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Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age.

ABSTRACT: Present-day people from England and Wales have more ancestry derived from early European farmers (EEF) than did people of the Early Bronze Age¹. To understand this, here we generated genome-wide data from 793 individuals, increasing data from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age in Britain by 12-fold, and western and central Europe by 3.5-fold. Between 1000 and 875 BC, EEF ancestry increased in southern Britain (England and Wales) but not northern Britain (Scotland) due to incorporation of migrants who arrived at this time and over previous centuries, and who were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from France. These migrants contributed about half the ancestry of people of England and Wales from the Iron Age, thereby creating a plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain. These patterns are part of a broader trend of EEF ancestry becoming more similar across central and western Europe in the Middle to the Late Bronze Age, coincident with archaeological evidence of intensified cultural exchange^2-6. There was comparatively less gene flow from continental Europe during the Iron Age, and the independent genetic trajectory in Britain is also reflected in the rise of the allele conferring lactase persistence to approximately 50% by this time compared to approximately 7% in central Europe where it rose rapidly in frequency only a millennium later. This suggests that dairy products were used in qualitatively different ways in Britain and in central Europe over this period.

SUBMITTER: Patterson N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8889665 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age.

Patterson Nick N Isakov Michael M Booth Thomas T Büster Lindsey L Fischer Claire-Elise CE Olalde Iñigo I Ringbauer Harald H Akbari Ali A Cheronet Olivia O Bleasdale Madeleine M Adamski Nicole N Altena Eveline E Bernardos Rebecca R Brace Selina S Broomandkhoshbacht Nasreen N Callan Kimberly K Candilio Francesca F Culleton Brendan B Curtis Elizabeth E Demetz Lea L Carlson Kellie Sara Duffett KSD Edwards Ceiridwen J CJ Fernandes Daniel M DM Foody M George B MGB Freilich Suzanne S Goodchild Helen H Kearns Aisling A Lawson Ann Marie AM Lazaridis Iosif I Mah Matthew M Mallick Swapan S Mandl Kirsten K Micco Adam A Michel Megan M Morante Guillermo Bravo GB Oppenheimer Jonas J Özdoğan Kadir Toykan KT Qiu Lijun L Schattke Constanze C Stewardson Kristin K Workman J Noah JN Zalzala Fatma F Zhang Zhao Z Agustí Bibiana B Allen Tim T Almássy Katalin K Amkreutz Luc L Ash Abigail A Baillif-Ducros Christèle C Barclay Alistair A Bartosiewicz László L Baxter Katherine K Bernert Zsolt Z Blažek Jan J Bodružić Mario M Boissinot Philippe P Bonsall Clive C Bradley Pippa P Brittain Marcus M Brookes Alison A Brown Fraser F Brown Lisa L Brunning Richard R Budd Chelsea C Burmaz Josip J Canet Sylvain S Carnicero-Cáceres Silvia S Čaušević-Bully Morana M Chamberlain Andrew A Chauvin Sébastien S Clough Sharon S Čondić Natalija N Coppa Alfredo A Craig Oliver O Črešnar Matija M Cummings Vicki V Czifra Szabolcs S Danielisová Alžběta A Daniels Robin R Davies Alex A de Jersey Philip P Deacon Jody J Deminger Csilla C Ditchfield Peter W PW Dizdar Marko M Dobeš Miroslav M Dobisíková Miluše M Domboróczki László L Drinkall Gail G Đukić Ana A Ernée Michal M Evans Christopher C Evans Jane J Fernández-Götz Manuel M Filipović Slavica S Fitzpatrick Andrew A Fokkens Harry H Fowler Chris C Fox Allison A Gallina Zsolt Z Gamble Michelle M González Morales Manuel R MR González-Rabanal Borja B Green Adrian A Gyenesei Katalin K Habermehl Diederick D Hajdu Tamás T Hamilton Derek D Harris James J Hayden Chris C Hendriks Joep J Hernu Bénédicte B Hey Gill G Horňák Milan M Ilon Gábor G Istvánovits Eszter E Jones Andy M AM Kavur Martina Blečić MB Kazek Kevin K Kenyon Robert A RA Khreisheh Amal A Kiss Viktória V Kleijne Jos J Knight Mark M Kootker Lisette M LM Kovács Péter F PF Kozubová Anita A Kulcsár Gabriella G Kulcsár Valéria V Le Pennec Christophe C Legge Michael M Leivers Matt M Loe Louise L López-Costas Olalla O Lord Tom T Los Dženi D Lyall James J Marín-Arroyo Ana B AB Mason Philip P Matošević Damir D Maxted Andy A McIntyre Lauren L McKinley Jacqueline J McSweeney Kathleen K Meijlink Bernard B Mende Balázs G BG Menđušić Marko M Metlička Milan M Meyer Sophie S Mihovilić Kristina K Milasinovic Lidija L Minnitt Steve S Moore Joanna J Morley Geoff G Mullan Graham G Musilová Margaréta M Neil Benjamin B Nicholls Rebecca R Novak Mario M Pala Maria M Papworth Martin M Paresys Cécile C Patten Ricky R Perkić Domagoj D Pesti Krisztina K Petit Alba A Petriščáková Katarína K Pichon Coline C Pickard Catriona C Pilling Zoltán Z Price T Douglas TD Radović Siniša S Redfern Rebecca R Resutík Branislav B Rhodes Daniel T DT Richards Martin B MB Roberts Amy A Roefstra Jean J Sankot Pavel P Šefčáková Alena A Sheridan Alison A Skae Sabine S Šmolíková Miroslava M Somogyi Krisztina K Somogyvári Ágnes Á Stephens Mark M Szabó Géza G Szécsényi-Nagy Anna A Szeniczey Tamás T Tabor Jonathan J Tankó Károly K Maria Clenis Tavarez CT Terry Rachel R Teržan Biba B Teschler-Nicola Maria M Torres-Martínez Jesús F JF Trapp Julien J Turle Ross R Ujvári Ferenc F van der Heiden Menno M Veleminsky Petr P Veselka Barbara B Vytlačil Zdeněk Z Waddington Clive C Ware Paula P Wilkinson Paul P Wilson Linda L Wiseman Rob R Young Eilidh E Zaninović Joško J Žitňan Andrej A Lalueza-Fox Carles C de Knijff Peter P Barnes Ian I Halkon Peter P Thomas Mark G MG Kennett Douglas J DJ Cunliffe Barry B Lillie Malcolm M Rohland Nadin N Pinhasi Ron R Armit Ian I Reich David D

