Modern geneticists have shown us that the past is much closer than most of us realize. We carry the genetic coding from previous generations in our DNA and it can be traced back 200,000 to 300,000 years. Adam Rutherford went further, proclaiming everyone with European roots descends from Charlemagne (as well as his most humble followers). His point being that the number of your direct ancestors doubles every generation you count backward. By the time you count back 33 generations—about 800 to 1,000 years ago—you have more than 8 billion ancestors. By way of contrast, the population of England is believed to have only been about 2 million in 1,000 AD. At that point you had 4,000 ‘ancestors’ for every living person. This means your genealogy is populated by the same people counted over and over again through different lines of descent.  If you are of English ancestry, something of even greater antiquity like the Stonehenge artefacts currently being exhibited at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria is definitely about your heritage. 

The closest parallel to this idea that Cortes Currents heard at the exhibit, was from a Finnish lady who claims she lived at Stonehenge during a previous incarnation. She did not want to be taped.

One of the volunteer guides, Antonio, suggested,  “Obviously there are some true connections because the country is so old. We have to dig into the DNA.”

Amanda is a history major at the University of Victoria who intends to become an archaeologist: “Going to the Stonehenge stuff is super cool to me.”

Cortes Currents:  are you of British descent?

Amanda: “My mom’s from England, so yeah.”  

Cortes Currents: Do you feel a connection to the Stonehenge personally?  

Amanda: “I would love to go someday, but nothing personal. I just like the history of it.” 

Stonehenge is the foremost of the 1,300 or so Neolithic stone circles in Great Britain. 

Mike Parker Pearson, the speaker in numerous videos throughout the exhibit and author of the guidebook Stonehenge (Museums Partner, 2019), described how a colleague from Madagascar interpreted the ruins.

“Ramilisonina explained that the purpose of Stonehenge was obvious – it was built for ancestors. In Madagascar stone is used for the tombs and standing stones of the ancestors because it is permanent and eternal, just as the afterlife is eternal. In contrast, the houses of the living are traditionally built of perishable materials such as wood since life is transient.” 

Parker Pearson wrote that the lightly wooded grassland on the Salisbury Plain became a sacred place shortly after the first hunter-gatherers walked across from the continent. The last glaciers had only recently retreated and England was still connected to what is now France and the low countries  by dry land. Large wooden posts, the size of trees, were erected on the Salisbury Plain and people kept returning to hunt and feast for thousands of years. (Stonehenge, p 18) 

Cheddar man, one of England’s most famous ancient skeletons, lived in this era. He is a member of Y Chromosomal Haplogroup I2a, which descends from the first Homo Sapiens to colonize Europe. 

Dr Tom Booth,a specialist in ancient DNA from the Natural History Museum in London, explained, “Until recently it was always assumed that humans quickly adapted to have paler skin after entering Europe about 45,000 years ago. Pale skin is better at absorbing UV light and helps humans avoid vitamin D deficiency in climates with less sunlight. He is just one person, but also indicative of the population of Europe at the time. They had dark skin and most of them had pale coloured eyes, either blue or green, and dark brown hair.”

Parker Pearson wrote that there is no evidence of hunter gatherers in the Salisbury Plain for about 250 years prior to the first farmers. (Stonehenge, p 18)

England had become an island by that time and the first wave of Neolithic colonists arrived in boats about 4,000 BC. They were part of a wave of immigrants that spread out from Anatolia and through the Mediterranean. According to Selina Brace et al, Ancient genomes indicate population replacement in Early Neolithic Britain, “Unlike other European Neolithic populations, we detect no resurgence of hunter-gatherer ancestry at any time during the Neolithic in Britain.”

Dr Booth said, “Their population sizes were too small to have left any kind of genetic legacy.” 

He estimated that 10% of Britain’s modern population share their ancestry with the same people group as Cheddar Man. While some mathematicians would disagree as to the extent their genes have spread (We would all descend from these Mesolithic pioneers), they became a historical footnote.

