title: Ancient DNA, Strontium isotopes, and osteological analyses shed light on social and kinship organization of the Later Stone Age.
abstract: In 2005 four outstanding multiple burials were discovered near Eulau, Germany. The 4,600-year-old graves contained groups of adults and children buried facing each other. Skeletal and artifactual evidence and the simultaneous interment of the individuals suggest the supposed families fell victim to a violent event. In a multidisciplinary approach, archaeological, anthropological, geochemical (radiogenic isotopes), and molecular genetic (ancient DNA) methods were applied to these unique burials. Using autosomal, mitochondrial, and Y-chromosomal markers, we identified genetic kinship among the individuals. A direct child-parent relationship was detected in one burial, providing the oldest molecular genetic evidence of a nuclear family. Strontium isotope analyses point to different origins for males and children versus females. By this approach, we gain insight into a Late Stone Age society, which appears to have been exogamous and patrilocal, and in which genetic kinship seems to be a focal point of social organization.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Anthropologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Saarstrasse 21, D-55099 Mainz, Germany. wolfgang.haak@adelaide.edu.au
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Haak
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.forename: Hylke N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ganslmeier
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Heyd
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hawkesworth
authors.forename: Alistair W G
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Pike
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meller
authors.forename: Kurt W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Alt
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000883:Anthropology; D001842:Bone and Bones; D002648:Child; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D005580:Fossils; D005655:Funeral Rites; D005858:Germany; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012919:Social Behavior; D013325:Strontium Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D013325:Strontium Isotopes; D004247:DNA