Capturing the fusion of two ancestries and kinship structures in Merovingian Flanders

Stefania Sasso; Lehti Saag; Rachèl Spros; Owyn Beneker; Ludovica Molinaro; Simone A Biagini; Alexander Lehouck; Katrien Van De Vijver; Ruoyun Hui; Eugenia D'Atanasio; Alena Kushniarevich; Helja Kabral; Ene Metspalu; Meriam Guellil; Muhammad Q A Ali; Jan Geypen; Maxim Hoebreckx; Birgit Berk; Natasja De Winter; Petra Driesen; April Pijpelink; Philip Van Damme; Christiana L Scheib; Ewoud Deschepper; Pieterjan Deckers; Christophe Snoeck; Marc Dewilde; Anton Ervynck; Kristiina Tambets; Maarten H D Larmuseau; Toomas Kivisild

doi:10.1073/pnas.2406734121

Capturing the fusion of two ancestries and kinship structures in Merovingian Flanders

Stefania Sasso
, Lehti Saag
, Rachèl Spros
, Owyn Beneker
, Ludovica Molinaro
, Simone A Biagini
, Alexander Lehouck
, Katrien Van De Vijver
, Ruoyun Hui
, Eugenia D'Atanasio
, Alena Kushniarevich
, Helja Kabral
, Ene Metspalu
, Meriam Guellil
, Muhammad Q A Ali
, Jan Geypen
, Maxim Hoebreckx
, Birgit Berk
, Natasja De Winter
, Petra Driesen

April Pijpelink, Philip Van Damme, Christiana L Scheib, Ewoud Deschepper, Pieterjan Deckers, Christophe Snoeck, Marc Dewilde, Anton Ervynck, Kristiina Tambets, Maarten H D Larmuseau, Toomas Kivisild

Department of Evolutionary Anthropology

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

The Merovingian period (5th to 8th cc AD) was a time of demographic, socioeconomic, cultural, and political realignment in Western Europe. Here, we report the whole-genome shotgun sequence data of 30 human skeletal remains from a coastal Late Merovingian site of Koksijde (675 to 750 AD), alongside 18 remains from two Early to Late Medieval sites in present-day Flanders, Belgium. We find two distinct ancestries, one shared with Early Medieval England and the Netherlands, while the other, minor component, reflecting likely continental Gaulish ancestry. Kinship analyses identified no large pedigrees characteristic to elite burials revealing instead a high modularity of distant relationships among individuals of the main ancestry group. In contrast, individuals with >90% Gaulish ancestry had no kinship links among sampled individuals. Evidence for population structure and major differences in the extent of Gaulish ancestry in the main group, including in a mother-daughter pair, suggests ongoing admixture in the community at the time of their burial. The isotopic and genetic evidence combined supports a model by which the burials, representing an established coastal nonelite community, had incorporated migrants from inland populations. The main group of burials at Koksijde shows an abundance of >5 cM long shared allelic intervals with the High Medieval site nearby, implying long-term continuity and suggesting that similarly to Britain, the Early Medieval ancestry shifts left a significant and long-lasting impact on the genetic makeup of the Flemish population. We find substantial allele frequency differences between the two ancestry groups in pigmentation and diet-associated variants, including those linked with lactase persistence, likely reflecting ancestry change rather than local adaptation.

Original language	English
Article number	e2406734121
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	121
Issue number	27
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2406734121
Publication status	Published - 2 Jul 2024

