Anthropology

Judi Lynn

(160,527 posts) Mon May 13, 2019, 12:16 AM May 2019

Uncovering a 5000-year-old family tragedy

May 10, 2019

Eight years ago, a mass grave was unearthed in the southern Polish village of Koszyce. The circumstances surrounding the 5000-year-old gravesite have been a mystery ever since. The skeletons of 15 women, children and young men were found - each slain by powerful blows to the head. Yet, their bodies were neatly positioned alongside one another and with an abundance of gifts for their final voyage.

An international team, composed of researchers from the universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus and the Archaeological Museum in Poznan, Poland, used DNA profiles to demonstrate that the mass murder was that of a large, three generational family. Using genomic analyses, radiocarbon dating, isotopic analyses and archaeological data, the researchers gained detailed insight into a this Stone Age society and a grizzly occurrence some 5000 years ago.

"By analyzing ancient DNA from the skeletons, we were able to map each of the family relationships. We can see that mothers are laid next to their children and brothers side-by-side. Those who buried the dead knew them well. We also see that most of the fathers from this extended family are absent from the grave. Our suggestion is that they weren't at the settlement when the massacre occurred and that they returned later, and subsequently buried their families in a respectful way," says evolutionary biologist Morten Allentoft of the University of Copenhagen.

A period of transition

"We do not know who was responsible for this massacre," according to University of Copenhagen archaeo-geneticist Hannes Schroeder. "But it is thought-provoking that it occurred 5,000 years ago, as the late Neolithic Period was transitioning into the Bronze Age. During this period, European cultures were being heavily transformed by Yamnaya cultures migrating from the east. It is easy to imagine that these changes somehow precipitated violent territorial clashes.

More:
https://www.brightsurf.com/news/article/051019482942/uncovering-a-5000-year-old-family-tragedy.html

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Unraveling ancestry, kinship, and violence in a Late Neolithic mass grave

Hannes Schroeder, Ashot Margaryan, Marzena Szmyt, Bertrand Theulot, Piotr Włodarczak, Simon Rasmussen, Shyam Gopalakrishnan, Anita Szczepanek, Tomasz Konopka, Theis Z. T. Jensen, Barbara Witkowska, Stanisław Wilk, Marcin M. Przybyła, Łukasz Pospieszny, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Zdzislaw Belka, Jesper Olsen, Kristian Kristiansen, Eske Willerslev, Karin M. Frei, Martin Sikora, Niels N. Johannsen, and Morten E. Allentoft

PNAS first published May 6, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820210116

Edited by Clark Spencer Larsen, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, and approved March 25, 2019 (received for review November 27, 2018)

Significance
We sequenced the genomes of 15 skeletons from a 5,000-y-old mass grave in Poland associated with the Globular Amphora culture. All individuals had been brutally killed by blows to the head, but buried with great care. Genome-wide analyses demonstrate that this was a large extended family and that the people who buried them knew them well: mothers are buried with their children, and siblings next to each other. From a population genetic viewpoint, the individuals are clearly distinct from neighboring Corded Ware groups because of their lack of steppe-related ancestry. Although the reason for the massacre is unknown, it is possible that it was connected with the expansion of Corded Ware groups, which may have resulted in violent conflict.

Abstract
The third millennium BCE was a period of major cultural and demographic changes in Europe that signaled the beginning of the Bronze Age. People from the Pontic steppe expanded westward, leading to the formation of the Corded Ware complex and transforming the genetic landscape of Europe. At the time, the Globular Amphora culture (3300–2700 BCE) existed over large parts of Central and Eastern Europe, but little is known about their interaction with neighboring Corded Ware groups and steppe societies. Here we present a detailed study of a Late Neolithic mass grave from southern Poland belonging to the Globular Amphora culture and containing the remains of 15 men, women, and children, all killed by blows to the head. We sequenced their genomes to between 1.1- and 3.9-fold coverage and performed kinship analyses that demonstrate that the individuals belonged to a large extended family. The bodies had been carefully laid out according to kin relationships by someone who evidently knew the deceased. From a population genetic viewpoint, the people from Koszyce are clearly distinct from neighboring Corded Ware groups because of their lack of steppe-related ancestry. Although the reason for the massacre is unknown, it is possible that it was connected with the expansion of Corded Ware groups, which may have resulted in competition for resources and violent conflict. Together with the archaeological evidence, these analyses provide an unprecedented level of insight into the kinship structure and social behavior of a Late Neolithic community.

