1,300-year-old skeletons found in England had grandparents from sub-Saharan Africa, DNA studies reveal

Photograph of an excavated human grave with a skeleton in the middle; on the left, a line drawing of the grave and skeleton.

Two people who lived in England during the Early Middle Ages had recent sub-Saharan African ancestry — likely from a grandparent, a new DNA analysis reveals.

"The DNA shows that there is human, as well as material, connection and that it extends into West Africa," study co-author Duncan Sayer, a historical archaeologist at the University of Lancashire in the U.K., told Live Science in an email.