Britons - including ones who built Stonehenge - ‘were mostly black 5,000 years ago,’ study suggests

3 March 2025, 20:37 | Updated: 3 March 2025, 22:29

The Britons that built the iconic Stonehenge structure were most likely black, according to a new study.

The study, performed by scientists at the University of Ferrara in Italy has found that almost all Europeans had dark skin until about 3,000 years ago - way more recent than previously believed.

The scientists analysed data gathered from 348 ancient genomes to reach the surprising conclusion.

Experts have now said that Stonehenge, which was built around 5,000 years ago, was probably built by people with dark skin.

Read more: Mystery over Stonehenge origins deepens after 'jaw-dropping' discovery

According to the new research, the shift to lighter skin tones dominating in Europe came many centuries later than previously imagined.

In fact, it suggests that by the Iron Age - between 1,700 and 3,000 years ago - 55 per cent of Europeans still had dark skin, while 27 per cent had intermediate skin and 18 per cent had pale skin.

Before that, during the Paleolithic period which dates from between 13,000 and 35,000 years ago, around 92 per cent were believed to have dark skin, 8 per cent had intermediate skin and none had pale skin.

Read more: Pope suffers 'two episodes of acute respiratory failure', Vatican says

"The shift towards lighter pigmentations turned out to be all but linear in time and place, and slower than expected, with half of the individuals showing dark or intermediate skin colors well into the Copper and Iron ages," the study highlighted.

Scientists studied 348 sets of genes - corresponding to 348 people - using DNA gathered from the remains of their bones and teeth.

"We also observed a peak of light eye pigmentation in Mesolithic times, and an accelerated change during the spread of Neolithic farmers over Western Eurasia, although localized processes of gene flow and admixture, or lack thereof, also played a significant role," the study added.

Read more: Two men charged after Paddington Bear statue cut in half and stolen from bench

The scientists are still not sure why the shift to pale skin was so slow - though it is related to the movement of people to higher latitudes, leading to a higher vitamin D intake.

They also propose that the migration of lighter-skinned farmers from Anatolia played a part in the change to a lighter-skinned population.

“For decades it was assumed that our species rapidly acquired light skin pigmentation once we moved into Europe from Africa about 60,000 years ago,” Silvia Ghirotto, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Ferrara in Italy, told The Telegraph.

“I would say that, given that Stonehenge was built during the transition from Neolithic to Bronze Age, and given the high frequency of dark-skinned samples we inferred for that period even in northern Europe, it is likely that Britons who built Stonehenge displayed dark features.”