According to a paper published in the latest issue of the journal Nature, an international team of researchers analyzed the DNA of 35 people in a Neolithic tomb in the United Kingdom and found that 27 of them were of the same paternal ancestry, and were the descendants of four women born to the same man 5700 years ago. Experts say it is "the oldest family tree ever made."
A Neolithic tomb in cotswolds, England.
Archaeologists from Newcastle University, as well as an international team of geneticists from the Universities of the Basque Country, the University of Vienna and Harvard University, reportedly conducted DNA analysis on 35 people from a Neolithic tomb in the Cotswolds, England, who lived between 3700 and 3600 BC.
Genetic tests showed that 27 of them came from five generations of a large family and were descendants of four women who had all had children with the same man 5,700 years ago.
The TOMB's DNA is so well preserved that researchers used the latest techniques for ancient DNA recovery and analysis to genetically test the remains.
The researchers say they can't be sure that this is an example of polygamy, as it involves whether it is relationships or marriages with more than one partner, or continuous monogamy, in which a man marries four women in succession in his lifetime.
Dr Chris Fowler of Newcastle University, the study's lead author and lead archaeologist, said it was the first time a study had shed light on prehistoric family structures in such detail and provided new insights into Neolithic kinship and burial practices.
Researchers have built "the oldest family tree ever built" through genetic sequencing.
The researchers found that males were usually buried with their fathers and brothers, suggesting that the bloodline was patrilineal and that the offspring buried in the tomb were linked entirely to the first generation through male relatives.
Inigo Olald of the Basque and Iker Basque Universities, lead geneticist and one of the first authors of the study, said the tombs' DNA is well preserved and uses the latest techniques for ancient DNA restoration and analysis, allowing researchers to discover "the oldest genealogy ever made" and to understand the social structure of these ancient groups and their underlying causes through analysis.
Text/Nandu reporter Chen Lin