AD43–1500 Early & Medieval Migrations

 

Overview

The population of Britain in the first century AD had already been shaped by thousands of years of migration. Ever since the very first inhabitants came here, probably from southern Europe, there has been a continual process of settlement and trade. By the time the Romans invaded Britain in the year 43, it was already a land of many cultures and languages. The ‘Romans’ themselves – soldiers and settlers – came from all over Rome's empire. Because of all of this, in and around the first century, Britain's population included people from as far afield as North Africa, Syria, the Balkans and Scandinavia. We know this from archaeological evidence – the study of skeletal mitochondrial DNA and dental isotopes, as well as tomb inscriptions and buried objects such as jewellery and pottery ...

Migration stories: AD43–1500

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