Genomes of Early Scandinavians Analyzed

News January 10, 2018

(Beate Kjørslevik)
SHARE:
Scandinavia hunter gatherers
(Beate Kjørslevik)

UPPSALA, SWEDEN—According to a report in the Copenhagen Post, a new genetic study supports the idea that Scandinavia was settled by hunter-gatherers from central Europe and what is now Russia. Geneticist Mattias Jakobsson of Uppsala University and an international team of researchers sequenced the genomes of seven hunter-gatherers who lived in Scandinavia between 6,000 and 9,500 years ago. They found evidence of a migration from central Europe, and a later migration from what is now Russia. These hunter-gathers from the east are thought to have brought advanced hunting tools to Scandinavia. The data suggests when the two groups mixed, they produced a population whose genetic variants could have helped them adapt to limited sunlight and cold weather. For more, go to “Hoards of the Vikings.”