The return of the Beaker folk? Rethinking migration and population change in British prehistory

Recent aDNA analyses demonstrate that the centuries surrounding arrival of Beaker Complex in Britain witnessed a massive turnover genetic make-up island's population. The data provide information both on individuals sampled and ancestral populations from which they derive. Here, authors consider archaeological implications this propose two hypotheses—Beaker Colonisation Steppe Drift—reflecting critical differences conceptualisations relationship between objects genes. These hypotheses establish key directions for future research designed to investigate underlying social processes involved raise questions wider interpretations population change detected through analysis.