The following are the four journal articles which are most useful to the Shetland DNA Project. Be forwarned, however, that without an understanding of the material in the first two resources, these will be tough going even for those with a science background. Many of the technical details are not particularly relevant to the present work, however the major findings as shown in the introduction and discussion sections, and some of the figures and tables, will no doubt prove interesting.
1) Semino et al., "The Genetic Legacy of Peleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens: A Y Chromosome Perspective", Science, Vol. 290, 2000, pp. 1155-1159.
Comment: This article takes a sweeping look at Europe in general, the migration patterns suggested by Y Chromosome patterns, and the evidence for various waves of immigration into Europe at different times. It can be found on-line by going to the following site: www.sciencemag.org/search.dtl then typing in "290" in the "Volume" box; and "1155" in the "First Page" box - then click on "Search". If you have Adobe Reader on your computer click on "PDF" and the article, colours and all, will be available for downloading.
2) Wilson et al., "Genetic Evidence for Different Male and Female Roles During Cultural Transitions in the British Isles", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 98, No. 9, 2001, pp. 5078-5083.
Comment: While the focus of this article is on the Orkney Islands, the data clearly has implications for the settlement of the Shetland Islands. The article can be downloaded from: www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.071036898 .
3) Capelli et al., "A Y Chromosome Census of the British Isles", Current Biology, Vol. 13, 2003, pp. 979-984. The easiest way to obtain this article is via the Family Tree DNA site. Go to www.familytreedna.com and click on their "Library", and scan down the page until you see the title of this article, click, and it will be delivered in PDF format.
Comment: Without a doubt this will be one of the most talked about, and I dare say somewhat controversial, articles for some time. They present DNA evidence that contradicts much earlier DNA work (as well as many historical sources) and maintain that there was little replacement of the indigenous British population by the Anglo - Saxons and Danes in may parts of Britain (not just the far west such as Wales and Cornwall).
4) Weale et al., "Y Chromosome Evidence for Anglo - Saxon Mass Migration", Moelcular Biology and Evolution, Vol. 19, No. 7, 2002, pp. 1008-1021. This article can be downloaded in PDF format from http://mbe.oupjournals.org/cgi/reprint/19/7/1008.pdf .
Comment: This article and the previous one disagree on some fundamental points. It appears that the matter may not be settled until further research in undertaken.
