Modern humans first arrived in what would become the United Kingdom during the Palaeolithic era. They were followed by the Beaker people (3rd millennium BC), Celts (2nd millennium BC), Romans (1st century BC), Anglo-Saxons (c. 5th century AD) and Vikings (8th century AD). In 1066, the Normans successfully took control of England and, in subsequent years, there was some migration from France. In the 19th century, immigration by people outside Europe began on a small scale as people arrived from the British colonies. This increased during the 20th century.
Despite these great movements of people, some early investigations have shown that the biological influence of pre-20th century immigration on Britain may have been rather small, marked more by continuity than change. The Oxford archaeologist David Miles states that 80% of the genetic makeup of white Britons probably comes from "just a few thousand" nomadic tribesmen who arrived 12,000 years ago, at the end of the Ice Age. This suggests later waves of immigration may have been too small to have significantly affected the genetic homogeneity of the existing population. However, Miles acknowledged himself that the techniques used to explore genetic ancestry are still in their infancy and that many more samples are needed to fully understand the origins of the British people.[1] Geneticist Stephen Oppenheimer has recently argued that neither Anglo-Saxons nor Celts may have had much impact on the genetics of the inhabitants of the British Isles, and that British ancestry can be traced back to ancient peoples similar to the modern-day Basques instead.[2] Current estimates on the initial contribution of Anglo-Saxon migrants range from less than 10,000 to as many as 200,000, although some recent Y-chromosome studies posit a considerably large continental (Germanic) contribution to the current English gene pool (50-100%). A recent study by a team from the Department of Biology at UCL based on computer simulations indicate that an apartheid-like social structure in early Anglo-Saxon England provides a plausible explanation for a high-degree of continental male-line ancestry in England.[3]The Oxford archaeologist David Miles states that 80% of the genetic makeup of white Britons probably comes from "just a few thousand" nomadic tribesmen who arrived 12,000 years ago, at the end of the Ice Age. This suggests later waves of immigration may have been too small to have significantly affected the genetic homogeneity of the existing population. However, Miles acknowledged himself that the techniques used to explore genetic ancestry are still in their infancy and that many more samples are needed to fully understand the origins of the British people.[1] Geneticist Stephen Oppenheimer has recently argued that neither Anglo-Saxons nor Celts may have had much impact on the genetics of the inhabitants of the British Isles, and that British ancestry can be traced back to ancient peoples similar to the modern-day Basques instead.[2] Current estimates on the initial contribution of Anglo-Saxon migrants range from less than 10,000 to as many as 200,000, although some recent Y-chromosome studies posit a considerably large continental (Germanic) contribution to the current English gene pool (50-100%). A recent study by a team from the Department of Biology at UCL based on computer simulations indicate that an apartheid-like social structure in early Anglo-Saxon England provides a plausible explanation for a high-degree of continental male-line ancestry in England.[3]
