What Was the DNA of the Stonehenge Builders
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What Was the DNA of the Stonehenge Builders?
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:12 Stonehenge
1:17 Stonehenge DNA
6:39 How Similar to Modern English People?
Who were the people that built Stonehenge? What do we know about the DNA of these ancient builders, and how closely related are they to modern English people? Now the first point to note is that Stonehenge itself was built in stages of course, and this actually mirrors the genetic transformation in ancient Britain in some way. As the people who started creating this iconic monument, had different DNA from those who laid the final stone.
Now the earliest phase of Stonehenge begins around 3000 BC, when a circular ditch and bank were dug and the Aubrey Holes were created, many of which held cremated human remains. Following a transitional phase of timber structures (known as Phase 2), the monument reached its iconic form during Phase 3 (between around c. 2600–1600 BC), with the arrival of the massive Sarsen stones. Final modifications involved rearranging the bluestones and digging the Y and Z holes. And I should note that there are some strange connections with Stonehenge and other parts of Britain, such as links with Orkney, although this is a topic of debate and maybe of a future video.
Sources:
Brace, S., Diekmann, Y., Booth, T.J. et al. Ancient genomes indicate population replacement in Early Neolithic Britain. Nat Ecol Evol 3, 765–771 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-08...
Ancient Genomes Indicate Population Replacement in Early Neolithic Britain - PMC
Stonehenge: DNA reveals origin of builders - BBC News
Patterson, N., Isakov, M., Booth, T. et al. Large-scale migration into Britain during the Middle to Late Bronze Age. Nature 601, 588–594 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04...
The Beaker people: a new population for ancient Britain | Natural History Museum
A Scottish provenance for the Altar Stone of Stonehenge | Nature
Study finds Stonehenge Altar Stone not from Orkney - BBC News
Amesbury Archer - Wikipedia
Family ties: deciphering the DNA of the Amesbury Archer and the Companion – The Past
Olalde, I., Brace, S., Allentoft, M. et al. The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe. Nature 555, 190–196 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25738
FamilyTreeDNA Discover - Y-DNA Haplogroup R-L151
Cassidy, L.M., Maoldúin, R.Ó., Kador, T. et al. A dynastic elite in monumental Neolithic society. Nature 582, 384–388 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-23...
Ancient burials near Stonehenge reveal how cultures merged in the Bronze Age | Natural History Museum
FamilyTreeDNA Discover - Y-DNA Haplogroup R-M269
Ancient Britons built Stonehenge – then vanished. Is science closing in on their killers? | Jonathan Kennedy | The Guardian
Stonehenge was built by descendants of Neolithic migrants, DNA study shows
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