A study of ancient DNA reveals that the paternal lineage of the Dutch population has shown remarkable stability from the Early Middle Ages to today. Conducted by Leiden University, the research analyzed Y-chromosomes from 348 men across the Netherlands, dating from 500 to 1850 CE. Findings indicated that while haplogroup frequencies experienced slight variations, these were primarily due to genetic drift rather than population changes. This continuity contrasts with more significant population shifts observed in other European regions, suggesting a consistent male ancestry in the Netherlands throughout the past 1,300 years.
Our tests for population continuity provide no convincing evidence for discontinuity, implying that the Dutch population was largely continuous in terms of paternal lineages.
Despite significant differences in haplogroup frequencies across time and space, our findings reveal that the male population in the Netherlands changed very little over this 1,300-year period.
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