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Author

Duncan Sayer

Other affiliations: University of Bath
Bio: Duncan Sayer is an academic researcher from University of Central Lancashire. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Mortuary Practice. The author has an hindex of 12, co-authored 30 publications receiving 456 citations. Previous affiliations of Duncan Sayer include University of Bath.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Using rarecoal, a new method, it is estimated that on average the contemporary East English population derives 38% of its ancestry from Anglo-Saxon migrations, while the Iron Age samples share ancestors with multiple Northern European populations including Britain.
Abstract: British population history has been shaped by a series of immigrations, including the early Anglo-Saxon migrations after 400 CE. It remains an open question how these events affected the genetic composition of the current British population. Here, we present whole-genome sequences from 10 individuals excavated close to Cambridge in the East of England, ranging from the late Iron Age to the middle Anglo-Saxon period. By analysing shared rare variants with hundreds of modern samples from Britain and Europe, we estimate that on average the contemporary East English population derives 38% of its ancestry from Anglo-Saxon migrations. We gain further insight with a new method, rarecoal, which infers population history and identifies fine-scale genetic ancestry from rare variants. Using rarecoal we find that the Anglo-Saxon samples are closely related to modern Dutch and Danish populations, while the Iron Age samples share ancestors with multiple Northern European populations including Britain.

144 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that death is not taboo and that modern death scholars use archaeological source material as a way to understand the subtlety of the human experience Funerary archaeology is not a dangerous topic; rather it makes a very real and valuable contribution to modern society, providing one of the few ways that people can experience a corpse and so explore their own mortality and with it their place within the larger human story.
Abstract: Archaeologists have often taken it for granted that death is a taboo topic in modern society However, the fear of death hypothesis is contested within the social sciences, so does it still follow that the display of the ancient dead is in some way shameful or unacceptable? In this paper it is argued that death is not taboo and that modern death scholars use archaeological source material as a way to understand the subtlety of the human experience Funerary archaeology is not a dangerous topic; rather it makes a very real and valuable contribution to modern society, providing one of the few ways that people can experience a corpse and so explore their own mortality and with it their place within the larger human story

44 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used K-function analysis to determine the proximity of statistically significant clusters within four early Anglo-Saxon cemetery sites: Wakerley, Norton, Berinsfield, and Lechlade.
Abstract: Archaeologists have often used their “eye” to interpret spatial patterns within cemetery sites. In this article, we will use Ripley's K-function analysis to determine the proximity of statistically significant clusters within four early Anglo-Saxon cemetery sites: Wakerley, Norton, Berinsfield, and Lechlade. Using spatial and statistical methods supported by ArcGIS 10 we will explore the kernel density estimates of graves at the point of significance to discuss the organization of cemeteries as part of their chronological and social development. As a result of this investigation we will conclude that these sites were not organized into small clusters of nuclear family graves but large plots that contained the remains of varied, multivocational households.

39 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Arthur Kocher1, Luka Papac1, Rodrigo Barquera1, Felix M. Key1  +194 moreInstitutions (67)
08 Oct 2021-Science
TL;DR: In this article, the Max Planck Society, the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (771234-PALEoRIDER, to W.H., 805268-CoDisEASe to K. Bos; 834616-ARCHCAUCASUS to S.H. and AP08857177 to A.Z.
Abstract: The research was funded by the Max Planck Society, the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (771234–PALEoRIDER, to W.H.; 805268–CoDisEASe to K. Bos; 834616–ARCHCAUCASUS to S.H.), the Slovak Academy of Sciences and the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme and Marie Curie Actions under the Programme SASPRO (1340/03/03 to P.C.R.), the ERA.NET RUS Plus–ST 19-78-10053 to SSh), the German Research Foundation (DFG-HA-5407/4-1–INTERACT to W.H. and RE2688/2 to S.Re.), the French National Research Agency (ANR-17-FRAL-0010–INTERACT, to M.F.D., M.Ri., S.Ro., S.Sai., D.Bi., and P.Le.), the Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant (9558 to S.Sab.), and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (AP08856654 to L.B.D., L.M., and E.Kh. and AP08857177 to A.Z.B.).

