Ancient DNA dates Germanic arrival in Scandinavia to ~4,000 BP

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen, led by Eske Willerslev, sequenced 712 ancient human genomes and analysed them together with 4,009 previously published ones, according to a paper on nature.com. nature.com The authors report an archaeologically elusive population that entered Sweden, likely from the Baltic region, by around 4,000 years before present (BP). nature.com The work addresses when and where the Germanic branch of Indo-European, which includes German, English, Frisian, Dutch and the Nordic languages, arrived in the north.

The timing of that arrival has been contested. Steppe-related ancestry reached Europe around 5,000 BP, and the Corded Ware and Bell Beaker complexes have been associated with the introduction of Germanic to Scandinavia. nature.com Between those first waves (about 5,000–4,500 BP) and the first runic inscriptions, the earliest Germanic written evidence (about 1,950–1,550 BP), lies a gap of two to three millennia. nature.com Loanword contacts with Celtic- and Finno-Saamic-speaking groups suggest an early form of Germanic existed between northern Germany and the East Baltic by the Late Bronze Age (3,200–2,800 BP). nature.com

A new ancestry in Scandinavia

The final imputed dataset contained 578 new and 4,009 published individuals, covering 690,211 SNPs. nature.com The team used identity-by-descent clustering, mixture modelling and spatio-temporal kriging to follow ancestry through time. nature.com The population that appeared in Sweden by about 4,000 BP became widespread across Scandinavia by 3,500 BP. nature.com According to the authors, it offers a potential route for Germanic into Scandinavia some 800 years later than traditionally assumed. nature.com

Migrations in the Iron Age and after

After Germanic split into its descendant languages in the Late Iron Age, the authors observe a southward migration from southern Scandinavia by 1,650 BP into presumed Celtic-speaking areas, including present-day Germany, Poland and the Netherlands. nature.com During the Migration Period (1,575–1,375 BP), this ancestry appears among Anglo-Saxons in Britain and Langobards in southern Europe. nature.com

In the same period the team identifies a related large-scale northward back-migration into Denmark and southern Sweden. nature.com It coincides with the rise of Danish influence and the linguistically documented emergence of Old Norse. nature.com The authors conclude that multiple migrations and locations shaped the arrival and formation of Germanic and its divergence into historical and modern languages. nature.com

Copenhagen team's 712 ancient genomes suggest Germanic reached Scandinavia about 4,000 years ago

A new ancestry in Scandinavia

Migrations in the Iron Age and after

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