A tale of two cities: Analysis of Dutch populations between the late medieval and modern period using ancient mitochondrial DNA

Population genetics during the medieval to modern period of Europe remain underresearched by bioarchaeologists, as do issues of social identity such as gender and ethnicity in this historical context. This thesis investigates changes in female population structure and continuity between the 14th century AD and the modern era at two Dutch sites, Vlissingen and Oldenzaal, using ancient mitochondrial DNA. Ancient DNA samples extracted from human teeth taken from excavations spanning two main periods, the late medieval and the early modern period, were compared with modern population samples from the same areas. Population continuity modelling and statistics were used to explore patterns of population structure, migration, and population replacement, that have occurred over these periods. Mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down exclusively through the female line, has the unique advantage of allowing archaeologists to examine the movement of just the females in the study population....Show morePopulation genetics during the medieval to modern period of Europe remain underresearched by bioarchaeologists, as do issues of social identity such as gender and ethnicity in this historical context. This thesis investigates changes in female population structure and continuity between the 14th century AD and the modern era at two Dutch sites, Vlissingen and Oldenzaal, using ancient mitochondrial DNA. Ancient DNA samples extracted from human teeth taken from excavations spanning two main periods, the late medieval and the early modern period, were compared with modern population samples from the same areas. Population continuity modelling and statistics were used to explore patterns of population structure, migration, and population replacement, that have occurred over these periods. Mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down exclusively through the female line, has the unique advantage of allowing archaeologists to examine the movement of just the females in the study population. This thesis therefore builds on previous work on Y chromosomal DNA used to study the male line at these sites, to examine gender-specific differences in historical population movements. The two sites chosen have a very different historical character, which also allowed questions to be raised about European genetic histories in more urban or rural environments. Since Vlissingen was a key centre of international trade over the study period, particularly the Atlantic slave trade, the presence of ‘exotic’ or non-European haplogroups also formed an interesting line of enquiry. The results of this study concluded that population continuity could be confirmed in all cases except at Vlissingen between the medieval and modern period, where replacement of the original female population has occurred gradually over the entire period of study. It is hypothesized that this may represent the increasing movement of women into urban centres due to the greater opportunities for them in these areas. Surprisingly, the presence of African haplogroups could not be confirmed at Vlissingen, raising questions about the extent of non-European and slave integration in European societies from the medieval period onwards. However, there appears to have been migration at both sites from other areas of Europe, and possibly the Near East at Vlissingen. It is concluded that urbanization in western Europe between the medieval and modern period may have had a significant effect on female population structure, in the form of migrations by women into these areas in search of opportunities, whilst in more rural areas population structure may have remained more stable.Show less

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A tale of two cities: Analysis of Dutch populations between the late medieval and modern period using ancient mitochondrial DNA