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Post by Admin on Mar 24, 2021 4:45:19 GMT
Investigating European admixture in the last few generations To further characterize the history of European admixture in Greenland, we performed an analysis to investigate the timing of admixture in Greenland. Specifically, we inferred local ancestry, Inuit or European, along the genome of each admixed Greenlander to estimate the proportions of the genome where each admixed individual has (1) inherited both alleles from Inuit ancestors, (2) inherited both alleles from European ancestors, or (3) inherited one allele from an Inuit ancestor and one allele from a European ancestor. These fractions are informative about the time of admixture because individuals with different admixture histories have different expected ternary fractions (see Figure 3A for some examples). We chose to estimate “ternary ancestry fractions” instead of using standard methods for timing of admixture based on admixture tract lengths (e.g., Pool and Nielsen and Gravel), because the number of phasing switch errors was large relative to the recombination rate since admixture, which we feared would markedly affect the timing estimates. In contrast, the ternary ancestry fractions are robust to phasing switch errors. Figure 3 Ternary ancestry fractions, i.e., the fraction of the genome where (1) both alleles have Inuit ancestry, (2) both alleles have European ancestry, or (3) one allele has Inuit ancestry and one has European ancestry The three corners of the plots represent genomes with all loci having two European alleles (bottom left), two Inuit alleles (bottom right), or one Inuit and one European alleles (top). (A) Expected ternary ancestry fractions. Colored dots show the expected ternary fractions for individuals with 7 selected admixture histories illustrated in the legend by pedigrees, where green indicates Inuit ancestry and light blue indicates European ancestry. The admixture histories include Greenlanders with admixture from one European parent (yellow); one European grandparent (dark brown); two European grandparents, one on each parental side (red); three European grandparents (light brown); one European great-grandparent (blue), two European great-grandparents, one on each parental side (blue-green); and, finally, three European great-grandparents, all on the same parental side (purple). The left axis in blue indicates fractions that are expected for individuals with at least one European parent because it has no sites with two Inuit alleles. (B) Inferred ternary ancestry fractions. Colored dots show the inferred ternary ancestry fractions for each of the 1,582 admixed Greenlanders. The colors convey the way we have categorized the individuals: individuals inferred to have one Greenlandic parent and one European parent are yellow; the remaining individuals inferred to have a European parent shown in blue; and other individuals are shown in black. See also Table S3. Among the 1,582 admixed Greenlanders, 250 have ternary fractions that are consistent with having at least one fully European ancestry parent (Figure 3B, blue and yellow dots). Of these, 27 have two European alleles at nearly every genomic position (yellow dots on Figure 3B), suggesting they have two European parents. Together, these 277 (223 + 2 × 27) European ancestry parents account for >8% of the ancestors of the admixed individuals (277/[2 × 1,582]) and for almost 25% of the total European ancestry in Greenland. The ternary ancestry fractions of the remaining individuals are largely consistent with second and third generation admixture with Europeans, as shown in Figure 3A (dots near the right axis). However, it is important to emphasize that, due to variance in recombination and nonrandom mating, these fractions could also be the result of older admixture. Among the group of admixed Greenlanders with at least one European-ancestry parent, Denmark was by far the largest European ancestry source, making up 98.4% of the European ancestry, with no other country contributing more than 1% (Table S3). In contrast, the group of Greenlanders without a European parent, i.e., a group for which the admixture must have taken place less recently than for the group with at least one European parent, was inferred to have contributions from Norway (3.8%), Germany (2.1%), and Sweden (1.6%), with Denmark constituting 85.7%
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Post by Admin on Mar 24, 2021 6:48:20 GMT
Discussion Before discussing the results in a historical perspective, we should consider how the study design imposes limitations in the conclusions that can be drawn from the analysis. Briefly, we do not believe that the current study imposes major limitations that pertain to the conclusions presented here; for further details and discussion on this topic, please see Data S2.
The genetic analyses suggest that the European ancestry of the present-day Greenlanders is predominantly Danish and the result of very recent gene flow. This indicates that European activities prior to colonization did not have a significant impact on the current genetic composition of the population in Greenland, in contrast both to common beliefs in Greenland and our own initial hypothesis.
