Find the Oldest Human DNA in the UK to Reveal Origins of Early Britons
Research into ancient remains discovered in England and Wales has revealed that they contain the most recent human DNA. Scientists believe that Britain was occupied at the end of an ice age by two distinct groups.
Mateja Hajdinjak is a geneticist at the Francis Crick Institute who specializes in ancient DNA. The research was published today by Nature Ecology & Evolution.
The DNA was analyzed from two remains, which were found in caves in England or Wales. The English remains are approximately 15,000 years old, while the Welsh ones date back to around 13,500 years. Gough’s Cave in Somerset contained the older remains, while Kendrick’s Cave in Wales held the more recent remains.
These people lived in Britain when a submerged land bridge named Doggerland linked it to continental Europe. The sea level rose as the climate warmed and the glaciers thawed, thereby separating the island.
These remains date back to the Pleistocene, an epoch that was characterized by Neanderthals as well as wooly mammoths. It ended with the end of the most recent Ice Age about 12,000 years ago.
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