Scientists from Stockholm University studied the genetic history and migration processes of Scandinavia from the Iron Age to the present. The research was published in the journal cell.
The study is based on analysis of 48 new and previously published 249 ancient human genomes, as well as genetic data from more than 16,500 people living in Scandinavia today. The aim was to document how migrations from the eastern Baltic, British Irish Islands and southern Europe affected the Scandinavian gene pool.
Scientists have found that the Irish have been common in Scandinavia since the Viking era. Baltic ancestors settled mainly in Gotland and central Sweden. Overall, immigration from the west affected all of Scandinavia, while immigration from the east was mostly associated with the movement of women.
The circumstances and fate of people of Anglo-Irish descent who came to Scandinavia were probably different: some were resettled as slaves, others (Christian missionaries and monks) came voluntarily.