Parker Pearson wrote that around 3,750 BC, Britain’s Neolithic settlers had a feast on a hilltop overlooking the future site of Stonehenge. They left a large pit, filled with the remnants:

“This pit, known as the Coneybury Anomaly, was filled with broken cooking pots and freshly butchered carcasses of cattle, deer and pigs that could have fed over 1,000 people. This is the earliest evidence of huge gatherings of Neolithic farmers taking place in the Stonehenge area.” 

The first Stonehenge was erected around 3,000 BC and Parker Pearson remarks upon ‘the extraordinary coincidence that this geologic landform was aligned on the solstice’s sunrise and sunset.’ (Stonehenge, p 21) 

Some of the 5 ton stones were dragged, or transported in boats, from a quarry more than 225 kilometres away in Wales. 

Over 150 people are believed to have been buried at Stonehenge during the centuries that followed. The majority of the 63 graves that have been excavated belonged to women. 

The most famous Stonehenge was erected about 2,500 BC. A village of about 4,000 people arose about 3 kilometres away. It was occupied for somewhere between 15 and 40 years. The inhabitants slaughtered great quantities of pigs, fewer cattle and then left – presumably because their work at the monument was finished. (Stonehenge, p 28)  

A new people arrived a century later. 

Parker Pearson wrote, “European immigrants brought a new way of life into Britain. These are known as the Beaker people on account of the distinctive pots they buried with their dead. The Beaker people introduced copper and gold metallurgy, ending Britain’s Stone-Age isolation from the Continent. Genetic analysis of their DNA reveals that these immigrants were descended from groups that originated in the Pontic Steppe, between the Black Sea and Caspian sea, and then moved westwards into northwest Europe where they merged with European farmers. Over the next thousand years, the Beaker people and their descendants largely replaced Britain’s population of Neolithic farmers.” (Stonehenge, p 30)   

There was also a shift  towards the burial mounds (barrows) of important families. One of the greatest concentrations was in the area around Stonehenge.

The most famous burial was most likely the Amesbury archer, who appears to have been slain in battle. He was a local man shot by four arrows, the mortal blow coming from behind. That arrow was pulled out, but the three remaining flint arrowheads were left in his body cavity. He must have had a lavish funeral. Over 100 artefacts were placed in his grave, including 5 beakers, two gold hair ornaments and three copper daggers.  

Work on the Stonehenge site continued until about 1600 BC. 

Parker Pearson wrote, “By 1500 BC the wealth and power of the Stonehenge people had diminished. Salisbury Plain was no longer the most affluent part of Britain, now replaced by the more agriculturally rich regions of Eastern England and the Thames Valley.” (Stonehenge, p 35)

 Are you of partial British descent?    

No,  my mother in law was British. But I’m  Irish

There are more than 400 ancient artifacts in the current exhibition at the Royal BC Museum, many of which have never been seen before in North America. It will close on Sunday, January 5, 2025.

Ronnie came from Lake Cowichan. 

Cortes Currents: Are you of British descent?

Ronnie: “ No, my mother in law was British, but I’m Irish. We’re here specifically for the exhibit.  It’s a bigger exhibit than what I expected which is nice. It’s very interesting that they’ve been able to bring all the pieces like the beaker pottery and piece it all together from the first Stonehenge to the second one.” 

Links of Interest

• Stonehenge: Ancient Mysteries & Modern Discoveries – Museum Partner
• Stonehenge: A Brief History – Mike Parker Pearson
• Archaeology and legend: investigating Stonehenge, Archaeology International – Mike Parker Pearson
• Folk U: The Secret Behind Tribal Societies
• Visiting Athens Part One: A Genetic Odyssey – Cortes Currents
• Visting Athens Part Two: 10 Days – Cortes Currents
• Articles about, or mentioning, Archaeology

Sound effect: Stonehenge: The sound of the creation of the universe by yasuu0802 at Freesound.org; All uncredited photos of artefacts, models, paintings and text made by Roy L Hales at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria

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