{
  "abstract": "Germanic languages, including German, English, Frisian, Dutch and the Nordic languages, are widely spoken across northwest Europe. However, the timing and location of the prehistoric arrival of this Indo-European linguistic phylum, as well as its Iron Age diversification, remain contentious 1–3 . Here, by sequencing 712 ancient human genomes and analysing them alongside 4,009 previously published genomes, we identify an archaeologically elusive population that entered Sweden, likely from the Baltic region, by around 4000 bp . This population, which became widespread throughout Scandinavia by 3500 bp , offers a potential vector for the introduction of the Germanic language group to Scandinavia 4–6 , some 800 years later than traditionally assumed 7–9 . Following the Late Iron Age disintegration of Germanic into its descendant languages, we observe by 1650 bp a southward migration from southern Scandinavia into presumed Celtic-speaking areas, including present-day Germany, Poland and the Netherlands. During the subsequent Migration Period (1575–1375 bp ), we see this ancestry among Germanic-speaking Anglo-Saxons in Britain and Langobards in southern Europe. In the same time period, we identify a related large-scale northward back-migration into Denmark and southern Sweden, coinciding with the rise of Danish influence and the linguistically documented emergence of Old Norse. These findings indicate that multiple migrations and geographical locations had a major role in the arrival and formation of Germanic, as well as in its divergence into historical and modern descendant languages.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Centre for Ancient Environmental Genomics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. hugh.mccoll@sund.ku.dk",
    "Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. hugh.mccoll@sund.ku.dk",
    "The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. hugh.mccoll@sund.ku.dk",
    "Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Center, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.,",
    "Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. guus@hum.ku.dk",
    "Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands. guus@hum.ku.dk",
    "Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark,",
    "Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands,",
    "Centre for Ancient Environmental Genomics, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark",
    "The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark",
    "Center for Molecular Anthropology for the Study of Ancient DNA, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy",
    "Laboratório de Biodiversidade e Evolução Molecular (LBEM), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil",
    "Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet), School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark",
    "Arkæologi, Museum Sønderjylland, Haderslev, Denmark",
    "Museum Sønderjylland, Arkæologi,",
    "School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK",
    "School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth UK,",
    "Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden",
    "Environmental Archaeology and Materials Science, National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark",
    "National Museum of Denmark,",
    "National Museum of Denmark. Environmental Archaeology and Materials Science,",
    "Eco-anthropologie (EA), Département ABBA, Muséum national d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Université Paris Cité, Musée de l'Homme, Paris, France",
    "Eco-anthropologie (EA), Dpt ABBA, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Université Paris Cité, Musée de l'Homme 17 place du Trocadéro, 75016 Paris, France,",
    "Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark",
    "Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark,",
    "Department of Archaeology, Ancient History and Conservation, Campus Gotland, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden",
    "Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Campus Gotland, Uppsala Univeristy,",
    "Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia",
    "Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia,",
    "Section for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark",
    "Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden",
    "Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg, Sweden,",
    "Vendsyssel Historiske Museum, Hjørring, Denmark",
    "Sealand Archaeology, Kalundborg, Denmark,",
    "Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK",
    "Institute of Biological Psychiatry, Mental Health Services, Copenhagen University Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark",
    "Center for Computational Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA",
    "Center for Computational Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America,",
    "Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Center, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark,",
    "Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, Lund, Sweden"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 100,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Hugh McColl",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7568-4270"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        5,
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Guus Kroonen",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3708-0476"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "J. Víctor Moreno-Mayar",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7712-4496"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Frederik Valeur Seersholm",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2217-3247"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10,
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Gabriele Scorrano",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0887-4023"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        11,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Thomaz Pinotti",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2695-143X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Tharsika Vimala",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2709-5815"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12
      ],
      "name": "Søren M. Sindbæk",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1254-1256"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        13,
        14
      ],
      "name": "Per Ethelberg"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        15,
        16
      ],
      "name": "Ralph Fyfe",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5676-008X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        17
      ],
      "name": "Marie‐José Gaillard",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2025-410X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        18,
        19
      ],
      "name": "Hanne Marie Ellegård Larsen",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1227-7387"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        18,
        20
      ],
      "name": "Morten Fischer Mortensen",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4167-8227"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        21,
