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

Patterson, N. et al. (2022) Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Nature, 601(7894), pp. 588-594. (doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04287-4) (PMID:34937049)

Abstract

Present-day people from England and Wales harbour more ancestry derived from Early European Farmers (EEF) than people of the Early Bronze Age1. To understand this, we generated genome-wide data from 793 individuals, increasing data from the Middle to Late Bronze 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 Iron Age people of England and Wales, 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 Late Bronze Age, coincident with archaeological evidence of intensified cultural exchange2–6. There was comparatively less gene flow from continental Europe during the Iron Age, and Britain’s independent genetic trajectory is also reflected in the rise of the allele conferring lactase persistence to ~50% by this time compared to ~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.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hamilton, Professor Derek
• Authors: Patterson, N., Isakov, M., Booth, T., Büster, L., Fischer, C.-E., Olalde, I., Ringbauer, H., Akbari, A., Cheronet, O., Bleasdale, M., Adamski, N., Altena, E., Bernardos, R., Brace, S., Broomandkhoshbacht, N., Callan, K., Candilio, F., Culleton, B., Curtis, E., Demetz, L., Carlson, K. S. D., Fernandes, D. M., Foody, M. G. B., Freilich, S., Goodchild, H., Kearns, A., Lawson, A. M., Lazaridis, I., Mah, M., Mallick, S., Mandl, K., Micco, A., Michel, M., Morante, G. B., Oppenheimer, J., Özdoğan, K. T., Qiu, L., Schattke, C., Stewardson, K., Workman, J. N., Zalzala, F., Zhang, Z., Agustí, B., Allen, T., Almássy, K., Amkreutz, L., Ash, A., Baillif-Ducros, C., Barclay, A., Bartosiewicz, L., Baxter, K., Bernert, Z., Blažek, J., Bodružić, M., Boissinot, P., Bonsall, C., Bradley, P., Brittain, M., Brookes, A., Brown, F., Brown, L., Brunning, R., Budd, C., Burmaz, J., Canet, S., Carnicero-Cáceres, S., Čaušević-Bully, M., Chamberlain, A., Chauvin, S., Clough, S., Čondić, N., Coppa, A., Craig, O., Črešnar, M., Cummings, V., Czifra, S., Danielisová, A., Daniels, R., Davies, A., de Jersey, P., Deacon, J., Deminger, C., Ditchfield, P. W., Dizdar, M., Dobeš, M., Dobisíková, M., Domboróczki, L., Drinkall, G., Đukić, A., Edwards, C. J., Ernée, M., Evans, C., Evans, J., Fernández-Götz, M., Filipović, S., Fitzpatrick, A., Fokkens, H., Fowler, C., Fox, A., Gallina, Z., Gamble, M., González Morales, M. R., González-Rabanal, B., Green, A., Gyenesei, K., Habermehl, D., Hajdu, T., Hamilton, D., Harris, J., Hayden, C., Hendriks, J., Hernu, B., Hey, G., Horňák, M., Ilon, G., Istvánovits, E., Jones, A. M., Kavur, M. B., Kazek, K., Kenyon, R. A., Khreisheh, A., Kiss, V., Kleijne, J., Knight, M., Kootker, L. M., Kovács, P. F., Kozubová, A., Kulcsár, G., Kulcsár, V., Le Pennec, C., Legge, M., Leivers, M., Loe, L., López-Costas, O., Lord, T., Los, D., Lyall, J., Marín-Arroyo, A. B., Mason, P., Matošević, D., Maxted, A., McIntyre, L., McKinley, J., McSweeney, K., Meijlink, B., Mende, B. G., Menđušić, M., Metlička, M., Meyer, S., Mihovilić, K., Milasinovic, L., Minnitt, S., Moore, J., Morley, G., Mullan, G., Musilová, M., Neil, B., Nicholls, R., Novak, M., Pala, M., Papworth, M., Paresys, C., Patten, R., Perkić, D., Pesti, K., Petit, A., Petriščáková, K., Pichon, C., Pickard, C., Pilling, Z., Price, T. D., Radović, S., Redfern, R., Resutík, B., Rhodes, D. T., Richards, M. B., Roberts, A., Roefstra, J., Sankot, P., Šefčáková, A., Sheridan, A., Skae, S., Šmolíková, M., Somogyi, K., Somogyvári, Á., Stephens, M., Szabó, G., Szécsényi-Nagy, A., Szeniczey, T., Tabor, J., Tankó, K., Maria, C. T., Terry, R., Teržan, B., Teschler-Nicola, M., Torres-Martínez, J. F., Trapp, J., Turle, R., Ujvári, F., van der Heiden, M., Veleminsky, P., Veselka, B., Vytlačil, Z., Waddington, C., Ware, P., Wilkinson, P., Wilson, L., Wiseman, R., Young, E., Zaninović, J., Žitňan, A., Lalueza-Fox, C., de Knijff, P., Barnes, I., Halkon, P., Thomas, M. G., Kennett, D. J., Cunliffe, B., Lillie, M., Rohland, N., Pinhasi, R., Armit, I., and Reich, D.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre
• Journal Name: Nature
• Publisher: Nature Research
• ISSN: 0028-0836
• ISSN (Online): 1476-4687
• Published Online: 22 December 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Nature 601(7894): 588-594
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy