The ancestors of the Britons who built Stonehenge were farmers who had travelled from an area near modern Turkey, arriving around 4000BC, and who rapidly replaced local hunter-gatherer populations, according to new research.

Scientists investigating the origins of farming in Britain have said they have found overwhelming support for agriculture being introduced to Britain by a surge of continental migrants from Anatolia, bringing farming techniques, pottery and new religious cultures and beliefs.

The team examined DNA from 47 Neolithic farmer skeletons dating from 6,000 to 4,500 years ago and six Mesolithic hunter-gatherer skeletons from the preceding period, around 11,600 – 6,000 years ago.

From the DNA analysis the researchers were able to reveal that most of the hunter-gatherer population of Britain were replaced by those carrying ancestry originating on the Aegean coast of modern Turkey.

Natural History Museum postdoctoral researcher Dr Tom Booth said: “We looked at the genetic ancestry of human remains from both before and after 6,000 years ago – so some dating to the Mesolithic and some to the Neolithic – to see if we can characterise any changes.

Stonehenge: Origins of those who built world-famous monument revealed Show all 6 1 /6 Stonehenge: Origins of those who built world-famous monument revealed Stonehenge: Origins of those who built world-famous monument revealed A new scientific research collaboration is, for the first time, revealing who built Stonehenge. The cutting-edge study sheds a remarkable light on the geographical origins of the Neolithic community that first constructed the ancient site. Complex tests carried out on 25 Neolithic people who were buried at or following the time of the initial construction of the now world-famous monument, have revealed that 10 of them lived nowhere near Stonehenge, but in western Britain, and that half of those 10 potentially came from southwest Wales (where the earliest Stonehenge monoliths came from). AFP/Getty Images Stonehenge: Origins of those who built world-famous monument revealed Three of the cremated cranial fragments used in the study Up until now, it has always been assumed that it was not possible to carry out place-of-origin tests on burned bones – but recent research at Oxford University by Belgian scientist, Dr Christophe Snoeck of the Free University of Brussels, has now discovered that the act of cremation actually crystallises a bone’s structure and prevents the crucial origin-indicating isotope evidence from being contaminated by isotopic signals in the surrounding soil. Christie Willis, UCL Stonehenge: Origins of those who built world-famous monument revealed Aubrey Hole 7 during excavation in 2008 Although the geographically intermediate examples hint at there being a well-worn prehistoric land route between west Wales and Stonehenge, nobody yet knows exactly how the stones (and the cremated remains) were transported. Sea and land routes are both possible. Christie Willis, UCL Stonehenge: Origins of those who built world-famous monument revealed Aubrey Hole 7 following excavation in 2008 Geologically, previous research has shown that the stones (so-called bluestones or dolerite, used for the early phase of Stonehenge) also came from western Britain (in this case, the Preseli mountains in southwest Wales). Archaeological investigations have now pinpointed the quarries they actually came from – and when they were quarried (some time between the 34th and the 32nd century BC). Christie Willis, UCL Stonehenge: Origins of those who built world-famous monument revealed Excavations at one of the recently identified bluestone quarries, at Carn Goedog, Pembrokeshore, west Wales. The recent scientific analysis of the Stonehenge cremated bones (that appear to have been buried adjacent to the newly re-erected stones) is now helping to reveal the origins of the community, which appears to have actually built the earliest version of the monument. It is the strontium and carbon isotopic signatures in the cremated bone material that suggest a western British origin for the 10 individuals – and definitely not from the Stonehenge area. The carbon signal, absorbed into the bones from the timber used in the funerary pyre, also suggests a Western or non-local origin. Adam Stanford, Aerial-Cam Ltd Stonehenge: Origins of those who built world-famous monument revealed The ever-increasing body of evidence suggesting Stonehenge and the original Stonehenge community’s western British origins has substantial implications for our understanding of British prehistory. Christie Willis, UCL

“As soon as these Neolithic cultures start to arrive, we see a big change in the ancestry of the British population. It looks like the development of farming and these Neolithic cultures was mainly driven by the migration of people from mainland Europe.”

Professor Ian Barnes, ancient DNA expert at the Natural History Museum and co-author of the study, said: “Because continental farmer populations had mixed to some extent with local hunter-gatherers as they expanded along both the Mediterranean and Rhine-Danube corridors, as well as later, we expected to see some mixing in Britain as well.”

But this was not the case.

“Unlike other European Neolithic populations, we detect no resurgence of hunter-gatherer ancestry at any time during the Neolithic in Britain,” the authors said.

Dr Booth said despite the findings, the DNA analysis doesn’t necessarily give the full picture, particularly as numbers of hunter-gatherer individuals in Britain may have been relatively small compared to incoming European farmers.

He said: “The best explanation now is that the hunter-gatherer Mesolithic population of Britain just wasn’t very high. So the newly arrived farmers could have mixed entirely with the native population but because this was quite small, the hunter-gatherers left little genetic legacy overall.”

Professor Mark Thomas from UCL, an author of the study, added: “The transition to farming marks one of the most important technological innovations in human evolution. It first appeared in Britain around 6000 years ago. Prior to that people survived by hunting, fishing and gathering. For over 100 years archaeologists have debated if it was brought to Britain by immigrant continental farmers, or if was adopted by local hunter-gatherers.

“Our study strongly supports the view that immigrant farmers introduced agriculture into Britain and largely replaced the indigenous hunter-gatherers populations.”

The research team used DNA taken from inside the tiny ear bones of the remains of a Mesolithic man found in Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, known as Cheddar Man. The skeleton is about 9,000 years old, making it the oldest near-complete human skeleton found in Britain.

Dr Selina Brace, ancient DNA researcher at the Natural History Museum and lead author of the study said despite earlier doubts, said Cheddar Man was continuing to provide exciting scientific information.

She said: “After extracting DNA from Cheddar Man’s inner ear bone, we were delighted at the preservation of his DNA. It’s likely that the cool dry burial conditions in Gough’s Cave were a key factor in keeping his DNA preserved.”

Stonehenge was built around 3000BC, meaning the genetic identity of the Britons responsible was mostly descended from the influx of Mediterranean farmers who began arriving 6,000 years ago.