30 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that post-mortem extrusion is improbable and that young infants and women found buried together are likely to have died together, but most deaths would not have been simultaneous and it is concluded that the early Anglo-Saxons engaged institutions which controlled female sexuality.
Abstract: Little has been written about female fertility and maternal mortality from an archaeological perspective. Typically debates focus on the physical aspects of childbirth, ignoring an obvious truth: the biggest single cause of death for women was childbirth. Whether death took place as a result of mechanical malpresentation, infection or blood loss, the root cause was undeniable. In this article we argue that post-mortem extrusion is improbable and that young infants and women found buried together are likely to have died together. However, most deaths would not have been simultaneous and so we build on demographic data to conclude that the early Anglo-Saxons engaged institutions which controlled female sexuality. Late marriage, cultural and legal taboos and an emphasis on mature fertility acted to limit the probability of death; however, the risk to the individual was real and each funerary party was the agent that constructed death ways to manage loss.

28 citations


Cited by
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Book
Tony Walter1
01 Jan 1994
TL;DR: This chapter discusses Traditional, Modern and Neo-Modern Death, as well as Stories and Meta-stories, and Systems for Listening, which addresses expectations and Assumptions of the listening community.
Abstract: Talking about death is now fashionable, but how should we talk? Who should we listen to - priests, doctors, cousellors, or ourselves? Has psychology replaced religion in telling us how to die? This provocative book takes a sociological look at the revival of interest in death, focusing on the hospice movement and bereavement counselling. It will be required reading for anyone interested in the sociology of death and caring for the dying, the dead or bereaved.

