A man from the Alps was buried near Stonehenge with Britain's oldest gold; the younger man beside him shared a rare foot bone, but DNA rules out father and son

In May 2002 Wessex Archaeology excavated a grave at Amesbury, about three miles from Stonehenge, ahead of a housing development. It belonged to a man buried around 2300 BC with about 100 objects, the richest Bronze Age burial found in Britain. They included three copper knives, arrowheads and two small gold hair ornaments, the oldest securely dated gold found in Britain. Isotopes in his tooth enamel show he grew up in the Alps region. The press called him the "King of Stonehenge"^†. A younger man buried nearby shared a rare joint between the heel and a foot bone, and Wessex Archaeology suggested a close relationship, possibly father and son. In 2022 Andrew Fitzpatrick, David Reich and colleagues reported DNA from both. It ruled out first-degree relations, such as father and son, and second-degree ones, such as uncle and nephew. A more distant link, such as great-grandfather and great-grandson, remains possible, and radiocarbon dates allow the Archer to have died up to 80 years before the younger man. The skeleton and grave goods are on permanent display at the Salisbury Museum.