Posted on 08/31/22
| News Source: JNS
DNA evidence suggests that remains discovered at the bottom of a medieval well in Norwich in the United Kingdom belonged to victims of anti-Semitic violence in the 12th century.
The findings, published in the journal Current Biology, indicate that these individuals were likely killed in a historically documented massacre.
“We find that four of these individuals were closely related and all six have strong genetic affinities with modern Ashkenazi Jews,” the researchers wrote.
“These findings provide new insights into a significant historical crime, into Ashkenazi population history, and into the origins of genetic diseases associated with modern Jewish populations,” they continued.
They identified four alleles [gene variants] associated with genetic disease in Ashkenazi Jews and inferred “variation in pigmentation, including the presence of red hair.”