456 citations

Iosif Lazaridis1, Iosif Lazaridis2, Nick Patterson2, Alissa Mittnik3, Gabriel Renaud4, Swapan Mallick2, Swapan Mallick1, Karola Kirsanow5, Peter H. Sudmant6, Joshua G. Schraiber6, Joshua G. Schraiber7, Sergi Castellano4, Mark Lipson8, Bonnie Berger2, Bonnie Berger8, Christos Economou9, Ruth Bollongino5, Qiaomei Fu4, Kirsten I. Bos3, Susanne Nordenfelt1, Susanne Nordenfelt2, Heng Li2, Heng Li1, Cesare de Filippo4, Kay Prüfer4, Susanna Sawyer4, Cosimo Posth3, Wolfgang Haak10, Fredrik Hallgren11, Elin Fornander11, Nadin Rohland2, Nadin Rohland1, Dominique Delsate12, Michael Francken3, Jean-Michel Guinet12, Joachim Wahl, George Ayodo, Hamza A. Babiker13, Hamza A. Babiker14, Graciela Bailliet, Elena Balanovska, Oleg Balanovsky, Ramiro Barrantes15, Gabriel Bedoya16, Haim Ben-Ami17, Judit Bene18, Fouad Berrada19, Claudio M. Bravi, Francesca Brisighelli20, George B.J. Busby21, Francesco Calì, Mikhail Churnosov22, David E. C. Cole23, Daniel Corach24, Larissa Damba, George van Driem25, Stanislav Dryomov26, Jean-Michel Dugoujon27, Sardana A. Fedorova28, Irene Gallego Romero29, Marina Gubina, Michael F. Hammer30, Brenna M. Henn31, Tor Hervig32, Ugur Hodoglugil33, Aashish R. Jha29, Sena Karachanak-Yankova34, Rita Khusainova35, Elza Khusnutdinova35, Rick A. Kittles30, Toomas Kivisild36, William Klitz7, Vaidutis Kučinskas37, Alena Kushniarevich38, Leila Laredj39, Sergey Litvinov38, Theologos Loukidis40, Theologos Loukidis41, Robert W. Mahley42, Béla Melegh18, Ene Metspalu43, Julio Molina, Joanna L. Mountain, Klemetti Näkkäläjärvi44, Desislava Nesheva34, Thomas B. Nyambo45, Ludmila P. Osipova, Jüri Parik43, Fedor Platonov28, Olga L. Posukh, Valentino Romano46, Francisco Rothhammer47, Francisco Rothhammer48, Igor Rudan14, Ruslan Ruizbakiev49, Hovhannes Sahakyan50, Hovhannes Sahakyan38, Antti Sajantila51, Antonio Salas52, Elena B. Starikovskaya26, Ayele Tarekegn, Draga Toncheva34, Shahlo Turdikulova49, Ingrida Uktveryte37, Olga Utevska53, René Vasquez54, Mercedes Villena54, Mikhail Voevoda55, Cheryl A. Winkler56, Levon Yepiskoposyan50, Pierre Zalloua1, Pierre Zalloua57, Tatijana Zemunik58, Alan Cooper10, Cristian Capelli21, Mark G. Thomas40, Andres Ruiz-Linares40, Sarah A. Tishkoff59, Lalji Singh60, Kumarasamy Thangaraj61, Richard Villems62, Richard Villems43, Richard Villems38, David Comas63, Rem I. Sukernik26, Mait Metspalu38, Matthias Meyer4, Evan E. Eichler6, Joachim Burger5, Montgomery Slatkin7, Svante Pääbo4, Janet Kelso4, David Reich2, David Reich1, David Reich64, Johannes Krause3, Johannes Krause4 
Harvard University1, Broad Institute2, University of Tübingen3, Max Planck Society4, University of Mainz5, University of Washington6, University of California, Berkeley7, Massachusetts Institute of Technology8, Stockholm University9, University of Adelaide10, The Heritage Foundation11, National Museum of Natural History12, Sultan Qaboos University13, University of Edinburgh14, University of Costa Rica15, University of Antioquia16, Rambam Health Care Campus17, University of Pécs18, Al Akhawayn University19, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart20, University of Oxford21, Belgorod State University22, University of Toronto23, University of Buenos Aires24, University of Bern25, Russian Academy of Sciences26, Paul Sabatier University27, North-Eastern Federal University28, University of Chicago29, University of Arizona30, Stony Brook University31, University of Bergen32, Illumina33, Sofia Medical University34, Bashkir State University35, University of Cambridge36, Vilnius University37, Estonian Biocentre38, University of Strasbourg39, University College London40, Amgen41, Gladstone Institutes42, University of Tartu43, University of Oulu44, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences45, University of Palermo46, University of Chile47, University of Tarapacá48, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan49, Armenian National Academy of Sciences50, University of North Texas51, University of Santiago de Compostela52, University of Kharkiv53, Higher University of San Andrés54, Novosibirsk State University55, Leidos56, Lebanese American University57, University of Split58, University of Pennsylvania59, Banaras Hindu University60, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology61, Estonian Academy of Sciences62, Pompeu Fabra University63, Howard Hughes Medical Institute64
01 Sep 2014
TL;DR: The authors showed that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, ancient north Eurasians related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians, who contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and early European farmers, who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harboured west European hunters-gatherer related ancestry.
Abstract: We sequenced the genomes of a ∼7,000-year-old farmer from Germany and eight ∼8,000-year-old hunter-gatherers from Luxembourg and Sweden. We analysed these and other ancient genomes with 2,345 contemporary humans to show that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, who contributed ancestry to all Europeans but not to Near Easterners; ancient north Eurasians related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians, who contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and early European farmers, who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harboured west European hunter-gatherer related ancestry. We model these populations' deep relationships and show that early European farmers had ∼44% ancestry from a 'basal Eurasian' population that split before the diversification of other non-African lineages.

