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Teeth unravel Anglo-Saxon legacy
The Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain was a more complex process than history books would have us believe. [the Beeb]

New scientific research adds to growing evidence that the Anglo-Saxons did not replace the native population in England as history books suggest.

The data indicates at least some areas of eastern England absorbed very few Anglo-Saxon invaders, contrary to the view in many historical accounts.

Chemical analysis of human teeth from a Medieval cemetery in Yorkshire found few individuals of continental origin.

Details of the work are described in the scholarly journal Antiquity.

"There are practices that are being adopted from continental Europe. To what extent is that a movement of people (into Britain)? Probably not that much" says Dr Paul Budd, University of Durham

Researchers from the University of Durham and the British Geological Survey looked at different types of the elements strontium and oxygen in the teeth of 24 skeletons from an early Anglo-Saxon cemetery at West Heslerton, North Yorkshire that spans the fifth to the seventh centuries AD.

These types, or isotopes, of oxygen in local drinking water vary across Europe and locally within the British Isles.

The differences are influenced by latitude, altitude, distance from the sea and, to a lesser extent, mean annual temperature.
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