Tomb team reveals secrets of Stone Age Irish families
Up to 12 generations laid to rest together
DNA testing of ancient Irish teeth in giant stone tombs which are older than the pyramids has revealed how family members as far as 12 generations apart were buried together in the Stone Age.
The findings also show the megalithic tombs were heavily maledominated in terms of occupants.
The new international study used genetic analysis to reveal the secrets of tombs that have been shrouded in mystery for centuries.
Scientists analysed teeth and bones from tombs in Ireland, Scotland and on the Swedish island of Gotland and the Czech Republic as part of the new genetic study of Stone Age funeral practices.
They found 12 Irish individuals from 16 different teeth dated from 3790 and 3360 BC.
Some family members were ‘separated in time by at least one generation and possibly up to 12 generations’ which meant the tombs could have been used over hundreds of years by a family line.
The scientists suggest that the tombs could contain chieftains or village chiefs and mostly their male relatives.
The international team examined the remains of 24 individuals – 11 people from the Primrose Grange tomb and one individual from the Listhogil Tomb at Carrowmore site, both just a mile apart in Co. Sligo.
Bones and other remains examined from the tombs in other countries were included in the study.
The authors said the giant tombs, which appeared from around 4500 BC in Atlantic areas, have attracted speculation since medieval times.
But scientists were never able to pinpoint if they were mass graves used by societies or by families – until now.
‘Our results show kin relations among the buried individuals and an over-representation of males, suggesting that at least some of these funerary monuments were used by patrilineal societies,’ said the authors.
Researchers, led by Uppsala University in Sweden, radiocarbondated the human remains to between 3800 and 2600 BC. DNA was extracted from both bones and teeth for genome sequencing. The scientists found five close family relationships in the Irish tombs.
Two were first degree – categorised as offspring or a parent or a full sibling – and three were second degree, which is defined as an aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandparent, grandchild, cousin or half-sibling.
It is thought one of the main function of the tomb was to house the remains of the male line of the family. ‘This would explain the inclusion of more males than females in the tombs,’ said the study.
The researchers found they were closely related to Neolithic farmers in northern and western Europe, and also to some groups in Iberia.