An article which not only includes information on various "source" populations such as Norway, but in addition a sample of 121 males from Orkney (including the sample or dataset noted in the James F. Wilson article noted previously), plus a sample of 63 men from Shetland is the following article: Cristian Capelli et al., "A Y Chromosome Census of the British Isles", 2003, Current Biology, Vol. 13, May, pp. 979-984. It can be downloaded from the Family Tree DNA site by clicking here, then clicking on "Library", then on the title of the above article. You will need to have a PDF 5.0 reader (available free from www.adobe.com if required).
Unfortunately the category designations are even more complex here, so I have "converted" them into the older (and more straightforward) terminology.
Results:
SHETLAND > Rb1 = 66% I = 10% R1a = 23% Other = 0%
ORKNEY > 64% 15% 19% .02%
NORWAY > 30% 28% 34% 18%
GERMANY/
DENMARK > 39% 39% 12% 10%
SCOTLAND > 80% 10% .02% 10%
IRELAND > 90% 7% 0% 3%
BASQUE > 89% .02% 0% 10%
Some Conclusions Pertaining to the Capelli Study:
First it is plainly evident that the data from the two studies is highly consistent. Secondly, the Y-DNA haplotypes ("signatures") of men from Orkney and Shetland are very similar, as would be predicted from a knowledge of their similar history. Furthermore both are quite dissimilar to the two regions (Norway and Scotland) which likely provided the vast majority of the Y-DNA to Shetland - which makes eminently good sense since the two geographic "parental stock" regions differ significantly from each other - and Shetland is more or less a statistical amalgam of both. It is interesting, however, that as a result of the Principal Component plots (statistical procedure), the authors conclude that, "in light of these simulations......Orkney and Shetland have significant Norwegian input but little to no German / Danish input" - meaning that there was not evidence of an Anglo - Saxon or Danish Viking contribution from any source to the Shetland gene pool. This is an important finding in relation to the interpretation of the haplotypes observed in the Shetland Surname DNA Project.
4) Unpublished Proprietary Database
I have been given permission from the owners of a database collected as part of a University sponsored project to quote some non - specific information. This study found over 50% of the participants with a R1b haplogroup, and a R1a finding in line with that observed by Capelli for Norway, as well as a surprising low percentage of those with haplogroup I (well below that observed in Scandanavian countries). A very surprising finding was haplogroup Q (associated with East Asia and Native North Americans - including Greenland Inuit) at a level comparable to haplogroup I. Since the sample size was under 40, we need to be careful in making too much of the "surprising" findings - but do need to explain where the Q came from.
5) Sarah Goodacre et al., 2005 Article
In a sense this study is an extension of Helgason's 2001 work. The mtDNA (female lineage) component will be discussed elsewhere, but here they compared Shetland, Orkney, and the Western Isles and Skye as well as the Northwest coast of Scotland with Iceland, Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden and Denmark). Their data appear to indicate that of all the aforesaid locations, Iceland most closely resembles Scandinavia (75% male contribution), followed by Shetland with a sample size of 193 (45% male contribution) diminishing to 31% for Orkney down to 15% for the Northwest Coast of Scotland. The point here is that there is still evident a large Scandinavian male lineage presence in Shetland despite 550 years of Scottish domination of the Islands. Also, apparently the isolated island regions close to Scandinavia were settled by family clusters of almost equal numbers of men and women, but in regions far from the "homeland" such as Iceland, the single men tended to take local British women as wives rather than return to the land they had probably left behind forever. Due to the archaic SNP markers (defining haplogroups) used in this study, it is not possible to provide exact haplogroup figures. However, it appears that a reasonable inference from the data is that with respect to Shetland R1b = 59%, R1a = 20%, I = 19% and other = .02% of the total sample. This is rougly comparable to other studies, but considering the large sample size of 193, it is unfortunate that clear diagnositic markers such as M17 for R1a were not used. To download the complete article click here.
Some Facts Apparent from the Findings of the Capelli and the Wilson Studies:
1) Overall: "The Orkney sample seems intermediate between the Celtic and Norwegian samples, consistent with an origin by admixture between such populations". It would appear that this statement from the Wilson article also applies to Shetland.
2) Surname Correlations: The Wilson study expored the "correlation between Y chromosomes and surnames in Orkney". They identified 2 classes of names: "indigenous names endemic to the islands" (not defined in article, but Dr. Wilson in a personal communication clarified the definition as"place" surnames such as Isbister and Flett); and "those brought to the islands with the Scottish settlers" (Such as Sinclair and Tulloch). With respect to the indigenous surnames, 38% "can be identified as Scandanavian in origin" (Hg3 and Hg2), whereas those in Hg1 are not of obvious provenance. Thus, the legacy of the Viking age in Orkney was both cultural and genetic". The Scottish surnames, however, were "statistically indistinguishable from the Welsh and Irish". However, Wilson et al. additionly reported that the Scottish surname class were also not distinguishable from the Frisians, "which might reflect an Anglo - Saxon component in the Scottish newcomers."
