BrtIslrs

Whatever the cultural distinctions between the English, Scottish and Welsh, in genetic terms at least, there is no difference between us - we are all ancient Britons.

     The first genetic map of the British Isles has revealed that we are united by common DNA that dates back at least 10,000 years to the last Ice Age.

     Waves of invading Romans, Vikings and Germans may have left their cultural stamp on the conquered people, but they caused barely a ripple in the gene pool, according to scientists at Oxford University.

     The research suggests that Britons are biologically similar, even if they perceive themselves to be the descendants of distinct racial groups. Those who claim to be descended from marauding bands of Celts or Anglo-Saxons will be disappointed by this research. Others who prefer to promote their continental lineage and claim fashionable Norman descent ignore the much more powerful inheritance of the ancient Britons whose genes have overwhelmed all subsequent residents of the British Isles.

     The Institute of Molecular Medicine at Oxford, has profiled 6000 people and, by comparing their blood samples with DNA extracted from the remains of Stone Age people, discovered that 99% can trace their origins directly back to the Britons who populated the fertile wooded valleys carved out by Ice Age glaciers when Britain was still joined to the European mainland.

     The scientists say that anybody who knows that their maternal grandmother was born in the British Isles is almost certain to be genetically identical to a Palaeolithic ancestor, through a family chain genetically untouched by �newcomers� such as the Celts, who arrived in 700BC from Austria.

     They have been able to distinguish between the different waves of Stone Age immigrants who walked across the �land bridge� from southern Europe up to 50,000 years ago.

     Bryan Sykes, professor of human genetics at Oxford University, led the project to examine the nature of �Britishness�, part of an international effort to explain how humans, spreading out from Africa and the Middle East, occupied Europe.

     �There were several waves of expansion of the first anatomically modern humans�, he said. �We can now identify genes that go back to these�.

     Two of the geneticists, Eileen Hickey and Catherine Irven, have already mapped out their own genes and found they both come from the original hunter-gatherers, dating back up to 50,000 years, who settled the west coast of Ireland.

     The project is examining genes from structures called mitochondria, responsible for programming activity within individual cells. This DNA is inherited solely through the maternal line. Specific genes and their mutations have been compared to DNA derived from about 20 ancient skeletons from Britain and the Continent.

     Sir Roy Strong, the cultural historian, said he was not surprised by the findings: �It indicates there has been a continuity pervading more strongly in British culture than the champions of the Celts or the Anglo-Saxons would boast�.

     �It is good news for those worried by the Labour Party�s devolution plans. (The Labour Party is the political party with a majority in the UK Government). It indicates that a thread of Britishness will survive, no matter what the politicians say or do�.

     The research could also illuminate mysteries that have baffled historians for years. Richard Coates, professor of linguistics at Southampton University, said: �We never understood why so few Celtic words survived into modern usage. Maybe they were not so important as we thought�.

     �It also raises speculation about names of rivers such as Severn, Tyne and Humber, which are suspected of being older than the Celts. It may not have just been genes we inherited from the ancient Britons�.

     Our genes may be the same, but historic social differences remain. Plaid Cymru, the political party that promotes Welsh independence, said that shared genes do not undermine the importance of cultural heritage. �The Welsh are distinct in every way from a typical Londoner�, it said.

     Bill Longsleet, who runs the Anglo-Saxon Society, dedicated to honouring the Germanic tribes that arrived in Britain from AD500 to AD1000, said the genetic mapping �demeaned and insulted� traditional ideas of Britain. Longsleet, who claims that his family tree runs back to Athelstan, Anglo-Saxon king of England AD927 - AD939, said: �This casts us all back into the Stone Age. I am not sure I want to go there�.

     When the European Union-funded project is completed in five years� time, more than 15,000 people, mostly volunteers at blood-donation centres, will have been �mapped�.

     The team has already made a start on a second project to track male inheritance through the Y-chromosome, which confers maleness.

     �Our first gene study has underlined how similar in biological terms we are�, Sykes said. �But we all know the little physical differences - the Nordic or Celtic characteristics, such as red hair or green eyes - which suggest the invaders played a small role in our genetic make-up. This was probably transmitted down the male line�.                                                       ENDS