The lack of genetic ancestry originating from the early exploration activities by the British is perhaps the least surprising, because these activities only involved a few ships. Similarly, the relatively small amount of ancestry originating from German Moravian missionaries, who stayed in Greenland for about 170 years until 1900, may be explained by the restrictions that the Moravian Brethren put on intermarriage with the Greenlandic population.
However, the lack of ancestry from whaling countries, especially the Netherlands, is surprising given the common beliefs in Greenland as well as the historical records suggesting a high number of Dutch ships around Greenland’s coasts for a substantial period of time.
This result may be explained by a number of factors. First, early European whalers often did not spend the winter in Greenland.
Second, Dutch, English, and other European whaling activities were reduced by the economic monopoly imposed in 1751 by Denmark-Norway. Finally, it has been postulated that first contact with Europeans was followed by severe epidemics and that the interaction with the Dutch around Disko Island led to some of the first incidents of epidemics in the region.
A well-documented example was a severe smallpox epidemic in Nuuk in the 1730s following the arrival of European ships.
It is possible that these epidemics could have impacted early patterns of European ancestry and reduced the impact of early admixture.
Our results suggest that most of the European ancestry is from after colonization was initiated. This result is consistent with the fact that most of the Greenlandic individuals without any European ancestry live in the very north as well as the east coast of Greenland, because colonial activities were initiated later in the north (1909) and east (1894) than in the southwest (1721).
Also, we found a higher fraction of Norwegian, Swedish, and German ancestry among the Greenlanders without at least one European-ancestry parent, which aligns well with the family registries from the colonial period. The large amount of inferred Danish ancestry, especially within the last generation, is consistent with historical records showing that the influx of Danes to Greenland in the post-colonial period since the 1950s marked a substantial increase in the European immigration rate. Hence, taken together, although at first perhaps surprising, the results of this study seem consistent with recent demographic trends in Greenland and with historical records of European contact.
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Post by Admin on Apr 14, 2021 22:47:49 GMT
A middle-aged white man raises his sword to the skies and roars to the gods. The results of his genetic ancestry test have just arrived in his suburban mailbox. His eyes fill with tears as he learns that he is "0.012% Viking." These are the scenes from a video advertisement for the TV-series Vikings. This man is certainly not the only one yearning for a genetic test to confirm his Viking ancestry. A plethora of companies around the world market DNA-tests that promise to provide scientific facts about your identity. These companies often claim to provide a complete view of your ancestry, even though they in reality only compare your DNA with other customers in their database. According to recent estimates, over 26 million people from across the world have purchased a genetic ancestry test. In the wake of this hype, researchers have begun to investigate how the tests affect our perceptions of ourselves. How do people make sense of a test result stating that they are, for instance, "35% Ashkenazi Jewish," "27% British" or "4% western Asian"? Some researchers have concluded that such tests make customers believe that humanity can be divided into biological races, and that customers see the tests as a way of discovering their "true" identities. Other researchers have argued that people use their test results selectively, "picking and choosing" the genetic data they find compatible with their personal desires and aspirations. From this perspective, taking a genetic ancestry test involves some level of creative interpretation. What it means to have "Viking DNA" In our new study, we carried out interviews with people from the US, the UK and Sweden who had purchased genetic ancestry tests to see if they were related to Vikings. Since the test results did not include the term "Viking," most of them pointed to the category "Scandinavia" in their ethnic charts as proof of having Viking ancestry. Almost all of the people in our study saw their results as scientific confirmation of either "being related to Vikings" or of actually "being a Viking." As a man from the US put it, the results "began to confirm or at least lay the basis for the person that I am." In a similar way, a woman from Sweden said that her test allowed her to "know who I am and what my origins are." However, what the tests actually proved was based on creative interpretation. In this sense, several of our interviewees took images of "the Viking" fostered in popular culture and political propaganda, and used them to make sense of their own lives. For example, people with experiences of violence and abuse used their "Viking genes" as explanation—describing Vikings as warriors and berserkers. "Knowing that I am descended from Vikings," a man from the US said, "has made it clearer to me why there might be a genetic preponderance of violence and explosive anger in my family." In a similar way, interviewees who considered themselves to be restless described the Vikings as explorers and naval engineers. A woman from the US said, "I have to see new lands," adding that it was due to "the Viking" in her. It seems then that the use of genetic ancestry tests can facilitate a kind of "genetic determinism", in which a person's life is the natural result of their genome. From this perspective, humans appear to not have much control over their lives. Genetics and race The impact of genetic ancestry tests is not just limited to people purchasing the tests. By activating concepts like "Viking," "British" or "Jewish," such tests also play into a wider politics of race and ethnicity. Vikings have been used as a common sign for a demographic which has historically been affiliated to notions of whiteness and Nordic nationalism. While purporting to have Viking ancestry does not make a person a racist or a proponent of white supremacy, it should be remembered that the figure of the Viking, which served as a prominent symbol in European fascist movements during the 20th century, is far from innocuous. By dividing people into racial or national categories, genetic ancestry tests might be used to trigger tensions between different groups. Even if a person's "Viking DNA" only amounts to a small amount, it can still provide an allegedly scientific basis for racial division. In an era marked by increasing xenophobia and ethnic chauvinism, it is important to be aware of the interplay between genetics and ideas of race.
