A major new study of ancient DNA has traced the movement of people into southern Britain during the Bronze Age.
Previous finds at Cliffs End Farm. Picture reproduced with permission © Wessex Archaeology
In the largest such analysis published to date, scientists examined the DNA of nearly 800 ancient individuals
The new study, led by the University of York, Harvard Medical School, and the University of Vienna, shows that people moving into southern Britain around 1300‒800 BC were responsible for around half the genetic ancestry of subsequent populations.
The combined DNA and archaeological evidence suggests that, rather than a violent invasion or a single migratory event, the genetic structure of the population changed through sustained contacts between mainland Britain and Europe over several centuries, such as the movement of traders, intermarriage, and small scale movements of family groups.
The study finds evidence that the new migrants became thoroughly mixed in to the Southern British population in the period 1000‒875 BC.
Networks
The researchers say the origin of these migrants cannot yet be established with certainty, but they are most likely to have come from communities in and around present-day France.
The Middle to Late Bronze Age was a time when settled farming communities expanded across the landscapes of southern Britain, and extensive trade routes developed to allow the movement of metal ores for the production of bronze.
These new networks linked wide-ranging regions across Europe, as seen from the spread of bronze objects and raw materials.
