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Beachy Head Lady was young sub-Saharan Roman with good teeth, say archaeologists
Culture 24 ^ | March 28, 2014 | Ben Miller

Posted on 04/01/2014 3:24:40 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

...The facial reconstruction was done by Caroline Wilkinson from Dundee University, one of the country’s foremost reconstructors... Caroline said, ‘oh my, you realise you’ve got a sub-Saharan African here?’

Our osteo hadn’t picked that up, but Caroline subsequently had it looked at by two more experts who agreed, without being prompted, that this individual showed so many traits of being a sub-Saharan African person...

The radiocarbon dating came back with a firm Roman date – around 200 or 250 AD. That was a relief. It’s not without precedent to find Africans from this date in Britain, such as the famous African bangle lady in York.

It was very rare and unusual, nonetheless. She’s sub-Saharan African – she’s not North African, which was part of the Roman Empire, so she’s beyond the Roman Empire, to the south.

We still couldn’t really say anything, because we were waiting to get the radio-isotope analysis back. We still didn’t actually know where she came from.

It said Beachy Head on there but we could find no evidence that she was from that area at all. She could have been from a Victorian collector who just said she was from Beachy Head. She could have been an African skeleton from Africa...

But it came back as south-east England origin.

Even more intriguingly, she seems to be someone from the Eastbourne area, Roman, with very firm sub-Saharan ancestry. Whether that means that she’s first generation we don’t know. She could possibly have been born in Africa and brought over here at a very young age, but it’s just as likely that she was born here.

(Excerpt) Read more at culture24.org.uk ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: ancientautopsies; godsgravesglyphs; romanempire; unitedkingdom
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Eastbourne Museums

Eastbourne Museums

1 posted on 04/01/2014 3:24:40 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

2 posted on 04/01/2014 3:27:14 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Obama is now making Jimmy Carter look like Attila the Hun. /focus/news/3138768/posts)
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To: SunkenCiv

Bill Clinton: I’d hit it!


3 posted on 04/01/2014 3:29:04 PM PDT by reaganbooster (The democrat party symbol should be the grim reaper instead of the donkey.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Now how the heck would they know if the Head woman was beachy or not?


4 posted on 04/01/2014 3:29:24 PM PDT by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
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To: SunkenCiv

She looks like, for the first time in her adult life, she’s proud of her country.


5 posted on 04/01/2014 3:31:37 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (H.L. Mencken: "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.")
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To: SunkenCiv

Michael Jackson?


6 posted on 04/01/2014 3:39:57 PM PDT by Adder (No, Mr. Franklin, we could NOT keep it.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Grandma said I’m so dark because the Vikings captured African Princesses and brought them back to Norway to be their wives. That explains my fondness for sailing and lion hunting.


7 posted on 04/01/2014 3:41:37 PM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: SunkenCiv

What a world. Doubt she could have ever imagined that one day, in around 1,800 years, she’d have an article written about her mentioning her nice teeth.


8 posted on 04/01/2014 3:45:28 PM PDT by PaulCruz2016
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To: blueunicorn6

You could combine them, and go sealion hunting.


9 posted on 04/01/2014 3:57:04 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Obama is now making Jimmy Carter look like Attila the Hun. /focus/news/3138768/posts)
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To: SunkenCiv
Looks like a possible ancestor of Carla Thomas to me!


10 posted on 04/01/2014 4:05:19 PM PDT by Boogieman
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To: SunkenCiv

A daughter of a Slave-girl sold by Kenyans down the Nile to the Egyptian/Roman traders for the Roman Tin Masters in Britannia. Her DNA is probably half Italian.


11 posted on 04/01/2014 4:05:46 PM PDT by bunkerhill7 ("The Second Amendment has no limits on firepower"-NY State Senator Kathleen A. Marchione.")
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To: Cyber Liberty
She looks like, for the first time in her adult life, she’s proud of her country.

Wrong. That is the look of severe constipation.

12 posted on 04/01/2014 4:13:03 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: PaulCruz2016
What a world. Doubt she could have ever imagined that one day, in around 1,800 years, she’d have an article written about her mentioning her nice teeth.

At least she had teeth.

13 posted on 04/01/2014 4:14:09 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: SunkenCiv

Or, I could go hunting for sailors. No.....that would make me Cher.


14 posted on 04/01/2014 4:14:54 PM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: cloudmountain

There’s a difference? Who knew?


15 posted on 04/01/2014 4:20:59 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (H.L. Mencken: "The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.")
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To: SunkenCiv

Michael Jackson! Before all of the plastic surgery.


16 posted on 04/01/2014 4:22:12 PM PDT by dhs12345
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To: Cyber Liberty

:o)


17 posted on 04/01/2014 4:24:23 PM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: SunkenCiv

This would be about the time Septimus Severus and his sons were in Britain dealing with a massive uprising of the border tribes. Severus was fro modern day Libya and black slaves were a commonplace in the North African provinces.


18 posted on 04/01/2014 4:31:43 PM PDT by robowombat
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To: SunkenCiv
Her descendants are due reparations for her life in the in mines.
19 posted on 04/01/2014 4:33:11 PM PDT by AEMILIUS PAULUS (It is a shame that when these people give a riot)
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To: PaulCruz2016
What a world. Doubt she could have ever imagined that one day, in around 1,800 years, she’d have an article written about her mentioning her nice teeth.

I don't know about that, PaulCruz2016. I don't think she would be surprised by such an article, but I suspect she would have expected to see it in a magazine devoted to dentist and dental issues.

20 posted on 04/01/2014 4:36:14 PM PDT by Robwin
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