Nature 20211222 7894

Present-day people from England and Wales have more ancestry derived from early European farmers (EEF) than did people of the Early Bronze Age<sup>1</sup>. To understand this, here we generated genome-wide data from 793 individuals, increasing data from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age in Britain by 12-fold, and western and central Europe by 3.5-fold. Between 1000 and 875 BC, EEF ancestry increased in southern Britain (England and Wales) but not northern Britain (Scotland) due to i ...[more]

PMID: 34937049

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Project description:In archaeological research, changes in material culture and the evolution of styles are taken as major indicators for socio-cultural transformation. They form the basis for typo-chronological classification and the establishment of phases and periods. Central European Bronze Age material culture from burials reveals changes during the Bronze Age and represents a perfect case study for analyzing phenomena of cultural change and the adoption of innovation in the societies of prehistoric Europe. Our study focuses on the large-scale change in material culture which took place in the second millennium BC and the emergence at the same period of new burial rites: the shift from inhumation burials in flat graves to complex mounds and simple cremation burials. Paul Reinecke was the first to divide the European Bronze Age (EBA) into two phases, Bz A1 and A2. The shift from the first to the second phase has so far been ascribed to technical advances. Our study adopted an innovative approach to quantifying this phenomenon. Through regressive reciprocal averaging and Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon-dated grave contexts located in Switzerland and southern Germany, we modelled chronological changes in the material culture and changes in burial rites in these regions in a probabilistic way. We used kernel density models to summarize radiocarbon dates, with the aim of visualizing cultural changes in the third and second millennium BC. In 2015, Stockhammer et al. cast doubt on the chronological sequence of the Reinecke phases of the EBA on the basis of newly collected radiocarbon dates from southern Germany. Our intervention is a direct response to the results of that study. We fully agree with Stockhammer's et al. dating of the start of EBA, but propose a markedly different dating of the EBA/MBA transition. Our modelling of radiocarbon data demonstrates a statistically significant typological sequence of phases Bz A1, Bz A2 and Bz B and disproves their postulated chronological overlap. The linking of the archaeological relative-chronological system with absolute dates is of major importance to understanding the temporal dimension of the EBA phases.

Dataset Information

Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age.

Publications

Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age.

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