Woman Recognised as “First Black Briton” by BBC was Actually White
A woman who was recognised as the “first black Briton” by the BBC was actually white, a new genetic study has shown. The Telegraph has the story.
In 2016, the series Black and British: A Forgotten History suggested that the Roman skeleton of a woman found at Beachy Head was from sub-Saharan Africa.
A plaque was erected to commemorate her heritage, which was later removed when a study suggested the woman was more likely to be from Cyprus, with a Mediterranean complexion.
Now a new DNA analysis of the skeleton by scientists at the Natural History Museum has shown that the woman originated from southern England and was white, with blonde hair and light eyes.
Dr William Marsh, who carried out the genetic study, said, “By using state of the art DNA techniques we were able to resolve the origins of this individual. We show she carries genetic ancestry that is most similar to other individuals from the local population of Roman-era Britain.”
The claim about the skeleton’s African origins was made in Prof David Olusoga’s documentary series, which told the story of the “enduring relationship between Britain and people whose origins lie in Africa”.
In episode one, the Beachy Head woman was presented as “sub-Saharan African in origin”, and the programme featured a reconstruction of her features, with dark skin, hair and eyes.
In the programme, Prof Olusoga remarked that “she’s a black Briton”, while Jo Seaman, an expert archaeologist, explained that her African origins and the age of her remains were likely to have made her the “earliest black Briton”.
However, in 2017 an initial genetic study suggested she came from the Mediterranean, possibly Cyprus, rather than Africa. In light of the research, the plaque was removed in 2022.
The Roman-era skeleton is thought to have been discovered in the 1950s, although no details of an excavation have ever been found. The remains were rediscovered in a box in the collections of Eastbourne Town Hall in 2012, with a label suggesting that they had been found at Beachy Head.
Now it has been confirmed that the woman descended from the local British population of Roman-era southern England. Radiocarbon dating showed she died between 129 and 311AD, corresponding to the Roman occupation of Britain.
My prediction: as long as easy money is available for making ludicrous assertions, ludicrous assertions will be made.
Jeff Chambers
3 months ago
The real question is, of course, why so many anglophobes, anti-whitists, and repudiators of our civilisation want to believe that our country and our culture wasn’t made by our ancestors. Could it have something to do with suicidal empathy allied to the Great Replacement?
Tyrbiter
3 months ago
This one was a claim by Olusoga, spouting nonsense again. Good old BBC, turning licence payer cash into drivel.
If only they spent more time checking their output for veracity and not making stuff up they would not be about to cough up hundreds of £millions in the Trump defamation case. It will cost them as in the US each party bears their own costs regardless of the outcome.
So do I, think of all the members of big cat family or ursine, the bear family etc, these speicies have close relatives on most of the world’s continents, puma in south America lions, leopards in Africa, tigers in Asia! These continents were well separated before they even existed! So did these animals build boats and spread across the globe from Africa? Then why couldn’t humans have evolved independently of other races of humans?
There is no solid DNA evidence that the “out of Africa” premise is actually correct, DNA of that age is wildly inaccurate!
Absolutely right you are. The whole “Out of Africa” theory is Globalist Propaganda dressed up as research.
I remember reading years ago that, as an extension of “Marxist Historical Revisionism”, which is standard practice for Communists rewriting history books to suit their agenda, archaeology would soon be roped in to bolster that Anti-White Agenda, and that is exactly what has happened.
This researcher Dr. William Marsh and his team are bravely fighting back against the Globalist Liars.
Spot on. There is no such thing as a Black Briton, or Black Englishman, or Black Scot, Black Frenchman, Black German, etc.
Nationality does not equal Ethnicity.
There are Ethnic Africans, Ethnic Indian Subcontinentals, Ethnic Orientals, etc., who have been granted “Nationality” = official document = passport in countries that were built into great nations by Ethnic Europeans.
RichardTechnik
3 months ago
Well Southern England might have been 20m further NW and it might have been a degree warmer when she was around but there is a good reason why she was white and not black – sunlight. Nowhere near enough to need the pigmentation protection. Why don’t idealogues like Olusoga simply get it ?
Pete Sutton
3 months ago
WHat evidence did Prof O. produce to back up his claim that she was African? Or was it just wishful thinking?
Pete Sutton
3 months ago
Maybe she was the Piltdown Babe – her brother was found not far away.
Jack the dog
3 months ago
Well obviously she was only a complete imbecile could think otherwise.
I am always amazed by these overpaid puffed up rubbish professors who seem to spend more time on television than in universities teaching their students. Their knowledge of the Roman Empire is laughable. Yes, many people in Roman Britain were of African origin, but also Spanish and South Eastern European, because they recruited from the areas to join the legions, sometimes they forced tribes to surrender men into military service. This also saw camp followers, tradesmen, wives (although most legionaries were banned from marriage), slaves and prostitutes settling in vicae outside the camp walls. We have for years heard about the wealthy African woman of York, buried with rich grave goods, which ignores the fact that she may well have been a deceased enslaved prostitute. Slaves were entitled to own possessions and built considerable wealth, with which some bought their freedom, while others chose to remain in slavery for the protection they received from the owner. Most, if not all of the Mediterranean and African ‘Romans’ will have pulled back with the legions as the Empire shrank, which is why for centuries until the early 1900s British DNA was mostly Celtic, Norman and Saxon, with very little other detected. The… Read more »
Roman Africa was a strip of country alongside the northern coastline. The natives of this country aren’t black today and weren’t black in Roman times, either.