Funding

This work was funded by agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed Archeologie syntheseproject \u201CDe genetische en archeologische synthese van een Merovingisch grafveld aan de Vlaamse kust\u201D (M.H.D.L., S.S., K.T., and T.K.), Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Grant G0A4521N (T.K., O.B., and C.L.S.), KU Leuven Start-up Grant STG/18/021 (T.K.), KU Leuven BOF-C24 Grant ZKD6488 C24M/19/075 (T.K., L.M., and S.A.B.), EWI-Vlaanderen citizen science project \u201CMamaMito\u201D (M.H.D.L.), Estonian Research Council Grants PRG1027 (K.T., S.S., T.K., A.K., L.S., and M.G.) and PRG1071 (E.M.), Centre of Excellence grant of Estonian Ministry of Education and Research TK215 (S.S., L.S., A.K., H.K., T.K., K.T.) and Sapienza University of Rome fellowship \u201Cborsa di studio per attivita` di perfezionamento all\u2019estero 2017\u201D (E.D.). We would like to thank D. Verstraeten (AMGCArchaeology, Environmental Changes and Geo-Chemistry Vrije Universiteit Brussel) for managing the Isotope Ratio Mass Spectometry systems and M. Kope\u0107 and C. Gerritzen (AMGCArchaeology, Environmental Changes and Geo-Chemistry Vrije Universiteit Brussel) for the 87Sr/86Sr analyses and data processing, the Research Foundation Flanders (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-HERCULES Program, I010218N) for supporting the upgrade of the stable isotope laboratory, and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel Strategic Research Program (OZR/2017/132-E) for general support of Isotope Ratio Mass Spectometry & Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry labs. The strontium isotope analyses are supported by the ERC Starting Grant LUMIERE (Landscape Use and Mobility In EuRope\u2014Bridging the gap between cremation and inhumation), funded by European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 948913. We thank the Estonian Biocentre, the aDNA group, Tuuli Reisberg, and Georgi Hudjashov for their help in the lab and with data preparation. This study makes use of data generated by the Genome of the Netherlands Project (GoNL). A full list of the GoNL investigators is available from www.nlgenome.nl. Funding for the GoNL project was provided by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research under Award No. 184021007, dated July 9, 2009, and made available as a Rainbow Project of the Biobanking and BiomolecularResearch Infrastructure Netherlands. The GoNL sequencing had been carried out in collaboration with the Beijing Institute for Genomics. The GoNL data had been generated with support from The LifeLines Cohort Study (http://www.lifelines.nl) (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Grant No. 175.010.2007.006), the Dutch government\u2019s Economic Structure Enhancing Fund, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sports, the Northern Netherlands Collaboration of Provinces, the Province of Groningen, the University Medical Center Groningen, the University of Groningen, the Dutch Kidney Foundation, and Dutch Diabetes Research Foundation; Erasme Medical Center Ergo Study (http:// www.ergo-onderzoek.nl/wp/); The Leiden University Medical Center Longevity Study (SenterNovem Grants IGE01014 and IGE05007), the Centre for Medical Systems Biology, and the National Institute for Healthy Ageing (Grant Nos. 05040202 and 05060810), all in the framework of the Netherlands Genomics Initiative/Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.; and Vrije Universiteit Netherlands Twin Register support outlined www.tweelingenregister.org. Project MinE Belgium was supported by a Grant from Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (No. 140935), the Amyotrofishe Lateral Sclerose Liga Belgi\u00EB, the National Lottery of Belgium, and the KU Leuven Opening the Future Fund. This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource under Application No. 54698, the Haplotype Reference Consortium data, Reference No. EGAD00001002729. Data analyses were carried out with the facilities of the High-Performance Computing Center of the University of Tartu. Program, I010218N) for