The Beachy Head Lady or Beachy Head Woman is an ancient skeleton discovered in Beachy Head, East Sussex, England. The Beachy Head Woman lived during the Roman period, around 200 to 250 AD, and due to numerous skeletal traits was thought to have originated from Sub-Saharan Africa. Beachy Head Lady was thought to be the first known person of sub-Saharan origin in Britain.
Following DNA analysis by the Crick Institute, it has now been determined that Beachy Head Woman is very likely to have been from Cyprus although the markers that initially signalled a sub-Saharan origin are still an intriguing anomaly.
As part of the Eastbourne Ancestors project, over 300 sets of human remains excavated from Anglo-Saxon cemeteries were re-examined. Heritage Officer Jo Seaman and his team found two boxes labelled "Beachy Head, something to do with 1956 or 1959". Inside they found a very well-preserved human skeleton. Initial inspection by an osteoarchaeologist reported that the remains belonged to a young female who was about five feet tall.