Archaeologists analyzed the remains of the human body from a well in Norwich, England. Article about it published In Current Biology.
Jews are believed to have settled in England in 1066 with the Normans and William the Conqueror. The new king believed that his skills in trade and trade would benefit the country. However, many Jews lived separately and retained the traditional religion, causing hostility among some residents of the kingdom. A case of “blood libel” was recorded when the mutilated body of a Christian boy was found in Norwich in 1144. The locals decided that the Jews killed him for ritual purposes, but the authorities stopped any retaliatory attempts. Over the next century, several Jewish pogroms took place in England with many victims, including the coronation of Richard the Lionheart.
Ian Barnes of the Natural History Museum examined the remains of 17 individuals discovered in a well in Norwich in 2004. When the soil layers were examined, it was found that they were buried at the same time. Because the remains of many children were found at the funeral, scientists thought they were either victims of an epidemic or massacre. The authors of the study took three new radiocarbon dates, which made it possible to conclude that people died around 1161-1216. They selected the remains of six individuals for genetic analysis. One teenage girl and two girls, aged 5-10 and 10-15 years, turned out to be sisters belonging to mitochondrial haplotype H5c2. The two people turned out to be more distant relatives. Researchers have found evidence of inbreeding and genetic diseases in the genomes of several individuals. Three individuals were able to determine the phenotypes. That is, two people had brown eyes, but one had dark hair and the second had blond hair. At the same time, a boy no older than three years old had blue eyes and red hair.
Based on these genetic data, the scientists concluded that those killed were Ashkenazi Jews. Comparing this to the documented Jewish pogrom of February 6, 1190, the authors conclude that their victims were most likely buried in the well.
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