In the mid-seventh century, two people were laid to rest on opposite ends of England’s southern coast. One was an 11- to 13-year-old girl buried near a Kentish royal centre. The other, a young man in Dorset, shared a grave with an unrelated local and a limestone anchor for a pillow. Both had recent ancestors from West Africa.
It’s the first time researchers have identified individuals in early medieval Britain whose genetic makeup points directly to sub-Saharan ancestry. The intriguing and unexpected discoveries combined archaeology with ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis and were reported in a pair of studies in Antiquity.
A girl from Kent, a man from Dorset. Both had African roots
The Kent burial site, a cemetery called Updown, was part of a wealthy Anglo-Saxon network during what historians call Kent’s “Frankish Phase.” Here, archaeologists found the young girl — now known simply as “Updown girl” — resting with a knife, a decorated pot, and a comb-and-spoon set. The pot resembles Frankish imports, yet its decoration is unique.
Ancient DNA revealed her maternal line was northern European. But half her genome showed clear affinities to modern Yoruba, Mende, Mandenka, and Esan populations of West Africa. Statistical modelling suggests one of her paternal grandparents was of entirely West African descent.
At Worth Matravers in Dorset, the young man had a similar genetic mix. He had northern European maternal ancestry paired with strong West African signals in his autosomal DNA. Isotope analysis shows a mostly terrestrial diet with hints of coastal shellfish, suggesting he grew up locally.
At Updown, the girl was buried near her maternal grandmother, aunt, and great-grandfather — all free of West African ancestry. This means the connection came exclusively through her father’s line. In Dorset, no genetic relatives of the man were found.
Both burials followed local customs. In Kent, the girl’s grave fit seamlessly into an Anglo-Saxon cultural zone. In Dorset, the man lay in a double grave typical of his community. The lack of distinction in treatment shows that the two people with West African heritage were welcomed and accepted in the community.
Long-distance ties in the Early Middle Ages
The presence of recent West African ancestry in two such different regions shows early medieval England was far from insular. It also dovetails with other evidence for far-reaching trade and travel networks in the sixth and seventh centuries.
Byzantine North Africa — reconquered from the Vandals in AD 533–534 — was a commercial hub exporting grain, oil, and luxury goods. Trade routes connected it to the Mediterranean, the Near East, and northern Europe. Byzantine coins, garnets, and textiles reached Britain, often via the continent.
The first documented people of African descent arrived in Britain during the Roman occupation (1st-4th centuries CE). For instance, there was a unit that included North African soldiers at Hadrian’s Wall — named Numerus Maurorum Aurelianorum after Marcus Aurelius — near to what is today Burgh-by-Sands in Cumbria. North African-Roman head pots have also been found in Chester and Scotland, alongside tombstones and inscriptions. Libyan-Roman commander Septimius Severus was cremated in Britain. Also, originating from what is now Algeria, Quintus Lollius Urbicus was governor of Britain from 139 to 142 CE.
But between the Roman era and the first sustained arrival of Africans, most enslaved, during the Tudor era (early 16th century), not much is known about migration to Britain from Africa. The researchers suggest opportunistic movement along trade routes — rather than mass enslavement — brought the ancestors of these two individuals northward.
Not So Dark Ages?
As Professor Duncan Sayer, lead author of the Updown study, puts it: “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 to the continent, Byzantium and sub-Saharan Africa.”
Dr. Ceiridwen Edwards, co-lead of the Dorset study, agrees: “Our joint results emphasise 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.”
In other words, the England of the so-called Dark Ages was anything but closed off. Its people — some of them — carried stories in their DNA that stretched from the North Sea to the Sahel.
The two studies appeared in the journal Antiquity:
- West African ancestry in seventh-century England: two individuals from Kent and Dorset
- Ancient genomes reveal cosmopolitan ancestry and maternal kinship patterns at post-Roman Worth Matravers, Dorset.
