The skeletal remains of a person colloquially referred to as the Beachy Head Woman were rediscovered in the Eastbourne Town Hall collection in 2012 and have remained the subject of significant public interest ever since. Radiocarbon dating has established a date between 129 and 311 AD, indicating that she lived during the Roman occupation of Britain, and over more than a decade there have been several attempts to unravel her geographical origins and origins. Once thought to have originated in sub-Saharan Africa or perhaps the Mediterranean, new DNA research shows it has a strong genetic affinity to people from rural Britain during the Roman occupation and modern Britons.
Image of the woman's face from Beachy Head. Image credit: Face Lab, Liverpool John Moores University.
Little was known about the Beachy Head Woman from the time of her discovery until now.
Radiocarbon dating showed that she died between 129 and 311 AD, consistent with the Roman occupation of Britain.
Analysis of her skeletal remains suggests that she was around 18–25 years old at the time of her death and was just over 1.5 m (4.9 ft) tall.
The healed wound on her leg suggests a serious but non-fatal injury sustained at some point in her life.
Dietary analysis of the carbon and nitrogen content of her bones also showed that her diet likely included a lot of seafood.
“Using state-of-the-art DNA techniques, we were able to discover the origins of this individual,” said Dr William Marsh, a researcher at London's Natural History Museum.
“We show that her genetic ancestry is most similar to other people from the local population of Roman-era Britain.”
The Beachy Head woman was discovered in 2012 when her remains were discovered in the collections of Eastbourne Town Hall.
Details on the box she was found inside suggest that the skeleton was found at nearby Beachy Head in the 1950s, but no excavation details have yet been discovered.
The story of the Beachy Head woman became even more intriguing when initial morphometric analysis revealed that she was originally from sub-Saharan Africa. This result became the basis for an exhibition at Eastbourne Museum and attracted media attention.
Then, in 2017, unpublished DNA work showed that it most likely came from the Mediterranean rather than Africa, possibly Cyprus.
However, this discovery was based on limited DNA evidence, insufficient to draw reliable conclusions, leaving many questions about the Beachy Head woman unanswered.
“Our scientific knowledge and understanding is constantly evolving and it is our job as scientists to continue to seek answers,” said Dr Selina Brace, also from London's Natural History Museum.
“Thanks to advances in technology over the past decade since the Beachy Head woman first came to light, we are pleased to report this comprehensive new data and tell more about this woman and her life.”
teams paper was published this month in the magazine Journal of Archaeological Science.
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Andy Walton etc.. Beachy Head Woman: Unraveling her origins using a multi-proxy anthropological and biomolecular approach. Journal of Archaeological Sciencepublished online December 17, 2025; doi: 10.1016/j.jas.2025.106445
