Bronze Age family systems deciphered: Palaeogeneticists analyse a 3,800-year-old extended family32 individuals from a burial site in the southern Ural region show close kinship relations -- only the women came from other areas
Date: August 22, 2023
Source: Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet Mainz
Summary: Researchers have analyzed the genomes of skeletons from an extended family from a Bronze Age necropolis in the Russian steppe. The 3,800-year-old 'Nepluyevsky' burial mound was excavated several years ago and is located on the geographical border between Europe and Asia. Using statistical genomics, the family and marriage relationships of this society have now been deciphered.
The diversity of family systems in prehistoric societies has always fascinated scientists. A groundbreaking study by Mainz anthropologists and an international team of archaeologists now provides new insights into the origins and genetic structure of prehistoric family communities.
Researchers Jens Blöcher and Joachim Burger from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have analysed the genomes of skeletons from an extended family from a Bronze Age necropolis in the Russian steppe. The 3,800-year-old "Nepluyevsky" burial mound was excavated several years ago and is located on the geographical border between Europe and Asia. Using statistical genomics, the family and marriage relationships of this society have now been deciphered. The study was carried out in cooperation with archaeologists from Ekaterinburg and Frankfurt a. M. and was partly financially supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Russian Science Foundation (RSCF).
The kurgan (burial mound) investigated was the grave of six brothers, their wives, children and grandchildren. The presumably oldest brother had eight children with two wives, one of whom came from the Asian steppe regions in the east. The other brothers showed no signs of polygamy and probably lived monogamously with far fewer children.
Fascinating snapshot of a prehistoric family"The burial site provides a fascinating snapshot of a prehistoric family," explains Jens Blöcher, lead author of the study. "It is remarkable that the first-born brother apparently had a higher status and thus greater chances of reproduction. The right of the male firstborn seems familiar to us, it is known from the Old Testament, for example, but also from the aristocracy in historical Europe."
* * *
Source:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230822111703.htm
