• Latest
  • Trending
Stonehenge: DNA reveals origin of builders

Stonehenge: DNA reveals origin of builders

April 16, 2019
Bangladeshi-American teen activist fighting for climate action

Bangladeshi-American teen activist fighting for climate action

December 3, 2019
Decade of ‘exceptional’ heat likely to be hottest on record, experts say

Decade of ‘exceptional’ heat likely to be hottest on record, experts say

December 3, 2019
Coal creeps back in as slowing economy overshadows climate change ambitions

Coal creeps back in as slowing economy overshadows climate change ambitions

December 2, 2019
UN chief warns of ‘point of no return’ on climate change

UN chief warns of ‘point of no return’ on climate change

December 2, 2019
Climate change ‘blueprint’ for Wales launched

Climate change ‘blueprint’ for Wales launched

December 1, 2019
Pollution in Reykjavík

Pollution in Reykjavík

December 1, 2019
How cities can fight against climate change using urban forestry and trees

How cities can fight against climate change using urban forestry and trees

November 29, 2019
Global climate protests kick off in smoke-covered Sydney

Global climate protests kick off in smoke-covered Sydney

November 29, 2019
The five corrupt pillars of climate change denial

The five corrupt pillars of climate change denial

November 29, 2019
Ontario Appoints Advisory Panel on Climate Change

Ontario Appoints Advisory Panel on Climate Change

November 29, 2019
Russia’s Taymyr plan: Arctic coal for India risks pollution

Russia’s Taymyr plan: Arctic coal for India risks pollution

November 29, 2019
Climate summit host Spain struggles on environment

Climate summit host Spain struggles on environment

November 28, 2019
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Eco Daily News
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Politics
    • Politics
    • Green Policies
    • National Security
  • Economics
    • Green Economy
    • Oil & Gas, Mining
    • Finance & Banking
  • Environment
    • Water
    • Forests
    • Climate
    • Energy
    • Waste
    • Wildlife
  • Agriculture
    • Food
    • Farming
    • Palm Oil
    • GMO
  • Science
    • Research & Reports
    • Publications
  • Regions
    • Africa
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • North America
    • South America
    • Oceania
  • Lifestyle
    • Green education
    • Eco-Tourism
    • Health
    • Green Jobs
  • Home
  • Politics
    • Politics
    • Green Policies
    • National Security
  • Economics
    • Green Economy
    • Oil & Gas, Mining
    • Finance & Banking
  • Environment
    • Water
    • Forests
    • Climate
    • Energy
    • Waste
    • Wildlife
  • Agriculture
    • Food
    • Farming
    • Palm Oil
    • GMO
  • Science
    • Research & Reports
    • Publications
  • Regions
    • Africa
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • North America
    • South America
    • Oceania
  • Lifestyle
    • Green education
    • Eco-Tourism
    • Health
    • Green Jobs
No Result
View All Result
Eco Daily News
No Result
View All Result

Stonehenge: DNA reveals origin of builders

April 16, 2019
in Environment, Europe, Featured, News, Regions, Science, World
0
Home Environment
Post Views: 100

The ancestors of the people who built Stonehenge travelled west across the Mediterranean before reaching Britain, a study has shown.

Researchers in London compared DNA extracted from Neolithic human remains found in Britain with that of people alive at the same time in Europe.

The Neolithic inhabitants appear to have travelled from Anatolia (modern Turkey) to Iberia before winding their way north.

They reached Britain in about 4,000BC.

Details have been published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

The migration to Britain was just one part of a general, massive expansion of people out of Anatolia in 6,000BC that introduced farming to Europe.

Before that, Europe was populated by small, travelling groups which hunted animals and gathered wild plants and shellfish.

One group of early farmers followed the river Danube up into Central Europe, but another group travelled west across the Mediterranean.

DNA reveals that Neolithic Britons were largely descended from groups who took the Mediterranean route, either hugging the coast or hopping from island-to-island on boats.

Whitehawk Woman

When the researchers analysed the DNA of early British farmers, they found they most closely resembled Neolithic people from Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal). These Iberian farmers were descended from people who had journeyed across the Mediterranean.

From Iberia, or somewhere close, the Mediterranean farmers travelled north through France. They might have entered Britain from the west, through Wales or south-west England. Indeed, radiocarbon dates suggest that Neolithic people arrived marginally earlier in the west, but this remains a topic for future work.

In addition to farming, the Neolithic migrants to Britain appear to have introduced the tradition of building monuments using large stones known as megaliths. Stonehenge in Wiltshire was part of this tradition.

