An illustration from a 15th-century manuscript showing the coronation of the first king of Poland, Boleslaw I. Chronica Polonorum by Mathiae de MechoviaThe Conversation
Posted on 06/21/2025 6:24:35 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Scholars have long debated the origins of the House of Piast, Poland's first royal dynasty, who ruled the nation from the tenth through the fourteenth century. Some believe they were Slavic nobles, others Moravian exiles, and still others say they were Viking warriors. The Conversation reports on new DNA analysis that has revealed shocking new information concerning the Piasts' genetic background that might potentially rewrite history. Researchers led by molecular biologist Marek Figlerowicz of Poznań University of Technology extracted DNA from 33 individuals, 30 men and three women, belonging to the Piast dynasty. Most of the deceased, who lived between 1100 and 1495, had been buried in central Poland's Płock Cathedral. Almost all the male skeletons carried a group of rare Y-chromosome variations that closely resembles populations in Britain. The closest match was to an ancient Pict individual who lived in eastern Scotland in the fifth or sixth century. These results imply that the dynasty's paternal line was not local, but had arrived from the vicinity of the North Atlantic, though researchers do not know when. This could have happened just prior to the ascent of the first Piast ruler, Mieszko I (reigned a.d. 960–992), or centuries earlier. The study notes that previous DNA analysis indicated that the genetic background of the broader Polish population had remained stable since the Iron Age. Although the ruling family may have had some foreign roots, the Poles themselves had well-established local genetics. For more about medieval Poland, go to "Viking Knights, Polish Days."
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
An illustration from a 15th-century manuscript showing the coronation of the first king of Poland, Boleslaw I. Chronica Polonorum by Mathiae de MechoviaThe Conversation
Wow! A Pict! That is seriously incredible!
I woad have to agree!
Bookmark
Perhaps it shows that the ancestors of the Picts actually migrated from the region around Poland but a few stayed behind.
MI6 toppling and establishing regimes longer than we realized.
And we care today, why ? Another basis for reparations I guess ...
Makes sense... The royals who currently reign over the UK are of Germanic descent. That’s why you’ll never see their DNA on Ancestry.com
That is an interesting possible concept too. I was thinking more along the lines of Picts hitching a ride with Vikings to the area. As we know from the Mediterranean seafarers, they would shanghai sailors from all regions and cultures when they were needed. They were not purists when it came to labor. I don’t think the Vikings were either. Could have even been Pict royalty on the run buying passage to safety. Wonder how the timelines match up with the Roman Conquest of Britannia? Lot of Picts on the run at that time and they were already connected to the Vikings...
My perp dozed through it. Cute though. Reminds me of a cartoon titled “How do you know you have too many pets?”
But weren’t the Picts around in Scotland in Roman times?
“But weren’t the Picts around in Scotland in Roman times?”
Yes. Much to the Romans dismay.
And, the movement was not exclusively East to West. Rather .... it was back and froth over millennia. It was even North to South and vise versa, too. Climate changes and seismic activity affected movements.
Coronation looks very similar to Britain’s, with the orb and scepter.
Recent genetic studies on the first ruling dynasty of Poland returned shocking results and claims that the Picts founded the Kingdom of Poland. However, this results have been questions by some. What is the truth? Did the Picts really rule Poland?Did the Picts Rule Poland?
Questions about New Genetic Evidence for Poland's first Ruling Dynasty | 13:01
Fortress of Lugh | 268K subscribers | 28,783 views | September 30, 2025
and now, formatted for you by Duck AI:
So, did the Picts really found Poland's first dynasty? Sometimes genetic studies reveal what we've long suspected; other times, they deliver shocking and unexpected news. However, sensationalized claims are often built up intentionally, lacking solid evidence. You may have heard that in June 2025, a research team in Poland claimed to have discovered a massive historical upset during their excavations and genetic studies on members of the founding dynasty of the medieval kingdom of Poland.
A team from one of Poland's top universities has been working since 2023 to uncover the genetic origins of the Polish people and state. They have taken genetic samples from early graves associated with the first ruling dynasty of Poland. Their findings claimed to have shocked the world: a genetic sample believed to belong to Wenceslaus I carried the Y haplogroup R1B S747.
This is significant because that haplogroup is extremely rare in Poland and elsewhere in mainland Europe, but it is found in northeastern Britain among the Picts and their descendants. The research team concluded and announced to the world that the first ruling dynasty in Polish history was likely of Pictish origin. When these findings were made public in June, it caused a widespread uproar of excitement and even anger in some cases, as unexpected claims often do. More importantly, we should ask if this conclusion is actually true. Did the Piast dynasty descend from the Picts? While it may sound fascinating, what is the actual evidence? How trustworthy is the science behind it? Are there any archaeological or historical points of contact?
The Piasts ruled the Poles between the 10th and 14th centuries. They were not known as the Piasts during their own time; rather, their name is ascribed to their line by historians due to an origin tale preserved in the Gesta Principium Polonorum (Deeds of the Princes of the Poles). This work was written sometime between 1112 and 1117 by an author identified only as Gallus, meaning “the Gaul.” It is the earliest account of Polish history to extol the great deeds of the Polish kings.
