London
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An ancient woman thought to have hailed from sub-Saharan Africa and therefore to have been the first known Black Briton actually had fairer skin and was from southern England, researchers using new DNA sequencing have found.
The remains of the individual, who became known as Beachy Head Woman, were found in the collections of Eastbourne Town Hall in southern England in 2012, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
Radiocarbon dating showed that she died between 129 and 311 AD, when Britain was ruled by the Romans.
In 2013, scientists concluded that she came from sub-Saharan Africa, earning her the distinction of being the first known Black Briton, based on the measurements of different parts of her skull — a traditional method of ancestry estimation.
Then, in 2017, analysis based on low-level genetic sequencing led researchers to hypothesize that she was from the Mediterranean.
Now, further scientific advances have allowed researchers to sequence high-quality DNA from her remains, revealing that she was, in fact, born in southern England.
“By using state-of-the-art DNA techniques we were able to resolve the origins of this individual,” co-first study author William Marsh, a population geneticist at London’s Natural History Museum, said in a statement Wednesday.
“We show she carries genetic ancestry that is most similar to other individuals from the local population of Roman-era Britain,” Marsh said.
The team then combined this information with a 3D scan of her skull to generate an image of what Beachy Head Woman would have looked like, showing her with fair hair, light skin and blue eyes.
Analysis of her remains suggests that she was just under 5 feet (1.52 meters) tall, and she was 18 to 25 years old at the time of her death.
“A healed wound on her leg suggests a serious but non-fatal injury at some point in her life,” reads the statement, which adds that the levels of carbon and nitrogen in her bones indicated that she ate a lot of seafood.
“Our scientific knowledge and understanding is constantly evolving, and as scientists, it’s our job to keep pushing for answers,” senior study author Selina Brace, a principal researcher in ancient DNA at the museum, said in the statement.
“Thanks to the advancement of technology that has occurred in the past decade since Beachy Head Woman first came to light, we are excited to report these new comprehensive data and share more about this individual and her life,” she added.
Pontus Skoglund, a population geneticist who leads the Ancient Genomics laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute in London, told CNN that the new research rests on a “straightforward and robust analysis.”
Skoglund, who was not involved in the study, also agreed with Brace’s point about technological advancements.
“It seems like the cranial features were assessed in 2013, and although many of us were doing ancient genomics then, it was still quite unusual,” he told CNN on Thursday, adding that it has become more commonplace since.
Thomas Booth, a bioarchaeologist at the Francis Crick Institute who also did not take part in the research, told CNN that “this is an excellent transparent example of science self-correcting.”
“These techniques of ancient DNA analysis were not widely accessible at the time the craniometric analysis of Beachy Head Woman was done,” he said. “Those original researchers did the best they could with the techniques that were available.”
Booth also questioned the implications for the continued use of craniometric analysis more widely.
“These craniometric methods have long been controversial because of their origins in scientific attempts to establish racial hierarchies, but this work adds to the impression that they can be pretty dodgy from a purely practical sense too,” he said.
“I think cases like this might lead to a reckoning as to whether these types of methods are fit for purpose,” Booth added.