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Post by Admin on Apr 15, 2021 4:57:16 GMT
I am a Viking! DNA, popular culture and the construction of geneticized identity Daniel Strand Icon &Anna Källén Received 16 Jun 2020, Accepted 11 Dec 2020, Published online: 31 Jan 2021 doi.org/10.1080/14636778.2020.1868988Abstract In this article, we analyze how genetic genealogy reshapes popular notions of historical identity, as it facilitates a genetically informed understanding of ethnicity and ancestry. Drawing on interviews with Swedish, British and American individuals who have employed genetic ancestry tests (GATs) to prove ancestral connections to Vikings, we explore how the desire to “be a Viking” is articulated through a convergence of pre-existing discourses around Vikings and DNA. By combining signs from genetic science and popular depictions of Vikings, our interviewees create a new discourse of geneticized Viking identity. In this new discourse, socio-historically constructed ideas about Vikings are naturalized as the innate qualities of individuals who possess a certain genetic composition. Images of “the Viking” once created for political, cultural or commercial purposes are revived in new embodied forms and can start to circulate in new social contexts, where they, by association, appear to be confirmed by genetical science. Introduction In a 2018 video advertisement for History channel’s series Vikings, a middle-aged and slightly overweight white man opens the door to his suburban villa and hurries towards the mailbox. Finding the box empty, he gets deeply disappointed. As the process repeats itself, the man becomes increasingly exasperated. One day, however, he finds an envelope in the box. Impatiently jerking it out, he notes that his genetic ancestry test has arrived. The document provides a detailed account of his ethnic background: he is, for instance, “91.4% European,” “5% Native American” and “2% Nonspecific East Asian.” As the man skims through these figures, his eyes are suddenly opened wide. According to the test results, he is “0.012% Viking.” With tears in his eyes, he falls on his knees and yells with excitement. In the next clip, he stands outside his house dressed as a Viking warrior. To the sound of epic music, he raises his sword towards the skies and roars to the Gods (History channel 2018). Among genealogists and root-seeking individuals from Scandinavia, UK and USA, the desire to “be a Viking” is a recurring phenomenon. On social media and online forums, persons share news about their “Viking descent,” “Viking connections,” “Viking ancestry” or “Viking DNA” (Rimmer 2011; Rootsweb.com, May 20, 2018, lists.rootsweb.com/hyperkitty/list/celts@rootsweb.com/thread/4062238; Suhr 2016). In her best-selling book My European Family, the Swedish journalist Karin Bojs speculates whether her grandfather’s genetic haplogroup means that she is “a Viking of sorts” (2017, 205). On a YouTube video viewed over 50 000 times, the American blogger James Stillwell explains that his DNA test shows that he “may be part Viking,” which, he adds, “is kind of cool” (2014). It appears that these exclamations of Viking ancestry hinge upon the convergence of several pre-existing discourses: on the one hand, discourses which give meaning to the word “Viking,” and, on the other, discourses surrounding genetic ancestry. On the Internet, many who claim a Viking ancestry openly refer to their genetic ancestry tests (GATs) (Rimmer 2011; Stillwell 2014). The idea that DNA could reveal Viking ancestry has even triggered online discussions about a “Viking gene” that can be discovered in contemporary individuals (Eupedia.com 2013, www.eupedia.com/forum/threads/29254-Viking-Gene; Rötter.se, April 2, 2018, forum.rotter.se/index.php?topic=152376.0). In this article, we explore the desire to “be a Viking” among persons who employ GATs in order to find their origins. Through interviews with a selected group of individuals who claim Viking ancestry and have used GATs in order to prove this ancestry, we seek to understand how the fulfilled desire to “be a Viking” is articulated through discourses around Vikings and DNA. How is the information provided by genetic genealogy companies employed and interpreted in the construction of Viking identities? What hopes and expectations do GAT consumers project on DNA analysis when it comes to establishing Viking lineages? How do people claiming genetic connections to “Vikings” appropriate signs from Viking- and DNA-related discourses to rationalize their own lives? And how does the figure of the Viking, as depicted by our interviewees, relate to notions of whiteness?
