Beachy Head Woman

Near Beachy Head in Eastbourne, England, the skeleton of a young woman was discovered in the late 19th Century. Recent analysis of her remains revealed that she was of African origin, lived in Roman times and grew up in Eastbourne. Unlike other similar discoveries in the UK, Beachy Head Woman’s origins lie beyond the borders of the Roman Empire, which stretched from Britain to the north of Africa. As a sub-Saharan African, she was one of the first black Britons.
This photo was taken during the making of the BBC series Black and British: A Forgotten History. It vividly demonstrates the long relationship between the British Isles and people whose origins are in Africa.