University of Louisville ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository Electronic Theses and Dissertations 5-2012 Vikings, merchants, and pirates at the top of the world : Y- chromosomal signatures of recent and ancient migrations in the Faroe Islands. Allison Mann University of Louisville Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd Recommended Citation Mann, Allison, "Vikings, merchants, and pirates at the top of the world : Y-chromosomal signatures of recent and ancient migrations in the Faroe Islands." (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 901. https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/901 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ThinkIR: The University of Louisville's Institutional Repository. This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has retained all other copyrights. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VIKINGS, MERCHANTS, AND PIRATES AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD: V-CHROMOSOMAL SIGNATURES OF RECENT AND ANCIENT MIGR>ATIONS IN THE FAROE ISLANDS By Allison Mann B.S., B.A., University of Louisville, 2009 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Louisville in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Anthropology University of Louisville Louisville, Kentucky May 2012 VIKINGS, MERCHANTS, AND PIRATES AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD: Y‐CHROMOSOMAL SIGNATURES OF RECENT AND ANCIENT MIGRATIONS IN THE FAROE ISLANDS By Allison Mann B.S., B.A., University of Louisville, 2009 A Thesis Approved on 4/20/2012 Date by the following Thesis Committee: Christopher Tillquist, Thesis Director Fabian Crespo Michael Perlin ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is my pleasure to thank those who made this thesis possible. In particular I am indebted to my advisor, Dr. Christopher Tillquist. His advice and support has been invaluable during this process. I would also like to thank the members of my graduate committee, Dr. Fabian Crespo and Dr. Michael Perlin, for their guidance and suggestions. Finally I must express my gratitude to my family and friends, without whose unfailing encouragement this thesis would not have been possible. III ABSTRACT VIKINGS, MERCHANTS, AND PIRATES AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD: Y-CHROMOSOMAL SIGNATURES OF RECENT AND ANCIENT MIGRATIONS IN THE FAROE ISLANDS Allison Mann April 20, 2012 The Faroe Islands are a small archipelago in the North Atlantic. With a current population of approximately 49,000 individuals and evidence of high levels of genetic drift, the Faroese are thought to have remained highly homogeneous since their settlement by Vikings around 825 CE. Despite their geographic isolation, however, there is historical evidence that the Faroese experienced sporadic contact with other populations since the time of founding. This study set out to distinguish the signal of the original founders from later migrants. Twelve Y-chromosomal STR markers were scored for 139 Faroese males. Median-joining networks were constructed to determine the phylogenetic relationships within the Faroese and between likely parental populations. Dispersal patterns of individuals around Faroese haplogroups suggest different times of haplogroup introduction to the islands. The most common haplogroup, RIa, consists of a large node with a tight network of neighbor haplotypes, such that 62.06% of RIa individuals are:::; two mutational steps away. This pattern may represent the early founder event of RIa in the Faroes. Other distributions document more recent introductions to the islands. The overall pattern is one of a strong founder effect followed by minor instances of later migrations. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ABSTRACT IV LIST OF TABLES VI LIST OF FIGURES Vll CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1 II THE Y-CHROMOSOME: RELEVANCE AND EVOLUTION 13 III OBJECTIVE & HYPOTHESES 16 IV METHODS 17 V RESULTS 23 VI DISCUSSION 45 VII CONCLUSION 59 REFERENCES 60 A R scripts 67 B Confidence Intervals 70 CURRICULUM VITAE 74 V LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE Page 1 Map of the Faroe Islands . 18 2 MDS of Rst values 24 3 MDS of Rst values 25 4 Haplogroup Frequency Barchart 27 5 MJ network of all Faroese haplotypes 32 6 RIa networks by population 34 7 Rl b network by population 35 8 I1 network by population. 36 9 Aggregate Haplogroup Networks. 