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1,700 year old African skeleton sparks DNA research

Warwickshire’s earliest known African resident, believed to have been living in Stratford-upon-Avon, has sparked research into the impact this could have had on British and European DNA.

Earlier this year Warwickshire County Council’s Archaeology Warwickshire team revealed that an African skeleton had been found in a Roman cemetery in Stratford-upon-Avon.

As a result of the subsequent press coverage Dr Hannes Schroeder read the story and immediately contacted Malin Holst, the osteoarchaeologist who first identified the skeleton, hoping for further details.

Dr Schroeder is a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and is currently working on a project trying to identify the origins of enslaved Africans using ancient DNA and isotopes and thinks it possible that DNA from the Stratford skeleton might prove useful to his research.

Archaeology Warwickshire’s Business Manager Stuart Palmer, who is studying the skeleton, said: “This is a very exciting and unexpected outcome. DNA analysis of the Roman skeleton could provide invaluable data concerning the DNA history of later populations and the ethnic origin of modern Britons.

“Dr Schroeder has offered to provide the analysis for free and the work will also include isotope analysis. Oxygen strontium, lead, carbon and nitrogen have isotopic signatures which can survive in ancient teeth or bones and can provide clues as to where individuals originated, or give information on their diet’.”
The 1,700 year old skeleton was discovered buried in Stratford-upon-Avon and revealed that people of African descent had been living in Warwickshire for far longer than thought.

One theory is that the man was a former Roman soldier who chose to retire in Stratford about 1,700 years ago.

Malin Holst of York Osteoarchaeology Ltd identified elements of the mature African male skeleton in bones unearthed from a Roman period cemetery in Stratford-upon-Avon. 

Stuart Palmer added: “African skeletons have previously been found in large Romano-British towns like York and African units are known to have formed part of the Hadrian’s Wall garrison, but we had no reason to expect any in Warwickshire and certainly not in a community as small as Roman Stratford.” 

Stuart went on to describe the find: “The skeletal remains revealed that the man was used to carrying heavy loads. Curved dental wear in the upper jaw was probably related to a task he regularly performed with his teeth. An injury to his shoulder must have been all the worse for his arthritis which was also evident in his hips and lower back. Before he died he suffered from a severe inflammation of the right shin and a painful infection from a dental abscess made his last moments a misery. His teeth showed that his childhood was plagued by disease or malnutrition, but there was no evidence for the cause of death.”