Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Medieval Migration to England Tracked in Tooth Enamel Study
Archaeology Magazine ^ | January 13, 2026 | editors / unattributed

Posted on 01/15/2026 5:26:27 PM PST by SunkenCiv

According to a statement released by the University of Edinburgh, analysis of tooth enamel samples collected from the remains of people buried in England between the end of Roman rule in Britain around A.D. 400 and the arrival of the Normans around 1100 indicates that migration to the island was continuous throughout the period. Tooth enamel is laid down during childhood and carries chemical markers of the local environment. Sam Leggett of the University of Edinburgh, Susanne Hakenbeck of the University of Cambridge, and their colleagues examined more than 700 chemical signatures in the samples, and determined that people came to England from the Mediterranean, northwestern Europe, Wales, and Ireland. Most of the travelers were men, but women were found to have moved into England’s North East, Kent, and Wessex regions. The chemical signatures in the tooth enamel also showed that people traveled to England from colder regions during the sixth and seventh centuries, an era characterized by climate fluctuations known as the Late Antique Little Ice Age. There was also a spike in migration during the seventh and eighth centuries. “We didn’t expect to see a spike in mobility in the seventh and eighth centuries -- well after the period of the so-called Anglo-Saxon migrations [in the fifth century],” Hakenbeck said. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Medieval Archaeology. To read more about the turmoil caused by the Late Antique Little Ice Age, go to "The Visigoths' Imperial Ambitions."

(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: ancientnavigation; angles; anglosaxons; dentistry; england; godsgravesglyphs; jutes; middleages; saxons; strontium; teeth; unitedkingdom

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you.

Depiction of Saxons, Jutes, and Angles crossing the sea to Britain
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons

1 posted on 01/15/2026 5:26:27 PM PST by SunkenCiv
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...

2 posted on 01/15/2026 5:27:59 PM PST by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpin' -- it's not just for DNC shills anymore -- oh, wait, yeah it is.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

3 posted on 01/15/2026 5:32:10 PM PST by HYPOCRACY (Wake up, smell the cat food in your bank account. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

I can’t help but wonder what group some of my ancestors were in when migrating to England way back then.


4 posted on 01/15/2026 6:57:08 PM PST by Inyo-Mono
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Was there mobility in both directions?


5 posted on 01/15/2026 11:57:21 PM PST by Paul R. (Old Viking saying: "Never be more than 3 steps away from your weapon ... or a Uriah Heep song!" ;-))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson