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

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

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

In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 116, No. 22, 2019, p. 10705-10710.

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Schroeder, H, Margaryan, A, Szmyt, M, Theulot, B, Włodarczak, P, Rasmussen, S, Gopalakrishnan, S, Szczepanek, A, Konopka, T, Jensen, TZT, Witkowska, B, Wilk, S, Przybyła, MM, Pospieszny, Ł, Sjögren, K-G, Belka, Z, Olsen, J, Kristiansen, K, Willerslev, E, Frei, KM, Sikora, M, Johannsen, NN & Allentoft, ME 2019, 'Unraveling ancestry, kinship, and violence in a Late Neolithic mass grave', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 116, no. 22, pp. 10705-10710. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820210116

APA

Schroeder, H., Margaryan, A., Szmyt, M., Theulot, B., Włodarczak, P., Rasmussen, S., Gopalakrishnan, S., Szczepanek, A., Konopka, T., Jensen, T. Z. T., Witkowska, B., Wilk, S., Przybyła, M. M., Pospieszny, Ł., Sjögren, K-G., Belka, Z., Olsen, J., Kristiansen, K., Willerslev, E., ... Allentoft, M. E. (2019). Unraveling ancestry, kinship, and violence in a Late Neolithic mass grave. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 116(22), 10705-10710. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820210116

Vancouver

Schroeder H, Margaryan A, Szmyt M, Theulot B, Włodarczak P, Rasmussen S et al. Unraveling ancestry, kinship, and violence in a Late Neolithic mass grave. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2019;116(22):10705-10710. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820210116

Author

Schroeder, Hannes ; Margaryan, Ashot ; Szmyt, Marzena ; Theulot, Bertrand ; Włodarczak, Piotr ; Rasmussen, Simon ; Gopalakrishnan, Shyam ; Szczepanek, Anita ; Konopka, Tomasz ; Jensen, Theis Z. T. ; Witkowska, Barbara ; Wilk, Stanisław ; Przybyła, Marcin M ; Pospieszny, Łukasz ; Sjögren, Karl-Göran ; Belka, Zdzislaw ; Olsen, Jesper ; Kristiansen, Kristian ; Willerslev, Eske ; Frei, Karin M. ; Sikora, Martin ; Johannsen, Niels N. ; Allentoft, Morten E. / Unraveling ancestry, kinship, and violence in a Late Neolithic mass grave. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2019 ; Vol. 116, No. 22. pp. 10705-10710.

Bibtex

@article{0a7aff007ccd4f7bac9b1542f195ef1d,
title = "Unraveling ancestry, kinship, and violence in a Late Neolithic mass grave",
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.",
author = "Hannes Schroeder and Ashot Margaryan and Marzena Szmyt and Bertrand Theulot and Piotr W{\l}odarczak and Simon Rasmussen and Shyam Gopalakrishnan and Anita Szczepanek and Tomasz Konopka and Jensen, {Theis Z. T.} and Barbara Witkowska and Stanis{\l}aw Wilk and Przyby{\l}a, {Marcin M} and {\L}ukasz Pospieszny and Karl-G{\"o}ran Sj{\"o}gren and Zdzislaw Belka and Jesper Olsen and Kristian Kristiansen and Eske Willerslev and Frei, {Karin M.} and Martin Sikora and Johannsen, {Niels N.} and Allentoft, {Morten E.}",
note = "Copyright {\textcopyright} 2019 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.",
year = "2019",
doi = "10.1073/pnas.1820210116",
language = "English",
volume = "116",
pages = "10705--10710",
journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
issn = "0027-8424",
publisher = "The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
number = "22",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Unraveling ancestry, kinship, and violence in a Late Neolithic mass grave

AU - Schroeder, Hannes

AU - Margaryan, Ashot

AU - Szmyt, Marzena

AU - Theulot, Bertrand

AU - Włodarczak, Piotr

AU - Rasmussen, Simon

AU - Gopalakrishnan, Shyam

AU - Szczepanek, Anita

AU - Konopka, Tomasz

AU - Jensen, Theis Z. T.

AU - Witkowska, Barbara

AU - Wilk, Stanisław

AU - Przybyła, Marcin M

AU - Pospieszny, Łukasz

AU - Sjögren, Karl-Göran

AU - Belka, Zdzislaw

AU - