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I asked earth scientist Brian John: "What are the relative chances the 'western' population could come from Mendip vs Wales, or is it not possible to say?"
Brian's reply: The authors admit that they have no way of provenancing, other than to say that an individual lived for the last few years of life in an area with a particular strontium isotope ratio “signature.” Also some individuals seem to have been cremated in areas of dense woodland. The signature for at least some of the 10 “foreigners” looks right for western Wilts and eastern Somerset, and on that basis it’s entirely sensible to say the people came from that general area — without any need to even think about provenances further afield. By the way, the “locals” may not have been very local to Stonehenge either — they could have come from other chalk downlands in eastern England. I think Mike Pitts points this out.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road