Humans were migrating to early medieval England from much further afield than scientists once thought.

Genetic analysis at a cemetery in Dorset and another in Kent has now revealed the skeletons of two individuals from the seventh century with ancestry all the way from West Africa.

Based on the DNA of the young woman and the man, their relatives migrated to southern Britain in late antiquity – a century or two after the eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire , reasserted control over North Africa.

DNA From Beethoven's Hair Reveals a Surprise Close to 200 Years Later

Both individuals show clear signs of non-European ancestry, revealing 20 to 40 percent affinity with groups in present-day West Africa.

Their intercontinental ancestors go back two to four generations,

See Full Page