Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:A study of ancient human DNA from a wetland region in Belgium, western Germany, and the Netherlands yielded surprising information about early British history. Hunter-gatherer genes were prevalent in the wetlands for much longer than in most European regions. Genetic evidence shows that while most of Neolithic Europe transitioned from hunting-gathering to farming during the Bronze Age, one region held out longer than the others. of the Bell Beaker culture—which emerged in western Europe in the early Bronze Age and whose name refers to its distinctively bell-shaped pottery—that really introduced farmer ancestry from the steppes into the wetland. DNA evidence reveals that soon after the blend of Bell Beaker and hunter-gatherer genes was established in northwestern Europe, it spread into Britain and quickly became predominant there.