Were Poland's first rulers actually from Scotland?

Wood engraving print Konstanty Przykorski (184018823). Bolesław I Wysoki, (1127-1201) (Wikimedia commons)

June 12, 2025

For two centuries, scholars have sparred over the roots of the Piasts, Poland’s first documented royal house, who reigned from the 10th to the 14th centuries. Were they local Slavic nobles, Moravian exiles, or warriors from Scandinavia?

Since 2023, a series of genetic and environmental studies led by molecular biologist Marek Figlerowicz at the Poznań University of Technology has delivered a stream of direct evidence about these enigmatic rulers, bringing the debate onto firmer ground.

Digging up the dynasty
Field teams have now opened more than a dozen crypts from the Piast era. The largest single haul came from Płock Cathedral in what is now central Poland.

The exhumed bones were dated between 1100 and 1495, matching written records. Genetic analysis showed several individuals were close relatives. “There is no doubt we are dealing with genuine Piasts,” Figlerowicz told a May 2025 conference.

The Poznań group isolated readable DNA from 33 individuals (30 men and three women) believed to span the dynasty’s full timeline.

Surprise on the Y chromosome
The male skeletons almost all carry a single, rare group of genetic variants on the Y chromosome (which is only carried and passed down by males). This group is today found mainly in Britain. The closest known match belongs to a Pict buried in eastern Scotland in the 5th or 6th century. These results imply that the dynasty’s paternal line arrived from the vicinity of the North Atlantic, not nearby.



More:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/were-polands-first-rulers-scottish/