A brand-new DNA analysis of collective medieval burials has unveiled a surprising mystery of early Christians, which has fundamentally altered archaeologists’ perceptions of family ties at that time.
Early Christians buried their children with non-biological relatives / © Pexels
Swedish scientists from Stockholm University conducted a large-scale DNA analysis of 142 skeletons from three local medieval cemeteries (10th–14th centuries). The researchers discovered an unexpected pattern: in collective graves of children and infants, they were mass-buried alongside adults with whom they had no familial connections.
This is reported by Live Science.
Unexpected DNA Analysis Results
Most collective burials consisted of adults and children of the same sex: women were buried with girls, and men with boys. Previously, historians and archaeologists were convinced that parents and their offspring were invariably interred in such shared graves. However, genetic tests completely disproved this long-standing hypothesis.
“We often assume that adults and children sharing a grave were parents and children or other close relatives. For the most part, this turned out not to be the case,” stated the lead author of the study, Maja Kresniewska.
The scientists suggest that such unusual burials are linked to the spread of Christianity in Scandinavia in the late 10th century. At that time, rules became stricter: unbaptized infants were forbidden to be buried in consecrated cemetery ground. Thus, grieving relatives may have secretly placed deceased infants in the graves of other adults to circumvent strict religious norms.
The Role of Social Ties and the Story of “Lady 56”
Another reason for shared burials could have been harsh climatic conditions or the structure of society at that time. People might have been buried together in spring if they died in winter, when frozen ground made digging individual pits impossible. Furthermore, medieval households often included not only blood relatives but also servants, workers, and even enslaved individuals.
Despite the absence of familial ties in shared graves, scientists found evidence that some influential families buried their relatives in the same cemetery over several generations. Specifically, archaeologists examined the remains of a Christian pilgrim known as “Lady 56,” who died at approximately 30 years of age. She was buried with a rare scallop shell, which the woman received after her journey to the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela.
“Ancient DNA analysis has finally given us the tool we’ve been waiting for to directly test these interpretations,” emphasized co-author of the study, Anna Kjellström.
Genetic analysis proved that “Lady 56’s” parents, brother, and daughters were also buried in the same Vesterhus cemetery, but in completely different locations. This confirms that for medieval people, belonging to the local Christian community could have been as important as blood kinship.
Recall that a unique archaeological find forced scientists to fundamentally reconsider notions about the cruelty of the Ice Age and revealed a deeply hidden emotional side of the lives of our most ancient ancestors. In an Italian cave, scientists found evidence that humans mourned their dead as far back as 27,000 years ago.
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