38 10 RIa Neighbor Haplotypes 39 11 Rl b Neighbor Haplotypes 40 12 I1 Neighbor Haplotypes 41 Vll CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The Faroes are a small volcanic chain of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean situated approximately midway between the southern coast of Iceland and the northern tip of Scotland. There is ample evidence that the population living on the Faroe Islands has remained relatively small and isolated due to geographic and socio-political pressures. Because of their unique demographic history and secluded location, the Faroese, along with other North Atlantic island populations like Iceland, are thought to be uniquely suited for the study of specific genetic disorders. An example of this is Bardet-Biedl syndrome, a congenital disease that affects the eyes, which presents itself at unusually high frequencies in the Faroes (Hjortshoj et al., 2009). In fact, the disease is at its highest prevalence in the Faroe Islands while it remains fairly rare among the rest of the world's population (Hjortshoj et al., 2009, p. 412). Despite their geographic isolation, however, there is historical and genetic evidence of sporadic contact between the Faroese and other European and non-European groups since the islands were first colonized by Viking migrants in the ninth century. This is due in part to the flourishing maritime culture found in the Faroes which has long attracted people to the North Atlantic. This study uses Y-chromosomal haplotype data in tandem with published historical, literary, and archaeological evidence to distinguish between ancient and recent population events in the Faroe Islands. 1 A brief history of the Faroes: The Faroe Islands were settled around 825 CE by Viking settlers from western Norway (Jorgensen et al., 2002, p. 382). There is some historical and paleo-botanical evidence that before this time the Faroes were inhabited by Celtic monks from as early as 650 CE (Jorgensen et al., 2004, p. 19). However, this remains controversial, and the existing archaeological and documentary evidence is very slight (Magnusson, 2010, p. 183). The Viking colonization of the Faroe Islands represents a larger pattern of mass emigration of Viking settlers and raiders around this time. The three centuries starting around 800 CE are known as the 'Viking Age' and the reach of this population is well documented by contemporary witnesses (Magnusson, 2010, p. 7). Potential reasons for this Viking diaspora include population and political pressures as well as reasons of personal gain (Arge et al., 2005, p. 599). Certainly the Faroe Islands at the time must have had sufficiently enticing marine and terrestrial resources for the new settlers (Arge et al., 2005, p. 599). The earliest written evidence of the Viking settlement in the Faroe Islands comes from the Fffireyinga Saga (Faroese Saga). The Saga names the first man to settle the islands, Grim Kamban, who was later given a wife by a woman on her way to Iceland, thus beginning the first family of the Faroe Islands (Johnston, 1975, p. 19). From this first story in the Saga there are tantalizing clues to the origins of the initial settlers. Grim Kamban's name has been described by some scholars as attributable to both Norse and Gaelic origins (Arge et al., 2005, p. 602). The woman traveling to Iceland, Aud the Deep-minded who bestowed a wife upon Grim, had connections to the Celto-Norse world including the Sudreys (the Hebrides, Isle of Man and the Islands of the Firth of Clyde) (Young, 1979, p. 3). Others have suggested that the name Grim Kamban is not Norse at all and is instead evidence that the original Faroese settlers had their origins in the Hebrides or Ireland (Young, 1979, p. 2). Nauerby (1996) suggests that the original settlers of the islands were Norsemen living in the British Isles around 800 CE followed by a 2 second migration directly from Norway (Nauerby, 1996, p. 29). This is a possibility as it is well known that people of Norse descent were living far from Norway at this time, including those who had for many years resided in Ireland or Scotland (Arge et al., 2005, p. 604). Conjecture that some populations living in the North Atlantic are the result of an admixed Norse-Celtic founder group is strengthened by various genetic studies demonstrating this fact. It is certainly the case among Icelandic and Faroese women who are much more likely to have their origins in the British Isles than Norway (Helgason et al., 2001)(Als et al., 2006). Additionally, a Celtic runic stone dated between 865 and 1,000 CE has been found in Kirkjub0ur on Streymoy Island in the Faroes (Young, 1979, p. 107). Even the Faroese language, which emerged in the Middle Ages, has notable Celtic influences (Jorgensen et al., 2004, p. 19) (Young, 1979, p. 107). Certain place names within the Faroes seem to suggest a Celtic imprint including Argisa, Argisfossur, Ergibyrgi and Ergidalur (Young, 1979, p. 3). Importantly, this also is an occurrence with Icelandic place names (Arge, 1991, p. 103). This Celtic connection may have been influenced by slaves who very likely accompanied the earliest settlers. Slaves were not uncommon in Europe in the ninth century and Irish, Slavic and even Scandinavians who had lost their freedoms played an important role for the early Vikings (Johnston, 1975, p. 127) (Jones, 1984, p.