Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age.
Nick PattersonMichael IsakovThomas BoothLindsey BüsterClaire-Elise FischerIñigo OlaldeHarald RingbauerAli AkbariOlivia CheronetMadeleine BleasdaleNicole AdamskiEveline AltenaRebecca BernardosSelina BraceNasreen BroomandkhoshbachtKimberly CallanFrancesca CandilioBrendan CulletonElizabeth CurtisLea DemetzKellie Sara Duffett CarlsonCeiridwen J EdwardsDaniel Magalhaes FernandesM George B FoodySuzanne FreilichHelen GoodchildAisling KearnsAnn Marie LawsonIosif LazaridisMatthew MahSwapan MallickKirsten MandlAdam MiccoMegan MichelGuillermo Bravo MoranteJonas OppenheimerKadir Toykan ÖzdoğanLijun QiuConstanze SchattkeKristin StewardsonJ Noah WorkmanFatma ZalzalaZhao ZhangBibiana AgustíTim AllenKatalin AlmássyLuc W S W AmkreutzAbigail AshChristèle Baillif-DucrosAlistair BarclayLászló BartosiewiczKatherine BaxterZsolt BernertJan BlažekMario BodružićPhilippe BoissinotClive BonsallPippa BradleyMarcus BrittainAlison BrookesFraser BrownLisa BrownRichard BrunningChelsea BuddJosip BurmazSylvain CanetSilvia Carnicero-CáceresMorana Čaušević-BullyAndrew T ChamberlainSébastien ChauvinSharon CloughNatalija ČondićAlfredo CoppaOliver E CraigMatija ČrešnarVicki CummingsSzabolcs CzifraAlžběta DanielisováRobin DanielsAlex DaviesPhilip de JerseyJody DeaconCsilla DemingerPeter W DitchfieldMarko DizdarMiroslav DobešMiluše DobisíkováLászló DomboróczkiGail DrinkallAna ĐukićMichal ErnéeChristopher EvansJane EvansManuel Fernández-GötzSlavica FilipovićAndrew FitzpatrickHarry FokkensChris FowlerAllison FoxZsolt GallinaMichelle GambleManuel R González MoralesBorja González-RabanalAdrian GreenKatalin GyeneseiDiederick HabermehlTamás HajduDerek HamiltonJames HarrisChris HaydenJoep HendriksBénédicte HernuGill HeyMilan HorňákGábor IlonEszter IstvánovitsAndy M JonesMartina Blečić KavurKevin KazekRobert A KenyonAmal KhreishehViktória KissJos KleijneMark KnightLisette M KootkerPéter F KovácsAnita KozubováGabriella KulcsárValéria KulcsárChristophe Le PennecMichael LeggeMatt LeiversLouise LoeOlalla López-CostasTom LordDženi LosJames LyallAna B Marín-ArroyoPhilip MasonDamir MatoševićAndy MaxtedLauren McIntyreJacqueline McKinleyKathleen McSweeneyBernard MeijlinkBalázs G MendeMarko MenđušićMilan MetličkaSophie MeyerKristina MihovilićLidija MilasinovicSteve MinnittJoanna MooreGeoff MorleyGraham MullanMargaréta MusilováBenjamin NeilRebecca NichollsMario NovakMaria PalaMartin PapworthCécile ParesysRicky PattenDomagoj PerkićKrisztina PestiAlba PetitKatarína PetriščákováColine PichonCatriona PickardZoltán PillingT Douglas PriceSiniša RadovićRebecca RedfernBranislav ResutíkDaniel T RhodesMartin B RichardsAmy RobertsJean RoefstraPavel SankotAlena ŠefčákováAlison SheridanSabine SkaeMiroslava ŠmolíkováKrisztina SomogyiÁgnes SomogyváriMark StephensGéza SzabóAnna Szécsényi-NagyTamás SzeniczeyJonathan TaborKároly TankóClenis Tavarez MariaRachel TerryBiba TeržanMaria Teschler-NicolaJesús F Torres-MartínezJulien TrappRoss TurleFerenc UjváriMenno van der HeidenPetr VelemínskýBarbara VeselkaZdeněk VytlačilClive WaddingtonPaula WarePaul WilkinsonLinda WilsonRob WisemanEilidh YoungJoško ZaninovićAndrej ŽitňanCarles Lalueza-FoxPeter de KnijffIan BarnesPeter HalkonMark G ThomasDouglas J KennettBarry CunliffeMalcolm LillieNadin RohlandRon PinhasiIan ArmitDavid ReichPublished in: Nature (2021)
Present-day people from England and Wales have more ancestry derived from early European farmers (EEF) than did people of the Early Bronze Age 1 . To understand this, here we generated genome-wide data from 793 individuals, increasing data from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age 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 people of England and Wales from the Iron Age, 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 the Late Bronze Age, coincident with archaeological evidence of intensified cultural exchange 2-6 . There was comparatively less gene flow from continental Europe during the Iron Age, and the independent genetic trajectory in Britain is also reflected in the rise of the allele conferring lactase persistence to approximately 50% by this time compared to approximately 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.