442 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
Iñigo Olalde1, Swapan Mallick2, Swapan Mallick1, Swapan Mallick3, Nick Patterson3, Nadin Rohland1, Vanessa Villalba-Mouco4, Vanessa Villalba-Mouco5, Marina Silva6, Katharina Dulias6, Ceiridwen J. Edwards6, Francesca Gandini6, Maria Pala6, Pedro Soares7, Manuel Ferrando-Bernal8, Nicole Adamski2, Nicole Adamski1, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht2, Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht1, Olivia Cheronet9, Brendan J. Culleton10, Daniel Fernandes11, Daniel Fernandes9, Ann Marie Lawson2, Ann Marie Lawson1, Matthew Mah2, Matthew Mah1, Matthew Mah3, Jonas Oppenheimer2, Jonas Oppenheimer1, Kristin Stewardson2, Kristin Stewardson1, Zhao Zhang1, Juan Manuel Jiménez Arenas12, Juan Manuel Jiménez Arenas13, Isidro Jorge Toro Moyano, Domingo C. Salazar-García14, Pere Castanyer, Marta Santos, Joaquim Tremoleda, Marina Lozano15, Pablo García Borja16, Javier Fernández-Eraso14, José Antonio Mujika-Alustiza14, Cecilio Barroso, Francisco J. Bermúdez, Enrique Viguera Mínguez17, Josep Burch, Neus Coromina, David Vivó, Artur Cebrià18, Josep Maria Fullola18, Oreto García-Puchol19, Juan Ignacio Morales18, F. Xavier Oms18, Tona Majó20, Josep Maria Vergès15, Antonia Díaz-Carvajal18, Imma Ollich-Castanyer18, F. Javier López-Cachero18, Ana Maria Silva11, Ana Maria Silva21, Carmen Alonso-Fernández, Germán Delibes de Castro22, Javier Jiménez Echevarría, Adolfo Moreno-Márquez23, Adolfo Moreno-Márquez24, Guillermo Pascual Berlanga12, Pablo Ramos-García12, José Ramos-Muñoz24, Eduardo Vijande Vila24, Gustau Aguilella Arzo, Ángel Esparza Arroyo25, Katina T. Lillios26, Jennifer E. Mack26, Javier Velasco-Vázquez27, Anna J. Waterman28, Luis Benítez de Lugo Enrich29, Luis Benítez de Lugo Enrich16, María Benito Sánchez30, Bibiana Agustí, Ferran Codina, Gabriel de Prado, Almudena Estalrrich31, Álvaro Fernández Flores, Clive Finlayson, Geraldine Finlayson32, Geraldine Finlayson33, Stewart Finlayson32, Stewart Finlayson34, Francisco Giles-Guzmán32, Antonio Rosas35, Virginia Barciela González22, Gabriel García Atiénzar22, Mauro S. Hernández Pérez22, Armando Llanos, Yolanda Carrión Marco19, Isabel Collado Beneyto, David López-Serrano, Mario Sanz Tormo36, António Carlos Valera, Concepción Blasco29, Corina Liesau29, Patricia Ríos29, Joan Daura18, María Jesús de Pedro Michó, Agustín Diez Castillo19, Raúl Flores Fernández37, Raúl Flores Fernández38, Joan Francès Farré, Rafael Garrido-Pena29, Victor S. Gonçalves21, Elisa Guerra-Doce22, Ana Mercedes Herrero-Corral30, Joaquim Juan-Cabanilles, Daniel López-Reyes, Sarah B. McClure36, Marta Pérez18, Arturo Oliver Foix, Montserrat Sanz Borràs18, Ana Catarina Sousa21, Julio Manuel Vidal Encinas, Douglas J. Kennett36, Douglas J. Kennett10, Martin B. Richards6, Kurt W. Alt38, Kurt W. Alt37, Wolfgang Haak39, Wolfgang Haak5, Ron Pinhasi9, Carles Lalueza-Fox8, David Reich2, David Reich1, David Reich3 
15 Mar 2019-Science
TL;DR: It is revealed that present-day Basques are best described as a typical Iron Age population without the admixture events that later affected the rest of Iberia, and how the ancestry of the peninsula was transformed by gene flow from North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean is document.
Abstract: J.M.F., F.J.L.-C., J.I.M., F.X.O., J.D., and M.S.B. were supported by HAR2017-86509-P, HAR2017-87695-P, and SGR2017-11 from the Generalitat de Catalunya, AGAUR agency. C.L.-F. was supported by Obra Social La Caixa and by FEDER-MINECO (BFU2015- 64699-P). L.B.d.L.E. was supported by REDISCO-HAR2017-88035-P (Plan Nacional I+D+I, MINECO). C.L., P.R., and C.Bl. were supported by MINECO (HAR2016-77600-P). A.Esp., J.V.-V., G.D., and D.C.S.-G. were supported by MINECO (HAR2009-10105 and HAR2013-43851-P). D.J.K. and B.J.C. were supported by NSF BCS-1460367. K.T.L., A.W., and J.M. were supported by NSF BCS-1153568. J.F.-E. and J.A.M.-A. were supported by IT622-13 Gobierno Vasco, Diputacion Foral de Alava, and Diputacion Foral de Gipuzkoa. We acknowledge support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (PTDC/EPH-ARQ/4164/2014) and the FEDER-COMPETE 2020 project 016899. P.S. was supported by the FCT Investigator Program (IF/01641/2013), FCT IP, and ERDF (COMPETE2020 – POCI). M.Si. and K.D. were supported by a Leverhulme Trust Doctoral Scholarship awarded to M.B.R. and M.P. D.R. was supported by an Allen Discovery Center grant from the Paul Allen Foundation, NIH grant GM100233, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. V.V.-M. and W.H. were supported by the Max Planck Society.

