Ancient DNA Shows Origins of Bell Beaker People Who Replaced Stonehenge Builders

Analysis of ancient DNA has identified the origins of a group associated with the Bell Beaker culture that arrived in Britain around 2400 BC and largely replaced the Neolithic population that built Stonehenge within a century or less. The Bell Beaker culture emerged in western Europe during the early Bronze Age and is known for distinctive pottery shapes.

While the culture as a whole likely originated in Portugal or Spain, the specific population that moved into Britain came from the river deltas of north-western Europe, according to a study reported by New Scientist. Researchers examined the genomes of 112 people who lived between 8500 and 1700 BC in what is now the Netherlands, Belgium and western Germany.

The DNA showed that a hunter-gatherer population in the Rhine-Meuse delta wetlands maintained much of its genetic ancestry and lifestyle for thousands of years after Neolithic farmers from Anatolia spread across Europe starting around 6500 BC. The wetland environment of rivers, marshes, dunes and peat bogs proved difficult for early farming but supported a mixed subsistence based on fish, waterfowl, game and plants.

The study found that farmer genetic influence remained limited in this region for several thousand years. Y chromosomes in the wetland population stayed predominantly hunter-gatherer for about 1500 years after farmers arrived, while mitochondrial DNA indicated a gradual incorporation of women from farming communities.

The process appears to have been largely peaceful, though some element of force cannot be excluded. Over time the wetland groups adopted pottery, began growing some grain and raising animals while retaining core elements of their original way of life.

Around 3000 BC, groups with steppe ancestry moved into other parts of Europe and formed the Corded Ware culture, but they had limited genetic impact in the delta region.

By around 2500 BC the Bell Beaker culture had developed a genetic mix of steppe and farmer ancestry. When members of this group reached Britain around 2400 BC they carried a genetic profile that included 13 to 18 percent of the distinctive wetland hunter-gatherer and early-farmer combination.

Within roughly 100 years, at least 90 percent and possibly 100 percent of the previous Neolithic ancestry in Britain was replaced, the genetic models indicate. The rapidity of the change has been described by researchers as dramatic. The reasons for the scale and speed of replacement remain unclear.

One possibility raised in the study is the introduction of an infectious disease such as plague, to which continental populations may have had prior exposure. Cremation practices in Britain before the Bell Beaker period left little DNA for direct comparison.

Existing monuments including Stonehenge and Avebury continued to be used and in some cases expanded after the population change. The incoming group introduced metalworking to Britain and adopted some local monument styles while bringing new pottery and dress traditions.

The journal Nature published the study with DOI 10.1038/s41586-026-10111-8.