The Pict

KD001 is the first undeniable Pictish sample in my dataset, courtesy of Dulias et al. 2022. Thanks to Altvred for processing the files.

This is how KD001 behaves in my Celtic vs Germanic Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Looks kind of Irish, doesn't he?

To see an interactive version of the plot, paste the coordinates from here into the relevant field here.

See also...

Celtic vs Germanic Europe

Avalon vs Valhalla revisited

When did Celtic languages arrive in Britain?

When did Celtic languages arrive in Britain?

A new paper at Nature by Patterson et al. argues that Celtic languages spread into Britain during the Bronze Age rather than the Iron Age [LINK]. This argument is based on the observation that there was a large-scale shift in deep ancestry proportions in Britain during the Bronze Age.

In particular, the ratio of Early European Farmer (EEF) ancestry increased significantly in what is now England during the Late Bronze Age (LBA). On the other hand, the English Iron Age was a much more stable period in this context.

I don't have any strong opinions about the spread of Celtic languages into Britain, and Patterson et al. might well be correct, but their argument is potentially flawed because:

- significant population shifts need not result in any noticeable changes in ancient ancestry proportions

- ancient ancestry proportions can shift without significant migrations from afar due to cryptic population substructures

- large-scale population shifts need not result in langage shifts, especially if they're gradual

- small-scale population shifts can result in language shifts, especially if they're sudden.

Indeed, when I plot some of the key ancient samples from the paper in my ultra fine scale Principal Component Analyses (PCA) of Northern and Western Europe, it appears that it's only the Early Iron Age (EIA) population from England that overlaps significantly with a roughly contemporaneous group from nearby Celtic-speaking continental Europe. The relevant PCA data are available here and here, respectively.

See also...

Celtic vs Germanic Europe

Avalon vs Valhalla revisited

R1a vs R1b in third millennium BCE central Europe

Avalon vs Valhalla revisited

Pictured below is a new version of my Celtic vs Germanic genetic map. It's based on the same Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as the original (which can be seen here), but more focused on Northwestern Europe and produced with a different program.

To see the interactive online version, navigate to Vahaduo Custom PCA and copy paste the text from here into the empty space under the PCA DATA tab. Then press the PLOT PCA button under the PCA PLOT tab. For more guidance, refer to the screen caps here and here.

To include a wider range of populations in the key, just edit the data accordingly. For instance, to break up the ancient grouping into more specific populations, delete the Ancient: prefix in all of the relevant rows. This is what you should see:

Conversely, you can leave the ancient sample set intact and instead reorder the present-day linguistic groupings into, say, geographic groupings. To achieve this just delete all of the linguistic prefixes, such as Celtic:, Germanic:, and so on. You should end up with a datasheet like this and plot like this.

Of course, you can design your own plot by using any combination of the ancient and present-day individuals and populations that I've already run in this PCA. Their coordinates are listed here. Indeed, if you're in the possession of your own Celtic vs Germanic PCA coordinates, you can add yourself to the plot. And if you're not, see here.

It's also possible to re-process PCA data via the SOURCE tab. But I don't recommend doing this with the Celtic vs Germanic data, which are derived from a fine scale analysis and don't pack much variation. On the other hand, Global25 data are ideal for such re-processing. I made the plots below from subsets of Global25 coordinates available in a zip file here. To see how, refer to the screen caps here and here.

See also...

Modeling your ancestry has never been easier

Getting the most out of the Global25

Modeling genetic ancestry with Davidski: step by step

Celtic vs Germanic Europe

I have a feeling that ancient DNA from post-Bronze Age Northwestern Europe will be coming thick and fast from now on. To get the most out of such data I've designed a new Principal Component Analysis (PCA) that does a better job of separating the Celtic- and Germanic-speaking populations of Europe than my previous efforts of this sort (see here and here). Below are two different versions of the same PCA. The relevant datasheet is available here.

And here's a Discrimination Analysis (LDA) plot based on the 25 principal components. It further differentiates many of the populations along the east > west cline of genetic diversity.

