Dr Ceiridwen Edwards

Leverhulme Research Fellow in Ancient DNA Studies

Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art
Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Rd, Oxford, OX1 3QY

phone: 01865 285203

fax: 01865 285220

email: ceiridwen.edwards@rlaha.ox.ac.uk

Research Interests

Ancient DNA
Pre- and post-glacial mammals in the British Isles and (re)colonisation signatures
Phylogeography of European mammals
Biodiversity and climate change
Population genetics and conservation
Animal domestication

Current Research

Mass migration & apartheid in Anglo-Saxon Britain?: an ancient DNA re-evaluation

Recently, there has been renewed interest in migration and residence patterns, partly influenced by development of new isotopic and DNA techniques for examining mobility directly from remains of people themselves. Ancient DNA data will be combined with stable isotope analysis to study the Romano-British to Anglo-Saxon transition. Even with historical accounts detailing the arrival of the Germanic Anglo-Saxons into Lowland Britain, there are still many unanswered questions, most notably what happened to the indigenous people? – were they absorbed or displaced by this migration event? Geneticists have attempted to look at this question using modern mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA data, with estimates of ~25–100% contribution to the modern male English gene pool. However, this methodology is problematic, not least because, by using modern DNA, subsequent migrations will overlay any original Anglo-Saxon introgression. This becomes problematic when Danish incursions are considered – their male source populations are essentially genetically identical to that of the Anglo-Saxons, while mitochondrial patterns are similar across Europe. We also have to consider how the bottleneck caused by the Black Death in the 14th century AD has affected modern genetic affinities. The only way to begin to determine how many Anglo-Saxons migrated to Britain, or if an apartheid system was indeed in place, is to look directly at contemporaneous British populations.

Qualifications

Ph.D. Genetics (2003): Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin
Thesis title: "Genetic variation in domesticated cattle and wild aurochsen using ancient and modern DNA"
M.Sc. in Biomolecular Archaeology (1998): Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield
B.Sc. (Hons.) in Genetics (1996): Department of Biology, University of York

