DNA ANALYSIS OF 7 HUMAN SKELETONS EXCAVATED FROM THE TERP OF WIJNALDUM

DNA was extracted from the skeletal remains of seven individuals, six infants and one subadult, excavated from a terp near Wijnaldum, in Fri esland (Netherlands). Their ages range from the 2nd to the 9th century AD and they were excavated under clean conditions to facilitate DNA a nalysis. Mitochondrial DNA was amplified from the extracts and the fir st hypervariable segment of the control region was sequenced. A compar ison between the terp inhabitants and modern Frisian speakers shows th at the early medieval Wijnaldum inhabitants resemble modern islander F risian speakers in having a high level of diversity, while the modern mainland Frisians are not distinguishable from the north-west German p opulations. The amplification of a fragment of the Y chromosome allowe d us to determine the genetic sex of the seven individuals. In the cas e of the subadult, our result is in agreement with the morphological d ata. For the six infants, DNA analysis is the only way to obtain this information. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.