A local museum is collaborating with the Francis Crick Institute, which carries out research into health and disease, to help establish the whole-genome history and evolution in ancient people from Great Britain, to aid medical research.

The nationwide project will include the analysis of ancient DNA from the skeletal remains of people who lived thousands of years ago in and around Tarrant Hinton.

Remains of these individuals were found during excavations conducted by Wimborne Archaeological Group between 1968 and 1984. The area was occupied from the Bronze Age (2500 – 800 BC) through the Iron Age (800 BC – AD 43) into Romano-British times, up to AD 388.

Tiny samples have been taken from 17 burials for aDNA analysis which could take up to 12 months to complete.

The project, funded by the Wellcome Foundation, has a number of possible outcomes. Previous research involving the museum’s Iron Age skeleton and the earliest known case of tuberculosis in Britain showed where he may have lived, as strains of TB differ depending on geography. It is hoped that more can be found out about this particular strain.

Ancient human remains are excavated and deposited with museums if they have been unearthed by past excavations, development or environmental processes, and where reburial is not a practical or possible option. The care and analysis of human remains is subject to professional and ethical guidelines, and excavation takes place under licence from the Ministry of Justice.

Chezzie Hollow, museum director, said that the museum will await the results with great interest and share any significant findings with the public.

Head of the Francis Crick Institute’s Ancient Genomics Laboratory, Pontus Skoglund, said: “As part of this project, the unique heritage collections of the Museum of East Dorset will not only shed new light on archaeological questions, but also aid our understanding of genetic health and disease through our larger integration with the medical resources of the UK biobank.”