The DNA of Yorkshire
Alistair Moffat is a historian who has taken up the study of DNA to throw new light on our history. He says, “Because everybody has DNA, it’s another way of telling the history of Britain. We often tell our history in terms of Kings and Queens, but this is about the whole population – a people’s history.”
He’s found a distinctive profile for Yorkshire people. He defines a ‘Yorkshire’ person by their postcode, adding that during the ice age, no-one lived in Britain, so we’re all immigrants at some stage.
Immigration into Yorkshire, he says, has been a constant flow, beginning as the last ice age ended. The first wave of people to come were reindeer herders, following the herds as the ice sheets retreated north.
Now DNA, as well as the historic environment, are telling us about our heritage
Then came a big wave of farmers, followed by another wave bringing iron working technology. The most recent has been a wave of people from South Asia. But, says Alistair, it’s deceptive to think in waves – it’s more of a constant flow.
While forensic techniques can tell us of what happened, it’s a lot harder to work out WHY it happened. For instance, says Alistair, “There’s a controversy in Yorkshire about the Parisi, who did chariot burials around 1000 BC. There was also a group with the same name in France – it gave the name to Paris. It looks like a small group of them settled around Beverley. It looks like the displacement of a group of people, who in turn displaced another group – but we don’t know the politics.”
About one thing, however, Alistair is clear: Yorkshire has retained much of its Celtic DNA – people who were here at least before the Roman invasion. He says, “Yorkshire’s Celtic society is biased towards the Dales in the West. After the Romans left, around 500AD, the Celtic kingdoms, for instance Elvet and Craven, reappeared – briefly. So, Celtic society must have been bubbling underneath the surface of Roman rule. Therefore, that part of the Yorkshire identity survived.”
Alistair’s definition of ‘Celtic’ is “A society that spoke a Celtic language, such as Welsh and Gaelic. It’s not to do with genes; it’s to do with language.”
He adds that there’s a lot of debate on the subject, “But I believe that Celtic languages were the language of farming. They’re good at describing the countryside, and the techniques of pre-mechanised farming. For instance, they’re terrific at describing the colour of animals – which you needed to indentify which were yours. They’re also good at describing the weather. So, it’s the language of farming.”
“I believe they were spoken in Yorkshire in the 6th century. But then, there was the beginning of conflict with incoming Angles, especially towards the north east. The Angles saw the Ancient British (Celtic) kingdoms as rivals.”
The Angles, like many men coming to Yorkshire before them, took local wives. So far, Alistair’s studies indicate that many women in Yorkshire are descended from those first migrants following the reindeer north. Much of the incoming DNA since then has come via pioneering men who have migrated here, then taken a local wife. Therefore, through the women, says Alistair, “The ‘native’ mDNA survives. They are the founding lineages, of the first people who came after the Ice Age.”
It’s a fascinating study, and every person volunteering to have their DNA tested yields surprising results. Alistair comments, “You can’t really walk down the street and tell someone’s DNA from their appearance. For instance, many people with dark hair, especially on the west side of the country, believe they are descended from a shipwrecked galleon from the Spanish Armada, But so far, we’ve found no Iberian DNA from that period.”
Read more about Yorkshire DNA in Dalesman, available in print only.