supporting the upgrade of the stable isotope laboratory, and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel Strategic Research Program (OZR/2017/132-E) for general support of Isotope Ratio Mass Spectometry & Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry labs. The strontium isotope analyses are supported by the ERC Starting Grant LUMIERE (Landscape Use and Mobility In EuRope\u2014 Bridging the gap between cremation and inhumation), funded by European Union\u2019s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No. 948913. We thank the Estonian Biocentre, the aDNA group, Tuuli Reisberg, and Georgi Hudjashov for their help in the lab and with data preparation. This study makes use of data generated by the Genome of the Netherlands Project (GoNL). A full list of the GoNL investigators is available from www.nlgenome.nl. Funding for the GoNL project was provided by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research under Award No. 184021007, dated July 9, 2009, and made available as a Rainbow Project of the Biobanking and BiomolecularResearch Infrastructure Netherlands. The GoNL sequencing had been carried out in collaboration with the Beijing Institute for Genomics.The GoNLdata had been generated with support from The LifeLines Cohort Study (http://www.lifelines.nl) (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Grant No. 175.010.2007.006), the Dutch government\u2019s Economic Structure Enhancing Fund, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sports, the Northern Netherlands Collaboration of Provinces, the Province of Groningen, the University Medical Center Groningen,the University of Groningen,the Dutch Kidney Foundation,and Dutch Diabetes Research Foundation; Erasme Medical Center Ergo Study (http:// www.ergo-onderzoek.nl/wp/); The Leiden University Medical Center Longevity Study (SenterNovem Grants IGE01014 and IGE05007), the Centre for Medical Systems Biology, and the National Institute for Healthy Ageing (Grant Nos. 05040202 and 05060810), all in the framework of the Netherlands Genomics Initiative/Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.; and Vrije Universiteit Netherlands Twin Register support outlined www.tweelingenregister.org. Project MinE Belgium was supported by a Grant from Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (No. 140935), the Amyotrofishe Lateral Sclerose Liga Belgi\u00EB, the National Lottery of Belgium, and the KU Leuven Opening the Future Fund. This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank Resource under Application No. 54698, the Haplotype Reference Consortium data, Reference No. EGAD00001002729. Data analyses were carried out with the facilities of the High-Performance Computing Center of the University of Tartu. ACKNOWLE?GMENTS. This work was funded by agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed Archeologie syntheseproject \u201CDe genetische en archeologische synthese van een Merovingisch grafveld aan de Vlaamse kust\u201D (M.H.D.L., S.S., K.T., and T.K.), Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Grant G0A4521N (T.K., O.B., and C.L.S.), KU Leuven Start-up Grant STG/18/021 (T.K.), KU Leuven BOF-C24 Grant ZKD6488 C24M/19/075 (T.K., L.M., and S.A.B.), EWI-Vlaanderen citizen science project \u201CMamaMito\u201D (M.H.D.L.), Estonian Research Council Grants PRG1027 (K.T., S.S., T.K., A.K., L.S., and M.G.) and PRG1071 (E.M.), Centre of Excellence grant of Estonian Ministry of Education and Research TK215 (S.S., L.S., A.K., H.K., T.K., K.T.) and Sapienza University of Rome fellowship \u201Cborsa di studio per attivita` di perfezionamento all\u2019estero 2017\u201D (E.D.). We would like to thank D. Verstraeten (AMGCArchaeology,Environmental Changes and Geo-Chemistry Vrije Universiteit Brussel) for managing the Isotope Ratio Mass Spectometry systems and M. Kope\u0107 and C. Gerritzen (AMGCArchaeology, Environmental Changes and Geo-Chemistry Vrije Universiteit Brussel) for the 87Sr/86Sr analyses and data processing, the Research Foundation Flanders (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-HERCULES

