Dissertation Research: Social Relations and Ethnic Interactions in Post-Roman Britain: A DNA Analysis of Human Skeletal Remains

Under the direction of Dr. Terence D'Altroy, MS. Christine Flaherty will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct DNA analyses on a series of human burials from the site of West Heslerton in North Yorkshire, England to determine the sex of the individuals and to reconstruct genetic relations among them. The late prehistoric inhabitants of Britain are included under the broad cultural designation of `Celtic.` The country was occupied by Roman political elite and troops who departed ca. 400 AD leaving a population termed `Briton` or `Romano-Britain.` In the following centuries Anglo-Saxons migrated from the European mainland into Britain and rapidly placed a strong new cultural stamp on British culture. Estimates indicate that the number of immigrants was quite small (perhaps fewer than 25,000 in comparison to a native population of ca. 4 million) and prehistorians wish to understand the interactions between the native and invading groups. MS Flaherty's research is directed towards this question. The Heslerton site consists of a cemetery and a rural village with important Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon components. The cemetery (ca. 475-625 AD) is about one hectare in size and contains about five hundred individuals of which 196 were excavated. The burials were partially arranged according to the social status or affiliation of the individuals. One row contains adult males with weapons; another juvenile burials, etc. Some of the dead were buried in coffins and about 130 of the burials contain grave goods. Thus the potential exists for detailed social reconstruction. Through a combination of grave good and DNA analysis MS Flaherty will be able to examine a number of questions which revolve around cultural interaction and the factors which govern relations between ethnic groups. The key questions include the following: how was the village settled in the 5th and 6th centuries? What were the relative proportions of native and migrant groups? How does the biological identity of individuals or groups compare to the representation of social identity in the burials? How, and in what ways, can these data be extrapolated to apply to the migration process in Britain at this time and elsewhere? This research is important because it addresses a central anthropological question. It provides an excellent example of how DNA analysis can be used in social science research and it will assist in training a promising student.