Britain's prehistoric catastrophe revealed: How 90% of the neolithic population vanished in just 300 years
Ancient Britons may have been nearly wiped out by bubonic plague brought by newcomers to the island
David Keys Archaeology Correspondent
3 days ago
Extraordinary new genetic evidence is revealing how Britain experienced a mysterious almost total change in its population in just a few centuries after the construction of Stonehenge.
It suggests that some sort of social, economic or epidemiological catastrophe unfolded.
The great 20-30 tonne stones of Stonehenge were erected by Neolithic farmers whose ancestors had lived in Britain for at least the previous 1,500 years – and new genetic research on 51 skeletons from all over Neolithic Britain has now revealed that during the whole of the Neolithic era, the country was inhabited mainly by olive-skinned, dark-haired Mediterranean-looking people.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/stonehenge-neolithic-britain-history-ancestors-plague-archaeology-beaker-people-a8222341.html
