Roots of medieval migration into England uncovered in new study

Migration into England was continuous from the Romans through to the Normans and men and women moved from different places and at different rates, a study finds.

Researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge found early medieval migrants came to England from the Mediterranean, Northern Scandinavia and elsewhere. This major bioarchaeological study gives a new perspective to early medieval texts and ancient DNA.

Dr Susanne Hakenbeck, of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Archaeology, said: “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 7^th and 8^th 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.”

Investigating human tooth enamel also showed climate events such as the Late Antique Little Ice Age and the Medieval Climate Anomaly.

The study by Dr Sam Leggett, Dr Susanne Hakenbeck and Dr Tamsin O'Connell is the first large scale analysis of isotopic and ancient DNA data in cemeteries from early medieval England to assess movement.

The team traced the roots of population movements to England during what is known as the early medieval period, the period spanning from the end of Roman rule in Britain, around 1600 years ago, through to the arrival of the Normans more than 900 years ago.

Analysis of chemical signatures found in the teeth of ancient skeletons show that population movement was a consistent feature of England between the 4th and the 11th centuries.

Bioarchaeological techniques were used to study more than 700 chemical signatures from the teeth of human skeletal remains of people buried in England from around AD 400 to 1100.

The team compared this with ancient DNA from 316 individuals to compare 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.

Migration appeared to be continuous – rather than tied to one off events – with a significant spike in the seventh and eighth centuries.

Interestingly, male migration appeared to be more prominent – although there was also notable female mobility particularly into the North East, Kent and Wessex.

There was evidence of migration into England from Wales and Ireland. The data also offered evidence of migration and settlement from northwest Europe and the Mediterranean.

The team 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 sourced from the study of human skeletal remains.

The use of biomolecular data provides new evidence to answer questions about the nature and scale of early medieval migration.

Dr Sam Leggett of the University of Edinburgh’s School of History, Classics and Archaeology, said: “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 that 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.”

The study was supported by the Cambridge Trust, Newnham College Cambridge and the Leverhulme Trust.