A BRADFORD University professor is at the centre of a groundbreaking study into ancient Britain that could mark a "new chapter" in the country's history.

Professor Vincent Gaffney was part of a research team that used cutting edge technology to discover that wheat arrived in Britain almost 2,000 years before history records farming as beginning.

The discovery means that Britons from that time must have had social ties with Europeans, conflicting with the previously held opinion that people of the era were isolated hunter/gatherers with no contact with other lands.

As part of the research, DNA samples from 6,000 BC were taken from the bed of the English Chanel, in an area that used to be above sea level. Prof Gaffney said that research had been made possible thanks to rapid technological developments of recent years.

The findings have been published today in Science, one of the world's most respected journals.

Prof Gaffney is one of the University of Bradford’s new anniversary chairs. He recently received the European Archaeology Heritage Award for his contribution to global heritage following his pioneering work exploring lost lands under the North Sea.

Prof Gaffney was part of the research team with Dr Robin Allaby, of the University of Warwick, Professor Mark Pallen, of Warwick Medical School, The Maritime Archaeology Trust, the University of Birmingham and the University of St Andrews.

The team sifted through samples from the submerged archaeological site off the south coast of England, Bouldner Cliff in The Solent between the Isle of Wight and England.

They found remains of wheat, known as Einkorn, dating back more than 1,800 years before history records farming as starting in the area. The most likely source of the wheat was from Southern Europe and Prof Gaffney said this showed people of the time must have had complex trade and social networks with Europeans.

The networks might have been assisted by "land bridges" that connected the south east coast of Britain to the European mainland, leading to exchanges between hunters in Britain and farmers in southern Europe.

These land bridges have since been submerged by rising sea levels hiding their historical secrets.

Prof Gaffney said: "Because of rising sea levels over the years we think about 35 per cent of all of Europe has been lost to the sea. The possibility in my mind has been that the early evidence of farming was out at sea.

"Agricultural societies lead to complex societies, so the establishment of agriculture is one of the defining moments of human history.

"This find is the start of a new chapter in British and European history. Not only do we now realise that the introduction of farming was far more complex than previously imagined, it now seems likely that the hunter-gather societies of Britain, far from being isolated, were part of extensive social networks that traded or exchanged exotic foodstuffs across much of Europe.

"The research also demonstrates that scientists and archaeologists can now analyse genetic material preserved deep within the sediments of the lost prehistoric landscapes stretching between Britain and Europe. This not only tells us more about the introduction of farming into Britain, but also about the societies that lived on the lost coastal plains for hundreds of thousands of years.

"The use of ancient DNA from sediments also opens the door to new research on the older landscapes off the British Isles and coastal shelves across the world."

Modern society formed when humans mastered agriculture, meaning they were able to end their nomadic lifestyle and settle into villages, and later, cities.

Wheat samples hinted that it was in the form of flour rather than grain, meaning the crop was already shaping a society that was thought to be dominated by the hunter/gatherer lifestyle.

The techniques used by the team may also shape future archaeological research - opening the door for submerged sites to be explored such as off the coast of India and what is known as the Bering Strait between Russia and America.

DNA from dogs was also found in the samples, hinting that the domestication of animals was already happening in this period.

"When you look at these findings, suddenly that whole world becomes different. It opens a new door on world history and the landscapes around Britain," said Prof Gaffney.

"There has been this view that earlier societies were simple, but they were probably as complex as you or I. It is a kind of temporal racism."

The research builds on the work of The Maritime Archaeology Trust, which also collected the sediment samples from the site.

The Trust’s director, Garry Momber, said: "Of all the projects I have worked on, Bouldnor Cliff has been the most significant.

“The material remains left behind by the people that occupied Britain as it was finally becoming an island 8,000 years ago, show that these were sophisticated people with technologies thousands of years more advanced than previously recognised."

The next step for the team will be to investigate other subterranean samples to see if even more could be discovered about early civilisations.

The research is published in a paper called Sedimentary DNA from a submerged site reveals wheat in the British Isles 8,000 years ago.