The earliest genetic data from Paleolithic human individuals in the UK – the oldest human DNA obtained from the British Isles to date – points to the presence of two distinct groups who migrated to Britain at the end of the last Ice Age , according to new research .
Published today in Ecology and evolution of nature, the new study by researchers from the UCL Institute of Archaeology, the Natural History Museum and the Francis Crick Institute reveals for the first time that the recolonization of Britain consisted of at least two groups with origins and distinct cultures.
The study team explored DNA evidence from an individual from Gough’s Cave, Somerset, and an individual from Kendrick’s Cave, North Wales, both of whom lived more than 13,500 years ago . Very few skeletons of this age exist in Britain, with around a dozen skeletons found at six sites in total. The study, which involved radiocarbon dating and analysis as well as DNA extraction and sequencing, shows that it is possible to obtain useful genetic information from some of the oldest human skeletal materials. from the country.
The authors say these genome sequences now represent the first chapter in Britain’s genetic history, but the ancient DNA and proteins promise to take us back even further into human history.
Researchers have found that the DNA of the individual from Gough’s Cave, who died around 15,000 years ago, indicates that his ancestors were part of an initial migration to northwest Europe some time ago. about 16,000 years old. However, the Kendrick’s Cave individual is from a later period, around 13,500 years ago, with its ancestry from a western hunter-gatherer group. The ancestral origins of this group are believed to come from the Near East, migrating to Britain around 14,000 years ago.
Study co-author Dr Mateja Hajdinjak (Francis Crick Institute) said: “Finding the two ancestors so close in time in Britain, only about a millennium apart, adds to the emerging image of Paleolithic Europe, which is one of dynamic change and population.”
The authors note that these migrations occurred after the last ice age, when around two-thirds of Britain was covered in glaciers. As the climate warmed and glaciers melted, drastic ecological and environmental changes occurred and humans began to return to northern Europe.
Study co-author Dr Sophy Charlton, who undertook the study at the Natural History Museum, said: “The period we were interested in, 20 to 10,000 years ago, is part of the Paleolithic – the Early Stone Age This is an important period for the environment in Britain, as there would have been significant global warming, an increase in the amount of forest and changes in the type of animals available for hunting.”
In addition to genetics, the two groups were found to be culturally distinct, with differences in what they ate and how they buried their dead.
Study co-author Dr Rhiannon Stevens (UCL Institute of Archaeology) said: “Chemical analyzes of the bones showed that individuals from Kendrick Cave ate a lot of marine foods and freshwater, including large marine mammals.
“Humans at Gough’s Cave, however, showed no evidence of consuming marine and freshwater foods, and ate mainly terrestrial herbivores such as red deer, bovids (such as wild cattle called aurochs ) and horses.”
The researchers found that the mortuary practices of the two groups also differed. Although there were animal bones found at Kendrick’s Cave, these included wearable art, such as a decorated horse jawbone. No animal bones have been found showing evidence of being eaten by humans, and scientists say this indicates the cave was used as a burial ground by its occupants.
In contrast, animal and human bones found in Gough’s Cave showed significant human modifications, including human skulls altered into “skull cups”, which researchers believe is evidence of ritual cannibalism. . Individuals from this earlier population appear to be the same ones who created the Magdalenian stone tools, a culture also known for iconic rock art and bone artifacts.
Gough’s Cave is also the site where Britain’s famous Cheddar Man was discovered in 1903, dated to between 10,564 and 9,915 years BP. In this study, Cheddar Man was found to have a mix of ancestry, mostly (85%) Western hunter-gatherers and some (15%) of the older type from the original migration.
Co-author Dr Selina Brace (Museum of Natural History) said: “We really wanted to know more about who these early populations in Britain might have been.
“We knew from our previous work, including the Cheddar Man study, that Western hunter-gatherers were in Britain around 10,500 BCE, but we didn’t know when they first arrived. in Britain, and if that was the only population that was present.”
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