Archaeologists have uncovered the origins of the Bell Beaker people who migrated to Britain and replaced all of the Neolithic Stonehenge builders within a century.
DNA studies have previously revealed that around 2400BC, Britain experienced a huge demographic change following the migration of people linked to the Bell Beaker culture into Britain.
These migrants, named after the very distinctive type of pottery they made, spread rapidly across Europe during this time, but where exactly they came from and how their population formed remained unknown – until now.
In a new study, researchers analysed DNA from 112 ancient individuals who lived in the Netherlands, Belgium, and western Germany between 8500BC and 1700BC to reveal the origins of the Bell Beaker population.
Scientists found that a distinctive population with a high hunter-gatherer ancestry, who lived in the Rhine-Meuse wetland region, mixed with people linked to the Bell Beaker culture.
This happened around 2500BC, and the resulting populations later spread into northwest Europe, according to the new research published in the journal Nature.
Previous research hinted that the Bell Beakers came from a single place, mostly from Iberia, including modern-day Spain and Portugal, and spread everywhere from there.
However, the latest DNA analysis reveals that the Bell Beaker population formed from the mixing of local hunter-gatherer descendants with newcomers in Europe, linked to steppe-related ancestry.
They formed from multiple ancestral groups mixing together, mainly in a region called the lower Rhine–Meuse region, consisting of modern Netherlands, Belgium, and Western Germany.
Then, Steppe migrants also joined the mix around 3000BC, researchers say.
When these Bell Beaker-associated groups arrived in Britain, they almost completely replaced the region’s existing Neolithic farmers who built Stonehenge – a dramatic shift in archaeological timescales.
“Their subsequent expansion then had a disruptive impact across a much wider part of northwestern Europe, especially in Great Britain, where they were the main source of a 90–100 per cent replacement of local Neolithic ancestry,” scientists wrote in the study.
Scientists suspect this replacement was likely triggered by a disease like the plague, to which people on the European continent may have had immunity, but those in Britain may not.
However, as the Bell Beaker population spread, they began using existing monuments like Stonehenge and Avebury, even though the people who built them left.
The Bell Beakers also brought with them metalworking, archery, and distinctive pottery to Britain.
"Ancient DNA studies often bring to light unexpected pages of our past...It's a testament to the power of ancient DNA studies that findings like these can still surprise us,” said Maria Pala, an author of the study from the University of Huddersfield.
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