Ancient DNA reveals the world's oldest family tree

Date:
December 22, 2021
Source:
Newcastle University
Summary:
Analysis of ancient DNA from one of the best-preserved Neolithic
tombs in Britain has revealed that most of the people buried
there were from five continuous generations of a single extended
family. By analysing DNA extracted from the bones and teeth
of 35 individuals entombed at Hazleton North long cairn in the
Cotswolds-Severn region, the research team was able to detect
that 27 of them were close biological relatives. The group lived
approximately 5700 years ago -- around 3700-3600 BC - around 100
years after farming had been introduced to Britain.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Analysis of ancient DNA from one of the best-preserved Neolithic tombs
in Britain has revealed that most of the people buried there were from
five continuous generations of a single extended family.


==========================================================================
By analysing DNA extracted from the bones and teeth of 35 individuals
entombed at Hazleton North long cairn in the Cotswolds-Severn region, the research team was able to detect that 27 of them were close biological relatives. The group lived approximately 5700 years ago -- around
3700-3600 BC -- around 100 years after farming had been introduced
to Britain.

Published in Nature,it is the first study to reveal in such detail how prehistoric families were structured, and the international team of archaeologists and geneticists say that the results provide new insights
into kinship and burial practices in Neolithic times.

The research team -- which included archaeologists from Newcastle
University, UK, and geneticists from the University of the Basque Country, University of Vienna and Harvard University -- show that most of those
buried in the tomb were descended from four women who had all had children
with the same man.

The cairn at Hazleton North included two L-shaped chambered areas
which were located north and south of the main 'spine' of the linear
structure. After they had died, individuals were buried inside these
two chambered areas and the research findings indicate that men were
generally buried with their father and brothers, suggesting that descent
was patrilineal with later generations buried at the tomb connected to
the first generation entirely through male relatives.

While two of the daughters of the lineage who died in childhood were
buried in the tomb, the complete absence of adult daughters suggests that
their remains were placed either in the tombs of male partners with whom
they had children, or elsewhere.



========================================================================== Although the right to use the tomb ran through patrilineal ties,
the choice of whether individuals were buried in the north or south
chambered area initially depended on the first-generation woman from
whom they were descended, suggesting that these first-generation women
were socially significant in the memories of this community.

There are also indications that 'stepsons' were adopted into the lineage,
the researchers say -- males whose mother was buried in the tomb but not
their biological father, and whose mother had also had children with a
male from the patriline. Additionally, the team found no evidence that
another eight individuals were biological relatives of those in the
family tree, which might further suggest that biological relatedness was
not the only criterion for inclusion. However, three of these were women
and it is possible that they could have had a partner in the tomb but
either did not have any children or had daughters who reached adulthood
and left the community so are absent from the tomb.

Dr Chris Fowler of Newcastle University, the first author and lead archaeologist of the study, said: "This study gives us an unprecedented
insight into kinship in a Neolithic community. The tomb at Hazleton North
has two separate chambered areas, one accessed via a northern entrance and
the other from a southern entrance, and just one extraordinary finding is
that initially each of the two halves of the tomb were used to place the remains of the dead from one of two branches of the same family. This is
of wider importance because it suggests that the architectural layout
of other Neolithic tombs might tell us about how kinship operated at
those tombs." In~igo Olalde of the University of the Basque Country and Ikerbasque, the lead geneticist for the study and co-first author, said:
"The excellent DNA preservation at the tomb and the use of the latest technologies in ancient DNA recovery and analysis allowed us to uncover
the oldest family tree ever reconstructed and analyse it to understand something profound about the social structure of these ancient groups."
David Reich at Harvard University, whose laboratory led the ancient DNA generation, added: "This study reflects what I think is the future of
ancient DNA: one in which archaeologists are able to apply ancient DNA
analysis at sufficiently high resolution to address the questions that
truly matter to archaeologists." Ron Pinhasi, of the University of
Vienna, said: "It was difficult to imagine just a few years ago that
we would ever know about Neolithic kinship structures. But this is
just the beginning and no doubt there is a lot more to be discovered
from other sites in Britain, Atlantic France, and other regions."
The project was an international collaboration between archaeologists
from the Universities of Newcastle, York, Exeter and Central Lancashire,
and geneticists at the University of Vienna, University of the Basque
Country and Harvard University. Corinium Museum, Cirencester, provided permission to sample the remains in their collection.

The work received primary funding from a Ramo'n y Cajal grant from
the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacio'n of the Spanish Government (RYC2019-027909- I), Ikerbasque -- Basque Foundation of Science, the
US National Institutes of Health (grant GM100233), the John Templeton Foundation (grant 61220), a private gift from Jean-Franc,ois Clin,
the Allen Discovery Center program, a Paul G.

Allen Frontiers Group advised program of the Paul G. Allen Family
Foundation, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Newcastle_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Chris Fowler, In~igo Olalde, Vicki Cummings, Ian Armit, Lindsey
Bu"ster,
Sarah Cuthbert, Nadin Rohland, Olivia Cheronet, Ron Pinhasi,
David Reich.

A high-resolution picture of kinship practices in an Early Neolithic
tomb. Nature, 2021; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04241-4 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211222153113.htm

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