        9,
        22,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Fabrice Demeter",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1288-5534"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        23,
        24
      ],
      "name": "Marie Louise Schjellerup Jørkov",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5283-4328"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        25,
        26
      ],
      "name": "Sophie Bergerbrant",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9614-0264"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Peter de Barros Damgaard"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        27,
        3,
        28
      ],
      "name": "Morten E. Allentoft",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4424-3568"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Lasse Vinner",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3081-3702"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Charleen Gaunitz",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3681-528X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Abigail Daisy Ramsøe",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5132-007X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Isin Altinkaya",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6364-3332"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Rasmus Amund Henriksen",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3657-1983"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        29,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Evan K. Irving-Pease",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1940-2192"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        30
      ],
      "name": "Karl-Göran Sjögren",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1791-3175"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        30,
        31
      ],
      "name": "Serena Sabatini",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6404-1280"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        30,
        32,
        31,
        33
      ],
      "name": "Anders Fischer",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0852-5904"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        34
      ],
      "name": "William Barrie",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0698-4955"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        35,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Andrés Ingason",
      "orcid": "0009-0002-6479-4025"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        35,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Anders Rosengren",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6682-1288"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        36,
        37
      ],
      "name": "Andrew H. Vaughn",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3113-2981"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Jialu Cao",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5359-7072"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Jacqueline Staring",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7376-8107"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Jesper T. Stenderup",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6916-106X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        30,
        9,
        31,
        38
      ],
      "name": "Fulya Eylem Yediay",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3722-3091"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        39
      ],
      "name": "Torbjörn Ahlström",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7468-5979"
    },
    {
      "name": "Irakli Akhvlediani",
      "orcid": "0009-0004-3098-0342"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sofie Laurine Albris",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5514-6088"
    },
    {
      "name": "Vladimer Aslanishvili"
    },
    {
      "name": "Biyaslan Atabiev"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "E. V. Balanovskaya"
    },
    {
      "name": "Oleg Balanovsky"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9
      ],
      "name": "Pernille Bangsgaard",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8517-6165"
    },
    {
      "name": "Maria Giovanna Belcastro",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8932-8509"
    },
    {
      "name": "Elizaveta M. Chernykh",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5800-7545"
    },
    {
      "name": "Philippe Charlier",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0357-511X"
    },
    {
      "name": "Elizaveta M. Chernykh",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5800-7545"
    },
    {
      "name": "Torben Trier Christiansen",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5158-2774"
    },
    {
      "name": "Alfredo Coppa",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7708-2484"
    },
    {
      "name": "Maura De Coster"
    },
    {
      "name": "Sean Dexter Denham",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6364-428X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        19
      ],
      "name": "Sophie Desenne"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jane Downes"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        18
      ],
      "name": "Гадиев Умалат Бесланович",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-5198-073X"
    },
    {
      "name": "Olivér Gábor",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3641-3101"
    },
    {
      "name": "U. B. Gadiev"
    },
    {
      "name": "Johan Zakarias Gårdsvoll"
    },
    {
      "name": "Zanette Tsigaridas Glørstad",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0968-2784"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jesper Hansen",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9784-5146"
    },
    {
      "name": "Stijn Heeren",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9265-3882"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ayvz0htfj8tvc.bib",
  "cited_by": 30,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41586-025-09064-1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "ayvz0htfj8tvc",
  "issns": [
    "0028-0836",
    "1476-4687"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09064-1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1311|Forensic and Genetic Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W4392818337",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09064-1.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": "42983076",
  "published": "2026-10-28",
  "publisher": "Nature Portfolio",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ayvz0htfj8tvc.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-06T13:20:28Z",
      "native_id": "W4392818337",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09064-1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:1311|Forensic and Genetic Research",
      "subfield": "genetics-genomics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Tracing the spread of Germanic languages using ancient genomics",
  "title_text": "Tracing the spread of Germanic languages using ancient genomics",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T13:20:41Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/ayvz0htfj8tvc",
  "venue": "Nature",
  "versions": []
}