ancient DNA
In 2011, archaeological excavations near the village of Koszyce in southern Poland uncovered a ca. 5,000-y-old mass grave (Fig. 1) associated with the Globular Amphora culture and containing the remains of 15 men, women, and children who had been killed, but carefully buried with rich grave goods (1). Closer study of the skeletons (2) revealed that the individuals had all been killed by blows to the head, possibly during a raid on their settlement. To shed light on this Late Neolithic community and the events that unfolded at Koszyce 5,000 y ago, we sequenced their genomes to between 1.1- and 3.9-fold coverage (Table 1) and performed genome-wide analyses to explore their genetic ancestry and kinship relations. In addition, we obtained 16 radiocarbon dates (SI Appendix, section 4 and Dataset S1) to narrow down the date of the massacre to 2880–2776 BCE (SI Appendix, Fig. S5). We also provide a detailed description of the injuries (SI Appendix, section 3), and strontium isotope measurements of dental enamel provide information on mobility and residence patterns (SI Appendix, section 5). Together, the analyses enable us to draw up a remarkably detailed picture of this Late Neolithic community, including their genetic ancestry, physical appearance, kinship structure, and social organization.

Fig. 1.
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Fig. 1.
The mass grave at Koszyce, southern Poland. (A) Photograph of the 15 skeletons and grave goods buried at Koszyce site 3 (reproduced with permission from ref. 2). (B) Map of Poland showing the location of Koszyce and four other Globular Amphora/Złota group sites included in this study.

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Table 1.
Sequencing results for the Koszyce individuals

Results and Discussion
DNA was isolated from teeth and petrous bones, using established protocols, and the libraries were sequenced on Illumina HiSeq 2500 platforms. The sequence data showed all the hallmarks of damaged ancient DNA, and modern contamination was estimated to be very low (Table 1). The human endogenous DNA contents ranged between 13% and 75% (Dataset S3). According to the sequencing data, eight of the individuals in the grave were males and seven were females (Table 1). This is consistent with previously published results based on skeletal traits, with the exception of one male (individual 4) who had previously been identified as a probable female and five juveniles who could not be sexed previously (2). Data on phenotypic traits based on imputed genotypes (Dataset S5) revealed that the individuals had mostly brown eyes, dark or dark-blonde hair, and intermediate to dark skin.

More:
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/04/30/1820210116

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MAY 13 // 2019
WARSAW 8 °C // 11:12 PM

Secrets of Neolithic mass grave where massacred families met a grizzly end revealed

ANNE CHATHAM MAY 07, 2019

New findings shed light on a mass grave in Poland from 5000 years ago and the mysterious circumstances in which the families in it were killed and buried.

The mass grave in Koszyce, in southern Poland, was discovered by archaeologists from Kraków in 2011. It contained the bones of 15 people; the youngest of them small children. DNA tests showed that the people were related. The group were associated with the Globular Amphora culture found in Central Europe around 3400-2800 BC.

The intriguing scene was studied by specialists from a range of disciplines, including criminology and anthropology, to better understand how the group lived – and the circumstances in which they died. Some Polish experts suggested that they were killed during a ceremony or even as part of ritual cannibalism.

New research published this week by a group of experts from Poland and abroad supports a different explanation. The academic article entitled “Unravelling ancestry, kinship, and violence in a Late Neolithic mass grave”, published Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, provides an overview of what archaeologists know so far.

“All individuals had been brutally killed by blows to the head, but buried with great care,” the authors highlight.

More:
https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/secrets-of-neolithic-mass-grave-where-families-met-a-grizzly-end-revealed-5818