Changes in the genetic make-up of British Isles peoples in pre-history: An update.

This post provides more information on the sudden change in genetic make-up of the (prehistoric) population of the British Isles which occurred between 2450 BC and 2000 BC. The displaced population was responsible for construction of the many megalithic monuments (e.g. stone circles) of which Stonehenge is the best known.More information can be found in this post.from 2021.

In essence the stone monuments were not constructed by ancestors of current, indigenous populations but by darker, olive-skinned peoples who disappeared at about the same time as arrival of lighter skinned peoples from what is now the Ukraine and Russia.It is the lighter skinned peoples which form the ancestral core of today's populations.

Here is a summary of a report from The Times newspaper of May 31st 2023:

• Analysis of burials from around 4000 years ago has resulted in the identification of bubonic plague pathogens which indicate the people movement from the east may have been prompted by the incidence of plague.
• The plague strain brought by the incomers suggests person-to-person transmission (like Covid) as distinct from fleas and rats which which are believed to have caused the Black Death outbreaks from the 14th century onwards.

Only about 4pct of current British DNA is derived from the early, Neolithic peoples who were responsible for the heroic logistics of moving massive amounts of rock around the untamed landscape without benefit of wheels or modern materials.To illustrate their achievements an image is provided below of just one rock from the massive Avebury circle in England.