The author claims his family's history began with Piast the Wheelwright, son of Tokis. The name "Piast" may derive from the word for "wheel hub" or signify a custodian, implying that he became king as a custodian of a household. Some claim Tokis is a transliteration of "Hasting," which might suggest a Germanic origin, while others believe it comes from a Slavic word for "tail." Piast had a son named Siemowit, who hosted a birthday hair-cutting ceremony of pagan origin for him. Unexpected guests, likely gods in disguise, showed up at the party, and after being invited, they placed a magical spell on Piast’s son, ensuring his larder was always full. This blessing led to his becoming king.
Nothing in this origin legend suggests a Pictish element or any foreign influence. Even if we accept that the name Tokis is of Germanic origin, Germans had resided in parts of Poland since at least the late Iron Age. The Piasts, starting with Mieszko I, who reigned from 960 to 992, were known for marrying Germanic wives, largely for political alliances among noble families. However, there is no known British influence or marriages. Even if there had been a connection, it would more likely be a Polish woman marrying into a British family, not a man carrying his Y haplogroup.
Historically, there is nothing to support the idea that the Piasts were of British origin. Now, it’s time to turn to the genetics to examine the details of this discovery. The genetic results have faced challenges. Dr. Darius Blazijuk from the Faculty of Archaeology at the University of Warsaw pointed out that the data could be incorrect due to sampling degradation, contamination, or poor sequencing. While I lack expertise to judge this, I’ve noticed that amateur geneticists online are skeptical and note the questionable quality of the samples, pointing out that obtaining a full sequencing to determine something more specific than just R1B is nearly impossible.
Importantly, we do not know for sure who this sample belongs to. There were issues with the radiocarbon dating not aligning, and even if the sample truly belongs to Wenceslaus I, he was a member of a minor branch of the family where paternity events, like infidelity, could have occurred. Out of 197 whole genome sequencings obtained from a total of 474, only one revealed R1B S747. If this had been the true haplogroup of the most powerful ruling family in Poland's formative history, we would expect it to be more widespread in the Polish population or at least present in some concentration.
Successful males, especially before the Christian enforcement of monogamy, spread their Y haplogroups extensively. Even after Christianization, this trend persisted, albeit slightly tempered by numerous out-of-marriage relationships. Powerful individuals tended to have more children who were likewise wealthy and influential, perpetuating their lineage.
During the period when the Piasts held power, graveyards associated with them revealed only a single result showing the R1B S747 haplogroup. This suggests that the haplogroup was not, in fact, dominant within the dynasty. Consider how many people can claim descent from Robert the Bruce; it’s estimated to be around 200 million. However, only a fraction of these are direct male-line descendants. His haplogroup, RDF-27, is carried by around 5% of the population in Scotland today, and its presence can largely be attributed directly to his family line, as it was not present in Scotland at all before around 1 AD. This illustrates the impact a single successful family can have over a few hundred years of prominence.
Let's for a moment entertain the idea that the entire dynasty descended from a Pictish noble. How would this story have played out? It seems unlikely that a Pictish noble would end up in Poland, but it is possible that a rival for power fled to seek refuge among Polish nobles. Being of noble blood, he might have married a daughter of a Polish family, hoping to eventually return to Scotland and reclaim power. However, if this plan failed, he and his descendants could have merged into Polish society and forgotten their origins within a few generations, leaving no trace of it in medieval tales. Despite this, his lineage managed to rise to power.
If we indulge in a more romantic narrative, we might imagine a Pictish royal family fleeing to Poland to escape from Vikings, Scots, and Norse invaders. They could have established trading contacts with the Poles, settled down, learned Proto-Slavic, and sworn a pact never to reveal their true ancestry, eventually rising to rule over the Poles. Less romantically, this foreign influence might not have come directly from a Pict but instead from a Germanic source—a descendant of an Anglo-Saxon or Viking noble who had absorbed Pictish lineage.
In certain regions of Scotland, like Orkney, the Picts were culturally and ethnically absorbed by the Vikings, and it’s conceivable that one of their lines could have migrated east to Poland. There's also the consideration that sensational claims like this may stem from ideological motives rather than solid evidence. The lead researcher, Professor Marak Figlaroitz, in an interview from 2016, suggested that the Piasts were foreign, drawing comparisons between the formation of Poland and the Viking-led formation of Russia.
However, these two situations are not directly comparable. Historical records from both the Rus and external commentators provide clear evidence for the formation of Russia, with etymology tracing names like "Rus" back to Germanic origins. With the Piasts, there is literally no trace whatsoever of any British influence.
Herein lies the problem: when someone has spent over a decade trying to prove that the Piasts were foreign and then makes a sensational announcement based on flimsy evidence, skepticism is warranted. I was genuinely excited about this announcement, especially given my own Pictish roots and the idea that Polish kings could be linked to the Picts. However, it seems very unlikely that this is the case. Even if they had some male ancestor from Britain, it is clear they had no knowledge of it.
Perhaps the research team will publish further information soon, but as of now, I wouldn't place too much faith in the idea of a Pictish ruling class in Poland.
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(DDG AI: Here's a Youtube transcript, please remove the timestamps and reformat the text, using spellcheck and coherent paragraph breaks. Thanks.) -- it stopped about midway through, so I did the second half the same way)
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