At Harvard Panel, Scholars Say Ancient DNA May ‘Challenge Assumptions’ of Ethnic Homogeneity in Medieval England

A German archaeologist discussed his team’s research on two cadavers buried in early medieval England — both of whom had recent West African ancestry and appeared to be socially integrated with their communities — at a Harvard panel on Thursday.

At the panel, which was co-hosted by Harvard’s Committee on Medieval Studies and the Initiative for the Science of the Human Past, a group of Harvard faculty agreed with the researchers that the findings showed new evidence of social ties across cosmopolitan ancestry in early medieval England.

Joscha Gretzinger, a German researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, was invited to present his research on ancient DNA at the event. His team discovered West African ancestry in people buried in southern England, which he said was unexpected given the time period and region, in which previous research had shown North African ancestry to be more common.

Gretzinger focused primarily on a female child cadaver from a seventh century burial site in present-day Kent and a male cadaver from present-day Dorset, both with West African ancestry. The girl was buried with an iron spoon, antlered comb, a finely decorated pot, and a finger knife — items that were indicative of a traditional burial.

The possessions suggested she was “socially integrated” into English society despite having African ancestry. Harvard sociology professor Orlando Patterson, who studies racism and slavery in the Caribbean, said after Gretzinger’s presentation that the finding “indicates the modernity of racism.”

“It suggests that cultural and social integration often transcend physical appearance,” Patterson said.

The DNA analysis that Gretzinger’s team conducted suggested that one of the girl’s ancestors married a non-African and integrated into the English community in Kent.

While many believed that medieval societies were racially homogeneous, research in the field has indicated that they were actually much more diverse.

“This work provides really compelling interdisciplinary elements — genetics, brain analysis, history — to really challenge assumptions, both the ethnic and cultural homogeneity of early medieval England,” Gretzinger said.

Emmanuel K. Akyeampong, a Harvard history professor who was also asked to speak at the panel, said the burial sites where the cadavers were found were also often used by royalty, suggesting the individuals were not slaves.

Akyeampong concurred with Gretzinger and his team that the migration of West Africans could have happened during the Byzantine reconquest of Northern Africa in the sixth century. Michael McCormick, a Harvard history professor who moderated the panel, said that the individuals could have come to Europe as sailors. An individual buried alongside the male cadaver, who the researchers believed likely died around the same time, was found with a stone anchor.

The Bubonic Plague — which was prevalent in the Mediterranean in the sixth century — traveled primarily through rats on ships, and could have prompted a sudden influx of sailors on Byzantine ships at the time, McCormick said.

McCormick said that research on the migration of people in the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages is ongoing and could provide a clearer view of historic populations.