Researchers uncover roots of medieval migration to England
Migration was continuous from the Romans to the Normans, new study finds.
Two Newnham alumnae have found that early medieval migrants came to England from the Mediterranean and from the Arctic Circle and beyond.
Dr Samantha Leggett (NC 2016) and Dr Susanne Hakenbeck (NC 1999) looked at ancient human tooth enamel, in bioarchaeological research funded by the Cambridge Trust, Newnham College and the Leverhulme Trust.
The major study gives a new perspective to early medieval accounts of migration, while the ancient DNA also captures climate fluctuations.
Ancient DNA
The researchers, from the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh, undertook the first large-scale analysis of isotopic and ancient DNA data in cemeteries from early medieval England to assess movement.
They traced the roots of population movements to England during the early medieval period, from the end of Roman rule in Britain to the arrival of the Normans. Analysis of chemical signatures found in the teeth of ancient human skeletons showed that population movement was a consistent feature of England during this time.
Patterns of migration
Migration appeared to be continuous – rather than tied to one-off events – with a significant spike in the seventh and eighth centuries. Male migration appeared to be more prominent – although there was also notable female mobility particularly into the north-east of England, Kent and Wessex.
The researchers found evidence of migration into England from Wales and Ireland; as well as migration and settlement from north-west Europe and the Mediterranean.
Chemical signatures
They used bioarchaeological techniques to study more than 700 chemical signatures from the teeth of people buried in England from around AD 400 to 1100. The team compared this with ancient DNA from 316 individuals to understand movement versus ancestry.
Evidence from tooth enamel – which can show if a person consumed food or water which was chemically different from food and drink from their place of burial – also captured climate fluctuations such as the Late Antique Little Ice Age, a period of rapid cooling in the 6th and 7th centuries, and evidence of newcomers from colder regions.
“Our study shows that migration to Britain was fairly continuous throughout the first millennium. We didn’t expect to see a spike in mobility in the 7th and 8th centuries – well after the period of the so-called Anglo-Saxon migrations. This study – incidentally co-authored by two migrants – also shows that Britain was never isolated from the continent,” said Dr Susanne Hakenbeck of the University of Cambridge Department of Archaeology, who is a former Research Fellow of Newnham College.
Documented sources
The researchers looked at how the main documented sources of mobility, such as Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, aligned with the bioarchaeological findings.
The use of biomolecular data provides new evidence to answer questions about the nature and scale of early medieval migration, they say.
“The study took a ‘big data’ approach to assess the narratives around early medieval migration. We see here that migration was a consistent feature rather than just tied to one off events, with evidence of communities in continual cross-cultural contact, tied into large scale networks which may have contributed to the major socio-cultural changes we see throughout the period,” said Dr Sam Leggett, of the University of Edinburgh School of History, Classics and Archaeology .
Newnham foundation
Newnham funded the research through a PhD studentship for Dr Leggett (co-funded with the Cambridge Trust), and various other small grants and awards during her time at Newnham. The work was largely done during her PhD, with updates afterwards using new aDNA data. Dr Hakenbeck held the Jenner Fellowship at Newnham between 2006 and 2009.
Dr Leggett said, “Some of the skeletons I analysed for this work are the ones from Newnham which were excavated by Dorothy Garrod! All of whom look to be locals from our work in this study.”
During the digging of air raid shelters in 1939, skeletons were uncovered, and then excavated by Newnham students under the supervision of Dorothy Garrod, not long after her appointment as Disney Professor of Archaeology.
The research is published Open Access in Medieval Archaeology.
Image: Isotopes and ancient DNA from early medieval skeletons show large-scale migration into England, but also throughout Europe. Ancient DNA tells us about genetic relationships and long-term ancestry. While isotopes link back to where food and water came from, telling us if and when someone has migrated during their life. Image credit: Dr Sam Leggett