Titel
Ancient DNA reveals monozygotic newborn twins from the Upper Palaeolithic
Autor*in
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Abstract
The Upper Palaeolithic double burial of newborns and the single burial of a ca. 3-month-old infant uncovered at the Gravettian site of Krems-Wachtberg, Austria, are of paramount importance given the rarity of immature human remains from this time. Genome-wide ancient DNA shows that the male infants of the double grave are the earliest reported case of monozygotic twins, while the single grave´s individual was their 3rd-degree male relative. We assessed the individuals´ age at death by applying histological and µCT inspection of the maxillary second incisors (i2) in conjunction with C- and N-isotope ratios and Barium (Ba) intake as biomarker for breastfeeding. The results show that the twins were full-term newborns, and that while individual 2 died at birth, individual 1 survived for about 50 days. The findings show that Gravettian mortuary behaviour also included re-opening of a grave and manipulation of its layout and content.
Stichwort
AnthropologyGenomics
Objekt-Typ
Sprache
Englisch [eng]
Persistent identifier
phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:1181364
Erschienen in
Titel
Communications Biology
Band
3
ISSN
2399-3642
Erscheinungsdatum
2020
Publication
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Erscheinungsdatum
2020
Zugänglichkeit
Rechte
Rechteangabe
© The Author(s) 2020
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