UCLan experts find evidence linking the first English people to West Africa

Experts from Lancashire have uncovered evidence that the first people to call themselves English included migrants with a genetic link to West Africa.

The findings, published in a series of articles in Current Archaeology, come from one of the largest ancient DNA projects in Europe involving 460 people who were buried in graves between 200AD and 1300AD, 278 of whom were from England.Professor Duncan Sayer, project leader and archaeologist from the University of Central Lancashire, told the PA news agency: “This reminds us that our past isn’t this little quaint village where everybody dances around a maypole.

Dubbed Updown Girl because her remains were found near Updown farm in the village of Eastry, analysis suggests she was aged 10 or 11 when she died and was buried with typical grave goods – a pot, a bone comb, a knife and a spoon. Findings reveal 33% of Updown Girl’s DNA points to West African ancestry, most closely resembling Esan or Yoruba groups. Her African heritage came from her father’s side, possibly her grandad or great grandad, the researchers said.

The fact that both the women and the girl were buried in the same way indicates that despite her different ancestry, the girl was treated equally as her other family members, the researchers said. Prof Sayer told PA: “We found the granddaughter of a migrant who is part of a family that is biologically Northern European. She is buried in exactly the same way as everybody else… this story really highlights that if we are looking at ethnicity, did not matter to these people.

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