Although Britain was inhabited by groups of “western hunter-gatherers” when the farmers arrived in about 4,000BC, DNA shows that the two groups did not mix very much at all.

The British hunter-gatherers were almost completely replaced by the Neolithic farmers, apart from one group in western Scotland, where the Neolithic inhabitants had elevated local ancestry. This could have come down to the farmer groups simply having greater numbers.

“We don’t find any detectable evidence at all for the local British western hunter-gatherer ancestry in the Neolithic farmers after they arrive,” said co-author Dr Tom Booth, a specialist in ancient DNA from the Natural History Museum in London.

“That doesn’t mean they don’t mix at all, it just means that maybe their population sizes were too small to have left any kind of genetic legacy.”

Co-author Professor Mark Thomas, from UCL, said he also favoured “a numbers game explanation”.

Cheddar Man reconstruction

Professor Thomas said the Neolithic farmers had probably had to adapt their practices to different climatic conditions as they moved across Europe. But by the time they reached Britain they were already “tooled up” and well-prepared for growing crops in a north-west European climate.

The study also analysed DNA from these British hunter-gatherers. One of the skeletons analysed was that of Cheddar Man, whose skeletal remains have been dated to 7,100BC.

He was the subject of a reconstruction unveiled at the Natural History Museum last year. DNA suggests that, like most other European hunter-gatherers of the time, he had dark skin combined with blue eyes.

Genetic analysis shows that the Neolithic farmers, by contrast, were paler-skinned with brown eyes and black or dark-brown hair.

Towards the end of the Neolithic, in about 2,450BC, the descendents of the first farmers were themselves almost entirely replaced when a new population – called the Bell Beaker people – migrated from mainland Europe. So Britain saw two extreme genetic shifts in the space of a few thousand years.

Prof Thomas said that this later event happened after the Neolithic population had been in decline for some time, both in Britain and across Europe. He cautioned against simplistic explanations invoking conflict, and said the shifts ultimately came down to “economic” factors, about which lifestyles were best suited to exploit the landscape.

Dr Booth explained: “It’s difficult to see whether the two [genetic shifts] could have anything in common – they’re two very different kinds of change. There’s speculation that they’re to some extent population collapses. But the reasons suggested for those two collapses are different, so it could just be coincidence.”

Source :

BBC News

Tags: DNAenvironmentfeaturedScienceStonehengetechnology
Previous Post

Extinction Rebellion calls on protesters to block London streets

Next Post

Extinction Rebellion: Climate protesters block roads

Next Post
Extinction Rebellion: Climate protesters block roads

Extinction Rebellion: Climate protesters block roads

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Translate

Popular Post

Bangladeshi-American teen activist fighting for climate action
Asia

Bangladeshi-American teen activist fighting for climate action

December 3, 2019
0

  Rebeca Sabnam, 16, highlights risks Bangladeshi women and Rohingya face due to climate change as COP25 gets under way....

Read more
What are New Zealand’s environmental priorities over the next 20 years?

What are New Zealand’s environmental priorities over the next 20 years?

July 15, 2016
South China Sea Ruling: China Caused ‘Irreparable Harm’ to Environment

South China Sea Ruling: China Caused ‘Irreparable Harm’ to Environment

July 15, 2016
Climate change department shut down by Theresa May in ‘plain stupid’ and ‘deeply worrying’ move

Climate change department shut down by Theresa May in ‘plain stupid’ and ‘deeply worrying’ move

July 15, 2016
Animal shelter uses Pokémon Go craze to enlist volunteer dog walkers

Animal shelter uses Pokémon Go craze to enlist volunteer dog walkers

July 15, 2016
  • About Us
  • Creative Commons
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Contact Us

Topics

Follow Us

About Us

Ecodaily.eu is part of the Ecodaily Group LLC, which delivers daily news around the globe. ​

© 2011 Ecodaily.eu

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Politics
    • Politics
    • Green Policies
    • National Security
  • Economics
    • Green Economy
    • Oil & Gas, Mining
    • Finance & Banking
  • Environment
    • Water
    • Forests
    • Climate
    • Energy
    • Waste
    • Wildlife
  • Agriculture
    • Food
    • Farming
    • Palm Oil
    • GMO
  • Science
    • Research & Reports
    • Publications
  • Regions
    • Africa
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • North America
    • South America
    • Oceania
  • Lifestyle
    • Green education
    • Eco-Tourism
    • Health
    • Green Jobs

© 2011 Ecodaily.eu