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DNA analysis of a bone fragment from a cave in Siberia provides evidence of interbreeding of Neanderthal and Denisovan populations some 90,000 years ago.

Posted on August 23, 2018 Written by Donald Provan

In an article published in ‘Nature’ in August 2018 a group of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig present the results of DNA analysis from a small bone excavated at the Denisova Cave in SW Siberia.

The research by a team headed by Dr. Viviane Slon, shows that the bone, from a young female given the name ‘Denny’, had DNA from both a Denisovan father and a Neanderthal mother. The father came from a population living locally to the Denisova caves while the mother seems to have come from a group living thousands of kilometres to the west in what is now present day Croatia.

Neanderthals and Denisovans are extinct groups of archaic humans that separated from each other more than 390,000 years ago. Despite interbreeding, Neanderthals and Denisovans never merged into a single genetic population. For hundreds of thousands of years, they remained distinct in spite of some interbreeding. They lived in small groups separated by vast distances, so maybe there was not much opportunity to mate. Alternatively, the offspring of such interbreeding may have suffered from some genetic disorder so that they did not flourish.

Earlier research has shown that interbreeding took place between Neanderthals and humans.  In fact most of us have a small percentage of Neanderthal DNA in our genes. What is remarkable is that this is only the fifth Denisovan individual to be sequenced, suggesting that ‘hybrids’ between all three groups

were much more common than previously thought.

Interbreeding may have become more widespread with the arrival of our human ancestors on the scene after their migration from Africa some 70,000 years ago.

We have numerous skeletal remains including the skull of the Neanderthals and have a fair idea what they looked like. Up to now, however, only small bone fragments of the Denisovans have come to light and their appearance remains a mystery.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

The Viking voyages and their DNA legacy.

Posted on September 29, 2016 Written by Donald Provan

DNA analyses carried out by the firm scotlandsdna.com on samples from the present day inhabitants of Great Britain and Norway give a good indication of the extent to which the two populations mingled during the Viking era.

‘Norwegian# DNA varies between 1% in Wales and Ireland to 29% in Orkney and Shetland, areas which the Vikings basically took over.

On the other side of the North Sea,Norwegian men have 5% of the Celtic Y/chromosome R1b/S145. The chromosome is particularly common in the western counties of Nordland, Troendelag, Moere and Romsdal and Hordaland.

It is well known that the Vikings who plundered the British Isles in the 9th and 10th centuries were not only interested in gold and silver but also in slaves, mainly women and children. As time went on the Viking settlements became more permanent and the Norwegians married local women. This explains the high prcentage of Nordic DNA in the northern parts of Britain.

Many of the women and children were sold as slaves in southern Europe while others were brought back to Norway to the regions from where the voyages left. Thus the occurrence of the #celtic# chromosome in todays men from west Norway.

 

 

Filed Under: General - English

DNA- tester avslører Prince Williams indisk avstamning

Posted on May 21, 2015 Written by Donald Provan

Analyser utførte av selskapet www.scotlandsDNA.com indikerer at Prince William, en av arvinger til den britiske tronen, har noen dråper av indisk DNA i hans årer.

Prince Williams mor, Lady Diana, nedstammer fra Katharine Scott Forbes (1812-1893) som var et resultat av et forhold mellom Theodore Forbes (fra Skottland) og hans husholderske Eliza Keward. Katharine ble født i Port Surat nær Bombay. Det er mulig at Eliza var delvis armensk.

Theodore var handelsmann i det britiske Ost India Selskap. Kjærlighetsaffæren med Eliza var et ekte, varig, ekteskap og to barn ble født. Dessverre døde Theodore i 1820 på reise hjem til Skottland med Katharine og hennes bror. Broren reiste tilbake til India, mens Katharine bosatte seg i Skottland og ble senere gift med James Crombie av Aberdeen.

I 1954 ble Frances, en direkte etterkommer av Katharine, gift med Jarle Spencer og fødte Princess Diana i 1961.

Forskerne har klart å spore opp to levende etterkommere av Eliza og analysert deres mitokondrielle DNA (mtDNA). Begge tilhører en sjelden haplogruppe R30b som finnes bare i India og Nepal. Dette beviser at Eliza, tipp-tipp-tipp-tipp mormor til Prince William, var i det minste, delvis indiske.   MtDNA følger morslinje fra mødrene til sine barn, men det dør ut i sønner. Dermed vil hverken Prince William eller Prince Harry sende Elizas mtDNA videre til sine barn.

Filed Under: General - Norwegian

Utformingen av de moderne europeiske befolkninger

Posted on May 21, 2015 Written by Donald Provan

En fersk studie fra et internasjonalt team av forskere har avdekket at det foregikk en masseutvandring fra det russiske sletteland til Europa for ca. 4500 år siden.

Det er vel etablert at etterkommerne av jegerne som levde i Europa fra rundt 40 000 år blandet seg med stammene som migrerte inn i Europa fra Midtøsten for 8000 år siden. Analyse av DNA fra beinrester etter 69 individer funnet ved arkeologiske utgravninger rundt omkring i Europa viser imidlertid at denne ‘to-komponent’ blandingen er ikke nok til å forklare den genetiske kompleksiteten av moderne europeere, og en tredje gruppe må legges til miksen.

Denne tredje gruppen, er det foreslått, var en stamme av nomader, den såkalte Yamnaya, som utvandret fra steppene i Sør-Russland i bronsealderen ca. 4 500 år siden. De har bidratt med ca. 50 % av den genetiske sammensetningen til beboerne i Nord-Europa, mindre hos dem som bor i Sør-Europa.

Yamnaya-gjetere kan også ha innført den Indo-Europeiske språk, grunnlaget for de fleste europeiske språk i dag.

Studiet er rapportert i Nature, 2. mars 2015.

Filed Under: General - Norwegian

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Recent Posts

  • DNA analysis of a bone fragment from a cave in Siberia provides evidence of interbreeding of Neanderthal and Denisovan populations some 90,000 years ago. August 23, 2018
  • The Viking voyages and their DNA legacy. September 29, 2016
  • DNA- tester avslører Prince Williams indisk avstamning May 21, 2015
  • Utformingen av de moderne europeiske befolkninger May 21, 2015
  • Homo sapiens og dens forhold til Neandertaler og Denisovaner May 20, 2015

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