Ancient DNA reveals West African ancestry in 7th-century skeletons from England

Archaeologists have unearthed surprising genetic evidence that two individuals buried at opposite ends of the south coast of England in the 7th century CE had recent West African ancestry. The findings, published in Antiquity, contradict centuries of traditional beliefs about the extent of migration and cultural connections in the Early Middle Ages.

The discovery comes from DNA analysis of two Anglo-Saxon cemetery burials: one at Updown in Kent, in the southeast of England, and another at Worth Matravers in Dorset, in the southwest. The majority of individuals interred there had northern European or West British and Irish ancestry, as was the norm. However, one person in each cemetery was different.

At Updown, the researchers analyzed the skeleton of an 11- to 13-year-old girl who was buried with a Frankish Gaul decorated pot, a spoon that might have been linked to a Christian ritual, a bone comb, and other grave goods. At Worth Matravers, they analyzed a young man who was buried with an older, unrelated male, with an anchor made of local limestone nearby.

In each of these cases, mitochondrial DNA—passed from mother to child—was consistent with northern European ancestry. Autosomal DNA showed 20–40% genetic affinity to modern-day Yoruba, Mende, Mandenka, and Esan populations from sub-Saharan West Africa. Statistical models suggest that each individual probably had a paternal grandparent from the southern Sahel region, who may have come to Europe sometime between the mid-500s and early 600s CE.

These results suggest small-scale but significant human movement linking Britain with continental Europe, and perhaps also with Africa, possibly via Byzantine-controlled North Africa and long-distance trade networks. “It is significant that it is human DNA—and therefore the movement of people, and not just objects—that is now starting to reveal the nature of long-distance interaction with the continent, Byzantium, and sub-Saharan Africa,” stated Professor Duncan Sayer of the University of Central Lancashire, lead author of the Updown study.

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The girl was buried in Kent during what Sayer calls the “Frankish Phase” of the region, when Kent was experiencing vigorous contacts with continental Europe and royal centers like Finglesham. Worth Matravers, however, lay outside the core Anglo-Saxon cultural zone. “What is fascinating about these two individuals is that this international connection is found in both the east and west of Britain,” Sayer said.

Dr. Ceiridwen J. Edwards of the University of Huddersfield, lead author of the Worth Matravers study, stated that the findings “emphasize the cosmopolitan nature of England in the early medieval period, pointing to a diverse population with far-flung connections who were, nonetheless, fully integrated into the fabric of daily life.”

The research adds richness to history by showing that Europe had connections with Africa long before the Age of Discovery. While the Roman Empire did have contact with North Africa in the form of recruiting soldiers and trading in goods like gold and ivory, connections with sub-Saharan Africa were limited and not extensively documented. These two burials now provide concrete genetic proof of these contacts.