Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1979, Page 63

Anthropological and Genetic Studies of the Faroese
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and a further 25 % were of British, predominantly Irish,
descent. This small group may not have been representative
of the ethnic composition of the remainder of the settlers but
it is of interest because the description refers mainly to the
households of the chieftains who at that time were related
to the Faroese chieftains.
In the absense of further historical or archaeological evi-
dence assessment of the relative proportions of Norse Viking
and Celtic components in the settlers of the Faroe Islands
presents the Anthropologist with certain problems. Firstly the
present day population may differ genetically from the initial
population and secondly members of the initial population may
have been unrepresentative of the ‘parent’ populations from
which they originated. The latter phenomenon is referred to
as the Founder Effect and occurs when, by chance, the
founding members of a new population differ genetically from
the larger population from which they were drawn. For in-
stance the high arch frequencies of the Faroese might be a
consequence of the Founder Effect, the small group of original
settlers having, purely by chance, a particularly high frequency
of this dermatoglyphic feature. Alternatively the founding
group may have consisted of typical representatives of their
parent populations and differences may have arisen subse-
quently. Changes in the genetic structure of small isolated
populations may occur through the operation of genetic drift.
Fundamental to this concept is the fact that a child receives
only half of the genetic material carried by each of its parents
and which features are inherited and which is not is a random
process. Concequently in a small population the genetic endow-
ment of each new generation may differ, by chance, from
that of the preceeding generation and result in random fluctua-
tions in genetic characteristics of the population. Over the
years the small, relatively isolated communities of the Faroese
villages would have offered ideal conditions for the operation
of genetic drift which may be responsible for some of the
regional differences reported here. As the population grows