287 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The observations suggest that the BGISEQ-500 holds the potential to represent a valid and potentially valuable alternative platform for palaeogenomic data generation that is worthy of future exploration by those interested in the sequencing and analysis of degraded DNA.
Abstract: Ancient DNA research has been revolutionized following development of next-generation sequencing platforms. Although a number of such platforms have been applied to ancient DNA samples, the Illumina series are the dominant choice today, mainly because of high production capacities and short read production. Recently a potentially attractive alternative platform for palaeogenomic data generation has been developed, the BGISEQ-500, whose sequence output are comparable with the Illumina series. In this study, we modified the standard BGISEQ-500 library preparation specifically for use on degraded DNA, then directly compared the sequencing performance and data quality of the BGISEQ-500 to the Illumina HiSeq2500 platform on DNA extracted from 8 historic and ancient dog and wolf samples. The data generated were largely comparable between sequencing platforms, with no statistically significant difference observed for parameters including level (P = 0.371) and average sequence length (P = 0718) of endogenous nuclear DNA, sequence GC content (P = 0.311), double-stranded DNA damage rate (v. 0.309), and sequence clonality (P = 0.093). Small significant differences were found in single-strand DNA damage rate (δS; slightly lower for the BGISEQ-500, P = 0.011) and the background rate of difference from the reference genome (θ; slightly higher for BGISEQ-500, P = 0.012). This may result from the differences in amplification cycles used to polymerase chain reaction-amplify the libraries. A significant difference was also observed in the mitochondrial DNA percentages recovered (P = 0.018), although we believe this is likely a stochastic effect relating to the extremely low levels of mitochondria that were sequenced from 3 of the samples with overall very low levels of endogenous DNA. Although we acknowledge that our analyses were limited to animal material, our observations suggest that the BGISEQ-500 holds the potential to represent a valid and potentially valuable alternative platform for palaeogenomic data generation that is worthy of future exploration by those interested in the sequencing and analysis of degraded DNA.

282 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
29 Jun 2018-Science
TL;DR: Analysis of ancient whole-genome sequences from across Inner Asia and Anatolia shows that the Botai people associated with the earliest horse husbandry derived from a hunter-gatherer population deeply diverged from the Yamnaya, and suggests distinct migrations bringing West Eurasian ancestry into South Asia before and after, but not at the time of, YamNaya culture.
Abstract: The Yamnaya expansions from the western steppe into Europe and Asia during the Early Bronze Age (~3000 BCE) are believed to have brought with them Indo-European languages and possibly horse husbandry. We analyze 74 ancient whole-genome sequences from across Inner Asia and Anatolia and show that the Botai people associated with the earliest horse husbandry derived from a hunter-gatherer population deeply diverged from the Yamnaya. Our results also suggest distinct migrations bringing West Eurasian ancestry into South Asia before and after but not at the time of Yamnaya culture. We find no evidence of steppe ancestry in Bronze Age Anatolia from when Indo-European languages are attested there. Thus, in contrast to Europe, Early Bronze Age Yamnaya-related migrations had limited direct genetic impact in Asia.

273 citations