The Composition of the Founding Population of Iceland: A New Perspective From 3D Analyses of Basicranial Shape
The settlement of Iceland in the Viking Age has been the focus of much research, but the composition of the founding population remains the subject of debate. Some lines of evidence suggest that almost all the founding population were Scandinavian, while others indicate a mix of Scandinavians and pe...
Published in: | PLOS ONE |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246059 http://summit.sfu.ca/item/20972 |
id |
ftsimonfu:oai:summit.sfu.ca:20972 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftsimonfu:oai:summit.sfu.ca:20972 2023-05-15T16:46:40+02:00 The Composition of the Founding Population of Iceland: A New Perspective From 3D Analyses of Basicranial Shape Plomp, Kimberly A. Gestsdóttir, Hildur Dobney, Keith Price, Neil Collard, Mark 2021-02-08 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246059 http://summit.sfu.ca/item/20972 English eng doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0246059 http://summit.sfu.ca/item/20972 Article 2021 ftsimonfu https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246059 2022-04-07T18:43:43Z The settlement of Iceland in the Viking Age has been the focus of much research, but the composition of the founding population remains the subject of debate. Some lines of evidence suggest that almost all the founding population were Scandinavian, while others indicate a mix of Scandinavians and people of Scottish and Irish ancestry. To explore this issue further, we used three-dimensional techniques to compare the basicrania of skeletons from archaeological sites in Iceland, Scandinavia, and the British Isles. Our analyses yielded two main results. One was that the founding population likely consisted of roughly equal numbers of Scandinavians and people from the British Isles. The other was that the immigrants who originated from the British Isles included individuals of southern British ancestry as well as individuals of Scottish and Irish ancestry. The first of these findings is consistent with the results of recent analyses of modern and ancient DNA, while the second is novel. Our study, therefore, strengthens the idea that the founding population was a mix of Scandinavians and people from the British Isles, but also raises a new possibility regarding the regions from which the settlers originated. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Summit - SFU Research Repository (Simon Fraser University) PLOS ONE 16 2 e0246059 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Summit - SFU Research Repository (Simon Fraser University) |
op_collection_id |
ftsimonfu |
language |
English |
description |
The settlement of Iceland in the Viking Age has been the focus of much research, but the composition of the founding population remains the subject of debate. Some lines of evidence suggest that almost all the founding population were Scandinavian, while others indicate a mix of Scandinavians and people of Scottish and Irish ancestry. To explore this issue further, we used three-dimensional techniques to compare the basicrania of skeletons from archaeological sites in Iceland, Scandinavia, and the British Isles. Our analyses yielded two main results. One was that the founding population likely consisted of roughly equal numbers of Scandinavians and people from the British Isles. The other was that the immigrants who originated from the British Isles included individuals of southern British ancestry as well as individuals of Scottish and Irish ancestry. The first of these findings is consistent with the results of recent analyses of modern and ancient DNA, while the second is novel. Our study, therefore, strengthens the idea that the founding population was a mix of Scandinavians and people from the British Isles, but also raises a new possibility regarding the regions from which the settlers originated. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Plomp, Kimberly A. Gestsdóttir, Hildur Dobney, Keith Price, Neil Collard, Mark |
spellingShingle |
Plomp, Kimberly A. Gestsdóttir, Hildur Dobney, Keith Price, Neil Collard, Mark The Composition of the Founding Population of Iceland: A New Perspective From 3D Analyses of Basicranial Shape |
author_facet |
Plomp, Kimberly A. Gestsdóttir, Hildur Dobney, Keith Price, Neil Collard, Mark |
author_sort |
Plomp, Kimberly A. |
title |
The Composition of the Founding Population of Iceland: A New Perspective From 3D Analyses of Basicranial Shape |
title_short |
The Composition of the Founding Population of Iceland: A New Perspective From 3D Analyses of Basicranial Shape |
title_full |
The Composition of the Founding Population of Iceland: A New Perspective From 3D Analyses of Basicranial Shape |
title_fullStr |
The Composition of the Founding Population of Iceland: A New Perspective From 3D Analyses of Basicranial Shape |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Composition of the Founding Population of Iceland: A New Perspective From 3D Analyses of Basicranial Shape |
title_sort |
composition of the founding population of iceland: a new perspective from 3d analyses of basicranial shape |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246059 http://summit.sfu.ca/item/20972 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_relation |
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0246059 http://summit.sfu.ca/item/20972 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246059 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
e0246059 |
_version_ |
1766036769150599168 |