At https://phys.org/news/2025-06-kings-poland-scotland-dna-evidence.html … which is another genetic exercise that is hampered by a lack of determining research. The genetic information, from the dna of the Piast, Poland’s first documented royal dynasty, was collected soley in oder to find out the genetic origins of that ruling dynast. In hindsight, it has achieved that but has raised more questions than answers. We still don’t know if the Piasts were slavic or not – but they were slave traders. Theory has always supposed they had a Scandinavian background – or partially so. They may still have that connection as the Vikings were big on slave trading and slavs were usually the victims of that trade. Mind you, it also included people from all regions in reach of Viking boats – which would include Britain and Ireland and all points in NW Europe.
The samples came from royal burials in mainly crypts in cathedrals and churches, between the 10th to 14th centuries AD. The bones are said to date between 1100 and 1495 and readable DNA was isolated for 33 individuals. A small sample, then, but an important one if you wished to find out the origin of the Piasts. It seems most of the skeletons carry a rare group of genetic variants in the Y chromosome. In the modern world this is said to occur mostly in Britain – and in particular in Scotland. The Vikings controlled large areas of Scotland, mainly in the west and the north. The DNA variant is actually known from the Picts. They are also another elusive people where archaeologists are not sure of origins – although it is convenient to think they were also Celtic. But were they?
The variant has been found in a Pict burial in eastern Scotland, presumably one of the ruling elitie. It dates back to the 5th or 6th century AD. So, was there a link between the Picts and the Piasts? Did the genes arrive via a dynastic marriage? Or were they brought by the Vikings who were active in both Poland and Scotland. To answer these questions requires an expansion of the genetic research. For example, to cover the general population of Poland and NW Europe as a whole. It should also be expanded in time – to cover at least the last 2000 years. The answer, when it comes, may provide us with a clue to the origin of the Picts themselves. At the moment it has already been noted that some pre Piast burials in Poland also carry the gene variant – and it is known from Denmark, and even France. How far back does the variant go? Lots of question to answer with a wider research base.