This article is about a discovery in Norwich, England. It is of considerable importance in itself, but it is outside the date range of PaleoJudaica. I note it because the genetic analysis of the excavated remains has potential implications for our understanding of Jewish genetics as early as late antiquity:
The modern Ashkenazi population has a greater-than-usual incidence of certain genetic disorders, such as Tay-Sachs disease and some hereditary cancers, he said; and the genetics of four the people in the well in Norwich showed the same frequency of such disorders, although there's only a very limited number of victims from which to draw such conclusions.My bold-font emphasis. For more on Ashkenazic genetics, and ancient Jewish and Israelite genetics in general, see here and links, plus here, here, here, and here.The cause of these disorders was thought to be a "genetic bottleneck" probably caused by a drop in the population between about 600 and 800 years ago, he said. But their frequency in the victims meant the genetic bottleneck must have happened much earlier, possibly as early as the late stages of the Western Roman Empire from the fifth century, he said.
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