Publications

Journal Articles & Conference Proceedings

2012: Bower, M. A., Campana, M. G., Nisbet, R. E. R., Weller, R., Whitten, M., Edwards, C. J., Stock, F., Barrett, E., O’Connell, T. C., Hill, E. W., Wilson, A. M., Howe, C. J., Barker, G. & Binns, M, (2012), Truth in the Bones: resolving the identity of two founding elite Thoroughbred racehorses, Eclipse and Bend Or, Archaeometry, 54,916-925; Campana, M.G., Lister, D.L., Whitten, C.M., Edwards, C.J., Stock, F., Barker, G. Bower, M. A., (2012), Complex relationships between mitochondrial and nuclear DNA preservation in historic DNA extracts, Archaeometry, 54,193-202; Carden, R. F., McDevitt, A. D., Zachos, F. E., Woodman, P. C., O'Toole, P., Rose, H., Monaghan, N. T., Campana, M. G., Bradley, D. G. & Edwards, C. J. , (2012), Phylogeographic, ancient DNA, fossil and morphometric analyses reveal ancient and modern human introductions of a large mammal: the complex case of red deer (Cervus elaphus) in Ireland, Quaternary Science Reviews, 42,74-84; Edwards, C.J., Soulsbury, C.D., Statham, M.J., Ho, S.Y.W., Wall, D., Dolf, G., Iossa, G., Baker, P.J., Harris, S., Sacks, B.N. and Bradley, D.G., (2012), Temporal genetic variation of the red fox, (Vulpes vulpes), across western Europe and the British Isles, Quaternary Science Reviews, 57,95-104; Hall, S.J.G., Lenestra, J.A., Deeming, D.C., and European Cattle Genetic Diversity Consortium, (2012), Priotization based on neutral genetic diversity may fail to conserve important characteristics in cattle breeds, Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics, 129,218-225; O’Meara D. B.*, Edwards C. J.*, Sleeman D. P., Cross T. F., Statham M. J., McDowell J. R., Dillane E., Coughlan J. P., O’Leary D., O’Reilly C., Bradley D. G. & Carlsson J. , (2012), Genetic structure of Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) (Carnivora: Mustelidae) and the colonisation history of Ireland, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 106,893–909 (* joint first authors)
2011: Bower, M.A., Campana, M.G., Whitten, M., Edwards C.J., Jones H., Barrett E., Cassidy R., Nisbet, R.E.R., Hill, E.W., Howe, C.J. & Binns, M., (2011), The cosmopolitan maternal heritage of the Thoroughbred racehorse breed shows a significant contribution from British and Irish Native mares, Biology Letters, 7,316-320; Edwards, C.J., Gunja, C., Kantanen, J., Perez-Pardal, L., Tresset, A., Stock, F.European Cattle Genetic Diversity Consortium, Gama, L.T., Penedo, M.C.T., Bradley, D.G., Lenstra, J.A. & Nijman I.J., (2011), Dual origins of dairy cattle farming - evidence from a comprehensive survey of European Y-chromosomal variation, Public Library of Science One, 6,e15922; Edwards, C.J., Suchard, M.A., Lemey, P., Welch, J.J., Barnes, I., Fulton, T.L., Barnett, R., O'Connell, T.C., Coxon, P., Monaghan, N., Valdiosera, C.E., Lorenzen, E.D., Willerslev, E., Baryshnikov, G.F., Rambaut, A., Thomas, M.G., Bradley, D.G. & Shapiro, B., (2011), Ancient hybridization and an Irish origin for the modern polar bear matriline, Current Biology, 21,1251-1258
2010: Campana, M.G., Bower, M.A., Bailey, M.J., Stock, F., O’Connell, T.C., Edwards, C.J., Checkley-Scott, C., Knight, B., Spencer, M. & Howe, C.J., (2010), A flock of sheep, goats and cattle: ancient DNA analysis reveals complexities of historical parchment manufacture, Journal of Archaeological Science, 37,1317-1325; Campana, M.G., Whitten, C.M., Edwards, C.J., Stock, F., Murphy, A.M., Binns, M.M., Barker, G.W.W. and Bower, M.A., (2010), Accurate determination of phenotypic information from historic Thoroughbred horses by single base extension, Public Library of Science One, 5,e15172; Edwards, C.J., Magee, D.A., Park, S.D., McGettigan, P.A., Lohan, A.J., Murphy, A., Finlay, E.K., Shapiro, B., Chamberlain, A.T., Richards, M.B., Bradley, D.G., Loftus, B.J. & MacHugh, D.E., (2010), A complete mitochondrial genome sequence from a Mesolithic wild aurochs (Bos primigenius), Public Library of Science One, 5,e9255
2009: Kantanen, J., Edwards, C. J., Bradley, D. G., Viinalass, H., Thessler, S., Ivanova, Z., Kiselyova, T., Kinkulov, M., Popov, R., Stojanovik, S., Ammosov, I. & Vilkki, J., (2009), Maternal and paternal genealogy of Eurasian taurine cattle (Bos taurus), Heredity, 103,404-415; Lei, C. Z., Su, R., Xie, W. M., Bower, M. A., Edwards, C. J., Weining, S., Wang, X. B., Li, F., Liu, R. Y., Zhang, Y. S., Zhang, C. M., Chen, H. & Liu, L., (2009), Multiple maternal origins of living native horse and ancient horse populations in China, Animal Genetics, 40,933-944; McDevitt, A. D., Edwards, C. J., O'Toole, P., O'Reilly, C. & Carden, R. F., (2009), Genetic structure of, and hybridization between, red (Cervus elaphus) and sika (Cervus nippon) deer in Ireland, Mammalian Biology, 74,263-273; Stock, F., Edwards, C. J., Bollongino, R., Finlay, E. K., Burger, J. & Bradley, D. G., (2009), Cytochrome b sequences of ancient cattle and wild ox support phylogenetic complexity in the ancient and modern bovine populations, Animal Genetics, 40,694-700
2008: Finnegan, L. A., Edwards, C. J. & Rochford, J. M., (2008), Mitochondrial phylogeography of the Irish red squirrel population: what can it reveal of the postglacial colonisation of Ireland?, Conservation Genetics, 9,1099-1109; Ho, S. Y. W., Larson, G., Edwards, C. J., Heupink, T. H., Lakin, K. E., Holland, P. W. H. & Shapiro, B., (2008), Correlating Bayesian date estimates with climatic events and domestication using a bovine case study, Biology Letters, 43,70-374
2007: Edwards, C.J., Baird,J.F. & MacHugh, D.E., (2007), Taurine and zebu admixture in Near Eastern cattle: a comparison of mitochondrial, autosomal and Y-chromosomal data, Animal Genetics, 38,520-524; Edwards, C.J., Bollongino, R., Scheu, A., Chamberlain, A., Tresset, A., Vigne, J.-D., Baird, J. F., Larson, G., Ho, S. Y. W., Heupink, T. H., Shapiro, B., Freeman, A. R., Thomas, M. G., Arbogast, R.-M., Arndt, B., Bartosiewicz, L., Benecke, N., Budja, M., et al., (2007), Mitochondrial DNA analysis shows a Near Eastern Neolithic origin for domestic cattle and no indication of domestication of European aurochs, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, 274,1377-1385; Larson, G., Albarella, U., Dobney, K., Rowley-Conwy, P., Schibler, J., Tresset, A., Vigne, J.-D., Edwards, C.J., Schlumbaum, A., Dinu, A., Balasescu, A., Dolman, G., Tagliacozzo, A., Manaseryan, N., Miracle, P., Van Wijngaarden-Bakker, L., Masseti, M., et al, (2007), Ancient DNA, pig domestication, and the spread of the Neolithic into Europe, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104,15276-15281
2006: Bollongino, R.^∗, Edwards, C. J.^∗, Alt, K. W., Burger, J. & Bradley, D. G., (2006), Early history of European domestic cattle as revealed by ancient DNA, Biology Letters, 2,155-159 (^∗joint first authors); McGahern, A. M., Bower, M. A., Edwards, C. J., Brophy, P. O., Sulimova, G., Zacharov, I., Vizuete-Forster, M., Levine, M., Shuicheng, L., MacHugh, D. E. & Hill, E. W., (2006), Evidence for biogeographic patterning of mitochondrial DNA sequences in Eastern horse populations, Animal Genetics, 37,494-497; McGahern, A. M., Edwards, C. J., Bower, M. A., Heffernan, A., Park, S. D. E., Brophy, P. O., Bradley, D. G., MacHugh, D. E. & Hill, E. W., (2006), Mitochondrial DNA sequence diversity in Irish extant populations and ancient horses, Animal Genetics, 37,498-502
2005: Lister, A. M., Edwards, C. J., Nock, D. A. W., Bunce, M., van Pijlen, I. A., Bradley, D. G., Thomas, M. G. & Barnes, I., (2005), The phylogenetic position of the ‘giant deer’ Megaloceros giganteus, Nature, 438,850-853; McEvoy, B. & Edwards, C. J., (2005), Reappraising the Viking image, Heredity, 95,111-112
2004: Edwards, C. J., MacHugh, D. E., Dobney, K. M., Martin, L., Russell, N., Horwitz, L. K., McIntosh, S. K., MacDonald, K. C., Helmer, D., Tresset, A., Vigne, J.-D. & Bradley, D. G., (2004), Ancient DNA analysis of 101 cattle remains: limits and prospects, Journal of Archaeological Science, 31,695-710
2003: Edwards, C. J., Connellan, J., Wallace, P. F., Park, S. D. E., McCormick, F. M., Olsaker, I., Eythórsdóttir, E., MacHugh, D. E., Bailey, J. F. & Bradley, D. G., (2003), Feasibility and utility of microsatellite markers in archaeological cattle remains from a Viking Age settlement in Dublin, Animal Genetics, 34,410-416

