Archaeologists have provided important new evidence to answer the question ‘who exactly were the Anglo-Saxons?’ New findings based on studying skeletal remains clearly indicates the Anglo-Saxons were a melting pot of people from both migrant and local cultural groups and not one homogenous group from Western Europe.

New findings based on studying skeletal remains clearly indicates the Anglo-Saxons were a melting pot of people from both migrant and local cultural groups and not one homogenous group from Western Europe.

Professor Keith Dobney at the University of Sydney said the team’s results indicate that «the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of early Medieval Britain were strikingly similar to contemporary Britain — full of people of different ancestries sharing a common language and culture.»

The Anglo-Saxon (or early medieval) period in England runs from the 5th-11th centuries AD. Early Anglo-Saxon dates from around 410-660 AD — with migration occurring throughout all but the final 100 years (ie 410-560AD).

Studying ancient skulls

Published in PLOS ONE, the collaborative study by Professor Dobney at University of Sydney and Dr Kimberly Plomp and Professor Mark Collard at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, looked at the three-dimensional shape of the base of the skull.

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