Ancient DNA reveals monozygotic newborn twins from the Upper Palaeolithic
- Autor(en)
- Maria Teschler-Nicola, Daniel Fernandes, Marc Händel, Thomas Einwögerer, Ulrich Simon, Christine Neugebauer-Maresch, Stefan Tangl, Patrick Heimel, Toni Dobsak, Anika Retzmann, Thomas Prohaska, Johanna Irrgeher, Douglas J. Kennett, Iñigo Olalde, David Reich, Ron Pinhasi
- Abstrakt
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 graves individual was their 3rd-degree male relative. We assessed the individuals ' age at death by applying histological and mu CT 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. Maria Teschler-Nicola et al. use ancient DNA sequencing to report the earliest known case of human monozygotic twins found in a previously discovered Upper Palaeolithic burial site. Using bioanthropological and archaeological techniques, they also find that the twins were full-term newborns and that ancient mortuary behavior included re-opening of grave sites to bury related individuals together.
- Organisation(en)
- Department für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Institut für Urgeschichte und Historische Archäologie
- Externe Organisation(en)
- Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW), Medizinische Universität Wien, Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Experimentelle und Klinische Traumatologie, Montanuniversität Leoben, University of California, Santa Barbara, Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Journal
- Communications Biology
- Band
- 3
- Anzahl der Seiten
- 11
- ISSN
- 2399-3642
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01372-8
- Publikationsdatum
- 11-2020
- Peer-reviewed
- Ja
- ÖFOS 2012
- 106002 Biochemie, 106014 Genomik
- Schlagwörter
- ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all), Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all), Medicine (miscellaneous)
- Link zum Portal
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/ancient-dna-reveals-monozygotic-newborn-twins-from-the-upper-palaeolithic(cb9edcf2-a5ca-469d-bd5b-c8021203aacc).html