Contributions to Edited Books

2013
Bower, M.A., Edwards, C.J., Downes, C. S., (2013), DNA analysis of the Langdale Hale/Colne Fen horses: in “Evans, C., Appleby, G., Lucy, S. & Regan, R., (eds.) Process and History: Romano-British Communities at Colne Fen, Earith. An Inland Port and Supply Farm (The Archaeology of the Lower Ouse Valley, Volume II)”, pp , McDonald Institute Monograph Series: Cambridge.

Schlumbaum A. & Edwards C.J. , (2013), Ancient DNA research on wetland archaeological evidence.: in “Menotti, F. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Wetland Archaeology ”, pp 569-583, Oxford University Press: Oxford.

2012
McDevitt A.D., O’Toole P., Edwards C.J. & Carden R.F. , (2012), Landscape genetics of red deer (Cervus elaphus), L. 1758) in Killarney National Park: in “Butler, F. and Kelleher, C. (eds.) All-Ireland Mammal Symposium 2009”, pp 23-30, Irish Naturalists' Journal: Belfast.

2009
Edwards, C.J. & Bradley, D.G., (2009), Human colonisation routes and the origins of Irish mammals: in “McCartan, S., Schulting, R., Warren, G. & Woodman, P. (eds.) Mesolithic Horizons: Papers presented at the Seventh International Conference on the Mesolithic in Europe, Belfast 2005 ”, pp 217-222, Oxbow: Oxford.

Tresset, A., Bollongino, R., Edwards, C. J., Hughes, S. & Vigne, J.-D., (2009), Early diffusion of domestic bovids in Europe: an indicator for human contacts, exchanges and migrations?: in “Hombert, J.-M. and d’Errico, F. (eds.) The Origin of Man, Language and Languages”, pp 69-90, McDonald Institute Monograph Series: Cambridge.

2007
Edwards, C.J. & Bradley, D.G., (2007), Ancient DNA analysis of aurochsen: in “Whittle, A. (ed.), The Early Neolithic on the Great Hungarian Plain: Investigations of the Körös Culture Site of Ecsegfalva 23, Co. Békés”, pp 327-329, Institute of Archaeology, Hungarian Academy of Sciences: Budapest.

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