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Post by Admin on Apr 15, 2021 22:44:42 GMT
Methods and materials This study emanates from a multidisciplinary research project investigating meaning-making practices around historic DNA. In this article, we examine how a group of GAT consumers who claim to be related to Vikings understand and interpret their test results by navigating through pre-existing discourses relating to Vikings and DNA, and thereby contribute to the formation of a new discourse of geneticized identity.
The study’s theoretical and methodological framework draws on social constructionist discourse analysis (Jørgensen and Phillips 2002). From Foucault, we borrow the basic definition of discourse as historically contingent regimes of knowledge which are saturated by power relations and, moreover, limit the formation of social identity and what is possible to claim as truth (e.g. Foucault 1972). Our approach diverges from Foucault’s, however, in that we see discourses as the result of active and constant efforts to fix the meaning of different signs in a particular coherent order, and thus understand the manifest stability of a discourse as a result of an ongoing struggle and negotiation to settle meaning. In this sense, we are more inclined toward discourse theory as presented by Laclau and Mouffe (1985), from whom we also borrow the concept of “nodal point.”
According to Laclau and Mouffe, a nodal point refers to a “partial fixation” which is the result of an attempt to “arrest the flow of differences” in the field of discursivity, and hence appears as a point of crystallization in a discourse (1985, 112). A nodal point can be analyzed as a privileged sign that attracts other signs, which both give meaning to the nodal point and acquire their own meaning through their association with it. Discerning a nodal point and the signs attracted to it makes it possible to identify a specific discourse in a floating field of discursivity, to tease out its densities and articulations, and to analyze the signs it contains and their organization in relation to each other.
Our analysis is based on a close reading of semi-structured interviews with fourteen root-seeking individuals who claim ancestral connections to Vikings and refer to GATs in order to prove these connections. The interviewees were recruited through user-generated social media groups for genetic genealogy and Viking history. 1 Interviewees were selected from two criteria: first, everybody should claim some kind of ancestral connection to Vikings, and, second, have taken at least one GAT in order to prove this connection. From these criteria, fourteen individuals from Sweden, UK and USA agreed to participate in semi-structured interviews. 2 The interviews were carried out in person or on telephone between September and November 2018, and lasted between 35 and 60 min. All interviewees were asked the same set of questions about genetical genealogy, ethnicity charts, personal identity and Viking history. While they were free to decide the turns of the conversation, there were two factors in the interview situation that might have influenced their answers. First, when asked how they would conceptualize their relations to Vikings, they were given some pre-formulated alternatives: did they consider themselves to be related to Vikings, to have a Viking heritage, or to be a Viking themselves? Although the interviewees were free to give different answers, these alternatives ought to have had an impact on their responses. Second, the fact that the information was produced in a formal interview setting led by an academic researcher might have influenced how the interviewees formulated their answers (Diefenbach 2009). As no other types of sources have been consulted, our original research material consists exclusively of these interviews.
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