The difference between the Germanic Anglo-Saxons and the Celtic and Roman Britons of what is now eastern England is obvious. The Anglo-Saxons could pass for Scandinavians, while the Celts and Romans both cluster between the Irish and French. This makes good sense, and is exactly what I was looking for. It's also interesting to see the presumably Celtic-speaking Hallstatt samples from Bylany, Czechia, clustering with the Belgians.

Update 14/12/2019: Pictured below is a new version of my Celtic vs Germanic genetic map. It's based on the same Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as the original, but more focused on Northwestern Europe and produced with a different program.

To see the interactive online version, navigate to Vahaduo Custom PCA and copy paste the text from here into the empty space under the PCA DATA tab. Then press the PLOT PCA button under the PCA PLOT tab. For more guidance, refer to the screen caps here and here.

To include a wider range of populations in the key, just edit the data accordingly. For instance, to break up the ancient grouping into more specific populations, delete the Ancient: prefix in all of the relevant rows. This is what you should see:

Conversely, you can leave the ancient sample set intact and instead reorder the present-day linguistic groupings into, say, geographic groupings. To achieve this just delete all of the linguistic prefixes, such as Celtic:, Germanic:, and so on. You should end up with a datasheet like this and plot like this.

Of course, you can design your own plot by using any combination of the ancient and present-day individuals and populations that I've already run in this PCA. Their coordinates are listed here. Indeed, if you're in the possession of your own Celtic vs Germanic PCA coordinates, you can add yourself to the plot. And if you're not, see here.

It's also possible to re-process PCA data via the SOURCE tab. But I don't recommend doing this with the Celtic vs Germanic data, which are derived from a fine scale analysis and don't pack much variation. On the other hand, Global25 data are ideal for such re-processing. I made the plots below from subsets of Global25 coordinates available in a zip file here. To see how, refer to the screen caps here and here.

See also...

Modeling your ancestry has never been easier

Getting the most out of the Global25

Modeling genetic ancestry with Davidski: step by step

Genetic ancestry online store

Update 05/02/2025: To get your Global25 coords, please use the app HERE. The whole process usually takes a couple of days. Feel free to spread the word.

Please don't order the Global25 unless you have experience in modeling Global25 data with the Vahaduo analysis tools.

Note that the conversion of VCF, BAM, CRAM and/or fastq files is 30 to 50€ extra depending on the case. For enquiries please email teepean47 on g25requests@gmail.com.

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Following a rigorous testing phase, the awesome Global 25 analysis is now available at the store for $12 USD. What's so awesome about this test, you might ask? See here and here.

Please send your request and autosomal genotype data (from AncestryDNA, FTDNA, LivingDNA, MyHeritage or 23andMe) to eurogenesblog at gmail dot com.

However, note that this test is free for anyone who already has Global 10 coordinates (see here). That's right, if you already have Global 10 coordinates, all you have to do is to send me your data and say what it's for. Simple as that.

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My Celtic vs Germanic Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is now available via the store for $6 USD (see here). Please note that this test is only really useful for people of Central, Northern and/or Western European origin, and indeed geared for those of overwhelmingly Northwestern European ancestry.

Please send your request and autosomal genotype data (from AncestryDNA, FTDNA, LivingDNA, MyHeritage or 23andMe) to eurogenesblog at gmail dot com.

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The popular Basal-rich K7 admixture test is now available via the store for $6 USD. It's suitable for everyone, except people with significant (>10%) Sub-Saharan ancestry. For more information about this test and some ideas about what to do with the output see here and here.

Please send your request and autosomal genotype data (from AncestryDNA, FTDNA, LivingDNA, MyHeritage or 23andMe) to eurogenesblog at gmail dot com.

See also...

Global25 workshop 1: that classic West Eurasian plot

Global25 workshop 2: intra-European variation

Global25 workshop 3: genes vs geography in Northern Europe

Getting the most out of the Global25

Modeling genetic ancestry with Davidski: step by step