Britons at the time of the Roman occupation were descendants of the Brythonic Celts who crossed the land bridge from continental Europe as the ice sheet retreated before “Britain” became an island.
Someone from sub-Saharan Africa or Rome or anywhere else was not a “Briton” just because they were there.
thechap
3 months ago
How would they know this person was the first black person in Britain? Who’s to say that someone elae didnt beat them.here? How would they know they were a Briton anyway, and not someone on their holidays??
The obsession with race in some quarters is decidedly unhealthy.
RTSC
3 months ago
I expect those scientists at the Natural History Museum will shortly be seeking alternative employment…..
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Did they find any remains for an inflatable dingy😂
This comment did not receive the recognition it deserved!!
White and British? How terribly disappointing. Surely there must be some mistake?
No there isn’t, she was a beautiful English rose!
My prediction: as long as easy money is available for making ludicrous assertions, ludicrous assertions will be made.
The real question is, of course, why so many anglophobes, anti-whitists, and repudiators of our civilisation want to believe that our country and our culture wasn’t made by our ancestors. Could it have something to do with suicidal empathy allied to the Great Replacement?
This one was a claim by Olusoga, spouting nonsense again. Good old BBC, turning licence payer cash into drivel.
If only they spent more time checking their output for veracity and not making stuff up they would not be about to cough up hundreds of £millions in the Trump defamation case. It will cost them as in the US each party bears their own costs regardless of the outcome.
I find the whole “we all descend from Africa” narrative to be deeply illogical.
This woman looks like she descends from The Croods, going by that bust of her with brown skin.
So do I, think of all the members of big cat family or ursine, the bear family etc, these speicies have close relatives on most of the world’s continents, puma in south America lions, leopards in Africa, tigers in Asia! These continents were well separated before they even existed! So did these animals build boats and spread across the globe from Africa? Then why couldn’t humans have evolved independently of other races of humans?
There is no solid DNA evidence that the “out of Africa” premise is actually correct, DNA of that age is wildly inaccurate!
Absolutely right you are. The whole “Out of Africa” theory is Globalist Propaganda dressed up as research.
I remember reading years ago that, as an extension of “Marxist Historical Revisionism”, which is standard practice for Communists rewriting history books to suit their agenda, archaeology would soon be roped in to bolster that Anti-White Agenda, and that is exactly what has happened.
This researcher Dr. William Marsh and his team are bravely fighting back against the Globalist Liars.
So there we have it – black was white all along. Where’s BBC Verify when you need it?
Off-T.
Bozo Johnson has accepted a gig as a recruitment corporal for Kneel’s new army. He probably thinks he’s funny the slimy, treasonous Next Tuesday.
https://disq.us/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fx.com%2FBubblyIan%2Fstatus%2F2001221708104008006%3AuZ5OcNJoAwyLm1Wpgb5OP8rQEY4&cuid=7594221
The real racism lies in the belief that black Britons can’t handle the fact that these isles were originally white…
Black Briton is an oxymoron.
Spot on. There is no such thing as a Black Briton, or Black Englishman, or Black Scot, Black Frenchman, Black German, etc.
Nationality does not equal Ethnicity.
There are Ethnic Africans, Ethnic Indian Subcontinentals, Ethnic Orientals, etc., who have been granted “Nationality” = official document = passport in countries that were built into great nations by Ethnic Europeans.
Well Southern England might have been 20m further NW and it might have been a degree warmer when she was around but there is a good reason why she was white and not black – sunlight. Nowhere near enough to need the pigmentation protection. Why don’t idealogues like Olusoga simply get it ?
WHat evidence did Prof O. produce to back up his claim that she was African? Or was it just wishful thinking?
Maybe she was the Piltdown Babe – her brother was found not far away.
Well obviously she was only a complete imbecile could think otherwise.
I am always amazed by these overpaid puffed up rubbish professors who seem to spend more time on television than in universities teaching their students. Their knowledge of the Roman Empire is laughable. Yes, many people in Roman Britain were of African origin, but also Spanish and South Eastern European, because they recruited from the areas to join the legions, sometimes they forced tribes to surrender men into military service. This also saw camp followers, tradesmen, wives (although most legionaries were banned from marriage), slaves and prostitutes settling in vicae outside the camp walls. We have for years heard about the wealthy African woman of York, buried with rich grave goods, which ignores the fact that she may well have been a deceased enslaved prostitute. Slaves were entitled to own possessions and built considerable wealth, with which some bought their freedom, while others chose to remain in slavery for the protection they received from the owner. Most, if not all of the Mediterranean and African ‘Romans’ will have pulled back with the legions as the Empire shrank, which is why for centuries until the early 1900s British DNA was mostly Celtic, Norman and Saxon, with very little other detected. The… Read more »
Roman Africa was a strip of country alongside the northern coastline. The natives of this country aren’t black today and weren’t black in Roman times, either.
Britons at the time of the Roman occupation were descendants of the Brythonic Celts who crossed the land bridge from continental Europe as the ice sheet retreated before “Britain” became an island.
Someone from sub-Saharan Africa or Rome or anywhere else was not a “Briton” just because they were there.
How would they know this person was the first black person in Britain? Who’s to say that someone elae didnt beat them.here? How would they know they were a Briton anyway, and not someone on their holidays??
The obsession with race in some quarters is decidedly unhealthy.
I expect those scientists at the Natural History Museum will shortly be seeking alternative employment…..
I hope not. Well done to Dr. William Marsh and his team for telling the truth.