Genetic analysis finds migration starting at 2500 BCE changed the ancient Britons almost completely. 

A hard Brexit might sever long-standing British ties with Europe, but new research published in the journal Nature shows the island nation has links to the Continent that won’t be unwound with a mere stroke of the politician’s pen.

A team led by David Reich, a geneticist at the Harvard Medical School in the US, has found the genetic make-up of early Britons underwent a near complete renewal in the space of just a few hundred years following 2500 BCE. That demographic upheaval, the authors write, resulted from a wave of continental migration that ultimately contributed to the paler skin and eyes we now associate with the average Brit.

To reach their dramatic findings the researchers followed the fortunes of the humble beaker, although one rather different from the handled variety that often carries the iconic British cuppa.

Read the full article in Cosmos magazine here