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

106036 Population genetics

Keywords

Humans
History, Medieval
Pedigree
Belgium
Burial/history
Genetics, Population/methods
Female
Male
DNA, Ancient/analysis
England
Human Migration
Archaeology
Netherlands
Genome, Human
ancestry
kinship
ancient DNA
Merovingian

Access to Document

10.1073/pnas.2406734121

Cite this

Sasso, S., Saag, L., Spros, R., Beneker, O., Molinaro, L., Biagini, S. A., Lehouck, A., Van De Vijver, K., Hui, R., D'Atanasio, E., Kushniarevich, A., Kabral, H., Metspalu, E., Guellil, M., Ali, M. Q. A., Geypen, J., Hoebreckx, M., Berk, B., De Winter, N., ... Kivisild, T. (2024). Capturing the fusion of two ancestries and kinship structures in Merovingian Flanders. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 121(27), Article e2406734121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2406734121

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title = "Capturing the fusion of two ancestries and kinship structures in Merovingian Flanders",

abstract = "The Merovingian period (5th to 8th cc AD) was a time of demographic, socioeconomic, cultural, and political realignment in Western Europe. Here, we report the whole-genome shotgun sequence data of 30 human skeletal remains from a coastal Late Merovingian site of Koksijde (675 to 750 AD), alongside 18 remains from two Early to Late Medieval sites in present-day Flanders, Belgium. We find two distinct ancestries, one shared with Early Medieval England and the Netherlands, while the other, minor component, reflecting likely continental Gaulish ancestry. Kinship analyses identified no large pedigrees characteristic to elite burials revealing instead a high modularity of distant relationships among individuals of the main ancestry group. In contrast, individuals with >90\% Gaulish ancestry had no kinship links among sampled individuals. Evidence for population structure and major differences in the extent of Gaulish ancestry in the main group, including in a mother-daughter pair, suggests ongoing admixture in the community at the time of their burial. The isotopic and genetic evidence combined supports a model by which the burials, representing an established coastal nonelite community, had incorporated migrants from inland populations. The main group of burials at Koksijde shows an abundance of >5 cM long shared allelic intervals with the High Medieval site nearby, implying long-term continuity and suggesting that similarly to Britain, the Early Medieval ancestry shifts left a significant and long-lasting impact on the genetic makeup of the Flemish population. We find substantial allele frequency differences between the two ancestry groups in pigmentation and diet-associated variants, including those linked with lactase persistence, likely reflecting ancestry change rather than local adaptation.",

keywords = "Humans, History, Medieval, Pedigree, Belgium, Burial/history, Genetics, Population/methods, Female, Male, DNA, Ancient/analysis, England, Human Migration, Archaeology, Netherlands, Genome, Human, ancestry, kinship, ancient DNA, Merovingian",

author = "Stefania Sasso and Lehti Saag and Rach{\`e}l Spros and Owyn Beneker and Ludovica Molinaro and Biagini, \{Simone A\} and Alexander Lehouck and \{Van De Vijver\}, Katrien and Ruoyun Hui and Eugenia D'Atanasio and Alena Kushniarevich and Helja Kabral and Ene Metspalu and Meriam Guellil and Ali, \{Muhammad Q A\} and Jan Geypen and Maxim Hoebreckx and Birgit Berk and \{De Winter\}, Natasja and Petra Driesen and April Pijpelink and \{Van Damme\}, Philip and Scheib, \{Christiana L\} and Ewoud Deschepper and Pieterjan Deckers and Christophe Snoeck and Marc Dewilde and Anton Ervynck and Kristiina Tambets and Larmuseau, \{Maarten H D\} and Toomas Kivisild",

note = "Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2024 the Author(s).",

year = "2024",

month = jul,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.2406734121",

language = "English",

volume = "121",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

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Sasso, S, Saag, L, Spros, R, Beneker, O, Molinaro, L, Biagini, SA, Lehouck, A, Van De Vijver, K, Hui, R, D'Atanasio, E, Kushniarevich, A, Kabral, H, Metspalu, E, Guellil, M, Ali, MQA, Geypen, J, Hoebreckx, M, Berk, B, De Winter, N, Driesen, P, Pijpelink, A, Van Damme, P, Scheib, CL, Deschepper, E, Deckers, P, Snoeck, C, Dewilde, M, Ervynck, A, Tambets, K, Larmuseau, MHD & Kivisild, T 2024, 'Capturing the fusion of two ancestries and kinship structures in Merovingian Flanders', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 121, no. 27, e2406734121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2406734121

TY - JOUR

T1 - Capturing the fusion of two ancestries and kinship structures in Merovingian Flanders

