Beachy Head Woman not African but a 'local girl from Eastbourne'

Beachy Head Woman, a Roman-era skeleton once hailed as the earliest known black Briton and who scientists later speculated could be of Cypriot descent, has now been shown to have originated from southern England.

- Hannah Devlin

The mystery was finally resolved after advances in DNA sequencing produced a high-quality genetic readout from the remains. Previously, forensic anthropologists had suggested that the woman may have been of sub-Sahara African origin based on an analysis of the skull. In 2016, a plaque was erected to "commemorate the first black Briton".

Doubts emerged when an initial DNA analysis pointed to Cyprus as a more likely origin, although this result was not conclusive.

"She's had quite a journey," said Dr Selina Brace, a principal researcher at the Natural History Museum in London and the senior author of the latest research. "She was held up as a public figure. Now she's being used to show how science advances. She's just this local girl who grew up in Eastbourne."