West African ancestry in seventh-century England: two individuals from Kent and Dorset

Sayer, Duncan, Gretzinger, Joscha, Hines, John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0440-6214, McCormick, Michael, Warburton, Keziah, Sebo, Erin, Dulias, Katharina, Pala, Maria, Richards, Martin, Edwards, Ceiridwen Jane and Schiffels, Stephan 2025. West African ancestry in seventh-century England: two individuals from Kent and Dorset. Antiquity 10.15184/aqy.2025.10139

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Abstract

Archaeogenetics, the study of ancient DNA, can reveal powerful insights into kinship and the movement of individuals in (pre)history. Here, the authors report on the identification of two individuals with genetic profiles consistent with recent sub-Saharan African ancestry, both of whom were buried in early-medieval cemeteries in southern Britain. Focusing primarily on a sub-adult female from Updown in Kent, the authors explore the societal and cultural contexts in which these individuals lived and died, and the widening geographic links indicated by their presence, pointing back to the Byzantine reconquest of North Africa in AD 533–534.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Type: open-access
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	0003-598X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	19 August 2025
Date of Acceptance:	27 November 2024
Last Modified:	19 Aug 2025 10:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/180546

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