AU - Sasso, Stefania

AU - Saag, Lehti

AU - Spros, Rachèl

AU - Beneker, Owyn

AU - Molinaro, Ludovica

AU - Biagini, Simone A

AU - Lehouck, Alexander

AU - Van De Vijver, Katrien

AU - Hui, Ruoyun

AU - D'Atanasio, Eugenia

AU - Kushniarevich, Alena

AU - Kabral, Helja

AU - Metspalu, Ene

AU - Guellil, Meriam

AU - Ali, Muhammad Q A

AU - Geypen, Jan

AU - Hoebreckx, Maxim

AU - Berk, Birgit

AU - De Winter, Natasja

AU - Driesen, Petra

AU - Pijpelink, April

AU - Van Damme, Philip

AU - Scheib, Christiana L

AU - Deschepper, Ewoud

AU - Deckers, Pieterjan

AU - Snoeck, Christophe

AU - Dewilde, Marc

AU - Ervynck, Anton

AU - Tambets, Kristiina

AU - Larmuseau, Maarten H D

AU - Kivisild, Toomas

PY - 2024/7/2

Y1 - 2024/7/2

N2 - The Merovingian period (5th to 8th cc AD) was a time of demographic, socioeconomic, cultural, and political realignment in Western Europe. Here, we report the whole-genome shotgun sequence data of 30 human skeletal remains from a coastal Late Merovingian site of Koksijde (675 to 750 AD), alongside 18 remains from two Early to Late Medieval sites in present-day Flanders, Belgium. We find two distinct ancestries, one shared with Early Medieval England and the Netherlands, while the other, minor component, reflecting likely continental Gaulish ancestry. Kinship analyses identified no large pedigrees characteristic to elite burials revealing instead a high modularity of distant relationships among individuals of the main ancestry group. In contrast, individuals with >90% Gaulish ancestry had no kinship links among sampled individuals. Evidence for population structure and major differences in the extent of Gaulish ancestry in the main group, including in a mother-daughter pair, suggests ongoing admixture in the community at the time of their burial. The isotopic and genetic evidence combined supports a model by which the burials, representing an established coastal nonelite community, had incorporated migrants from inland populations. The main group of burials at Koksijde shows an abundance of >5 cM long shared allelic intervals with the High Medieval site nearby, implying long-term continuity and suggesting that similarly to Britain, the Early Medieval ancestry shifts left a significant and long-lasting impact on the genetic makeup of the Flemish population. We find substantial allele frequency differences between the two ancestry groups in pigmentation and diet-associated variants, including those linked with lactase persistence, likely reflecting ancestry change rather than local adaptation.

AB - The Merovingian period (5th to 8th cc AD) was a time of demographic, socioeconomic, cultural, and political realignment in Western Europe. Here, we report the whole-genome shotgun sequence data of 30 human skeletal remains from a coastal Late Merovingian site of Koksijde (675 to 750 AD), alongside 18 remains from two Early to Late Medieval sites in present-day Flanders, Belgium. We find two distinct ancestries, one shared with Early Medieval England and the Netherlands, while the other, minor component, reflecting likely continental Gaulish ancestry. Kinship analyses identified no large pedigrees characteristic to elite burials revealing instead a high modularity of distant relationships among individuals of the main ancestry group. In contrast, individuals with >90% Gaulish ancestry had no kinship links among sampled individuals. Evidence for population structure and major differences in the extent of Gaulish ancestry in the main group, including in a mother-daughter pair, suggests ongoing admixture in the community at the time of their burial. The isotopic and genetic evidence combined supports a model by which the burials, representing an established coastal nonelite community, had incorporated migrants from inland populations. The main group of burials at Koksijde shows an abundance of >5 cM long shared allelic intervals with the High Medieval site nearby, implying long-term continuity and suggesting that similarly to Britain, the Early Medieval ancestry shifts left a significant and long-lasting impact on the genetic makeup of the Flemish population. We find substantial allele frequency differences between the two ancestry groups in pigmentation and diet-associated variants, including those linked with lactase persistence, likely reflecting ancestry change rather than local adaptation.

KW - Humans

KW - History, Medieval

KW - Pedigree

KW - Belgium

KW - Burial/history

KW - Genetics, Population/methods

KW - Female

KW - Male

KW - DNA, Ancient/analysis

KW - England

KW - Human Migration

KW - Archaeology

KW - Netherlands

KW - Genome, Human

KW - ancestry

KW - kinship

KW - ancient DNA

KW - Merovingian

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85197017788

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2406734121

DO - 10.1073/pnas.2406734121

M3 - Article

C2 - 38913897

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 121

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 27

M1 - e2406734121

ER -

Capturing the fusion of two ancestries and kinship structures in Merovingian Flanders

Abstract

Funding

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

Access to Document

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