Revelatory new DNA analysis has suggested that people with Nordic heritage could be found in Britain centuries before the Vikings first arrived.

According to this new analysis, the Nordic presence in the UK even pre-dates the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons on these shores, with the first Scandinavian settlers in the UK thought to have fought as gladiators.

The findings stem from the discovery of remains in York, which upon further research was found to have lived at some stage between the second and fourth centuries AD.

An individual was found buried in a cemetery on Driffield Terrace in York and it is thought they were either a ‘gladiator or soldier’.

The Vikings first arrived in Britain in 793 AD, while the Anglo-Saxons’ first noted presence was in 449 AD, therefore suggesting that Nordic genes were the earliest to appear in Britain.

Researchers from the Frances Crick Institute in London used high-tech DNA analysis to help identify three separate waves of migration in Europe roughly two millennia ago.

The first wave saw people migrate from parts of Northern Germany and Scandinavia southwards into central Europe over the first 500 years AD.

Britain was not the only area with a significant Scandinavian DNA found during this period though, with Germany, Italy, Poland and Slovakia all offering up similar results.

It is this Nordic influence which saw the evolution of the modern English and German languages.

Inverse migration also occurred according to the new research, with some Europeans moving northwards into Scandinavia. This is known due to the analysis of teeth fragments found in Sweden.

During what remains the most familiar wave of migration, the Viking hordes settled across Europe, with many battles breaking out particularly in England.

This led to famous battles such as the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Lindisfarne Priory raids.

In order to collate the data, researchers used a process called Twigstats, which can recreate ancestry by looking at how many genetic mutations are shared between individuals.

‘It allows us to see what we couldn’t before, in this case migrations all across Europe originating in the north of Europe in the Iron Age, and then back into Scandinavia before the Viking Age,’ said Leo Speidel, lead author of the study, who now works at Riken, a scientific institute in Japan.

‘Our new method can be applied to other populations across the world and hopefully reveal more missing pieces of the puzzle.’

Peter Heather, a professor of medieval history at King’s College London, a co-author of the study, said: ‘Historical sources indicate that migration played some role in the massive restructuring of the human landscape of western Eurasia in the second half of the first millennium AD which first created the outlines of a politically and culturally recognisable Europe.

‘But the nature, scale and even the trajectories of the movements have always been hotly disputed. Twigstats opens up the exciting possibility of finally resolving these crucial questions.’

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Nigerian comedian Deeone has weighed in on the recent controversy surrounding social media critic Martins Otse, aka Verydarkman, and his NGO account. Verydarkman had claimed that his account was hacked, resulting in the theft of N180 million, sparking widespread outrage on social media.

However, singer Dammy Krane later revealed that the incident was merely a prank. Deeone has now investigated the matter and asserts that there is no evidence to support the claim that funds are missing from Verydarkman’s NGO account.

Deeone expressed concern about Verydarkman’s sudden change in behavior, urging fans to check in on him.

Photo source: Instagram

The Plateau State police command has denied involvement in the investigation into the alleged hacking incident of VeryDarkMan’s NGO and diversion of N180 million from the account.

Reacting to the report made by VDM in a video shared on his social media, the spokesperson of the command, DSP Alabo Alfred, said the command has not received any report from the social critic and that the crime was not committed within their jurisdiction.

“The matter is not reported to us. We are not the ones handling the matter because the crime was not committed within our jurisdiction. If he said he is coming to Jos, that does not mean that we are the ones handling the case.

The crime happened in Abuja. So, he is not coming to Jos to report an incident that did not happen within our jurisdiction. If he reported the case at the Force CID level, it is the Force PRO who can speak about it.

If he reported the case at the FCT Command level, it would be a different thing. Of course, the Force PPRO can talk about it as well. If he can get police officers from where he reported the case, they can all come together to Jos and do their investigation.

After that, they can report back to where they came from and continue from there. But we can’t talk on a matter that did not happen within our jurisdiction” Alabo said

VDM in the video he released on Friday claimed that hackers diverted N180 million from his NGO’s account and that one of the hackers has been arrested in Jos, Plateau state. He stated that he was on his way to Jos with one of the detectives handling the matter.