed ancient DNA from human remains found at the Links of Noltland site (pictured, showing one of 35 buildings unearthed) on Westray
The DNA results, the team say, challenge assumptions that the archipelago was a relatively insular community during the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Pictured: One of the skeletons unearthed at the Links of Noltland site whose DNA was analyzed by researchers
The study was undertaken by archaeologist George Foody of the University of Huddersfield and his colleagues.
“This shows that the expansion of the third millennium BC. across Europe was not a monolithic process, but was more complex and varied from place to place,’ Dr Foody explained.
The paper’s co-author and human geneticist, Jim Wilson from the University of Edinburgh, added: “It is absolutely fascinating to discover that the dominant male genetic line from the Orcadian Neolithic persisted for at least 1,000 years until in the Bronze Age.”
This, he noted, was “despite the replacement of 95% of the rest of the genome by immigrant women”.
“This lineage was then itself superseded – and we haven’t found it yet in today’s population,” he explained.
As noted, most Early Bronze Age migrations were led by men – with most women who incorporated into the expanding populations coming from local farming groups.
According to the researchers, the reason the situation in Orkney was so different is probably because farms in the archipelago were already well established, stable and self-sufficient by the early Bronze Age.
Alongside this, the team’s genetic data suggests that Orkney’s farming population was already male-dominated during the height of the Neolithic, leaving the islands generally less susceptible to the arrival of outsiders.
Together, these factors enabled the original farmers to weather the tougher times that came at the end of the Neolithic period better – and to maintain their dominance in the face of newcomers arriving over successive generations.
According to the researchers, the reason the situation in Orkney was so different is probably because farms in the archipelago were already well established, stable and self-sufficient by the early Bronze Age. Alongside this, the team’s genetic data suggests that Orkney’s farming population was already male-dominated during the height of the Neolithic, leaving the islands generally less susceptible to the arrival of outsiders. Pictured: The Links of Noltland site, located on the eroding dunes on the north coast of Westray
Overall, the team explained, the results of their study were unexpected for two entirely different reasons.
Archaeologists were surprised by the scale of immigration to Orkney, while geneticists were taken up by the survival of Neolithic male lines.
“This research shows how much we still have to learn about one of the most important events in European prehistory – the end of the Neolithic,” said paper author and University of Huddersfield archaeogenetist Martin Richards. .
The full results of the study have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The immigrants appear to have a genetic ancestry derived, at least in part, from herders who lived in the steppe north of the Black Sea. Pictured: One of the archaeologists digs up a body under the dunes at the Links of Noltland site
Experts led by the University of Huddersfield have analyzed ancient DNA from human remains found at the Links of Noltland site, pictured above, on the island of Westray