A MULTIPLE BURIAL FROM THE VIKING AGE IN SEMIGALLIA, LATVIA
Multiple burials are exceptionally rare in Semigallian cemeteries of Latvia during the Iron Age (c. 7th–11th centuries CE), a period that partly overlaps with the Viking Age in Scandinavia and broader Europe (c. 800–1050 CE): at the Cunkani-Drengeri cemetery in the Zemgale region, only seven of 750 excavated inhumations (0.9%) contain more than one individual. Burial 351, housing six individuals, is both the largest and among the most unusual of these. To investigate the circumstances and biological relationships of the deceased, we applied bioarchaeological methods alongside ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis.
Multiple burials are exceptionally rare in Semigallian cemeteries of Latvia during the Iron Age (c. 7th–11th centuries CE), a period that partly overlaps with the Viking Age in Scandinavia and broader Europe (c. 800–1050 CE): at the Cunkani-Drengeri cemetery in the Zemgale region, only seven of 750 excavated inhumations (0.9%) contain more than one individual. Burial 351, housing six individuals, is both the largest and among the most unusual of these. To investigate the circumstances and biological relationships of the deceased, we applied bioarchaeological methods alongside ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis.