Abstract
The Upper Palaeolithic double burial of newborns and the single burial of a ca. 3-month-old infant uncovered at the Gravettian site of Krems-Wachtberg, Austria, are of paramount importance given the rarity of immature human remains from this time. Genome-wide ancient DNA shows that the male infants of the double grave are the earliest reported case of monozygotic twins, while the single graves individual was their 3rd-degree male relative. We assessed the individuals ' age at death by applying histological and mu CT inspection of the maxillary second incisors (i2) in conjunction with C- and N-isotope ratios and Barium (Ba) intake as biomarker for breastfeeding. The results show that the twins were full-term newborns, and that while individual 2 died at birth, individual 1 survived for about 50 days. The findings show that Gravettian mortuary behaviour also included re-opening of a grave and manipulation of its layout and content. Maria Teschler-Nicola et al. use ancient DNA sequencing to report the earliest known case of human monozygotic twins found in a previously discovered Upper Palaeolithic burial site. Using bioanthropological and archaeological techniques, they also find that the twins were full-term newborns and that ancient mortuary behavior included re-opening of grave sites to bury related individuals together.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 650 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Communications Biology |
Volume | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 6 Nov 2020 |
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 106002 Biochemistry
- 106014 Genomics
Keywords
- AGE
- ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD
- BIRTH
- BONES
- GENOME SEQUENCE
- HISTORY
- ISOTOPE ANALYSIS
- KREMS
- SKELETAL
- TEETH