Skeleton proves Africans lived in medieval Britain

FORENSIC experts from Scotland have unearthed a 13th-century skeleton, which may be the earliest physical evidence that Africans lived in England in medieval times.

Researchers at the University of Dundee say the bones most likely belonged to a man from modern-day Tunisia, who spent about a decade living in England before he died.

The man, who appears to have died of a spinal abscess, was identified as African by studying his skeleton and the historical record of the friary where he was buried. "It's not just the skin tone, it's a question of bone structure," said Xanthe Mallett, an expert at the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification in Dundee.

She said the size of the nasal bone or the shape of the orbits differed depending on whether skeletons were European or African.

"You can have an idea of where somebody is from by looking at their skeletal features," she said.

Researchers were able to pin the man to Tunisia using isotope analysis, a technique which looks at the mix of elements that build up in a person's teeth, bones or other tissues.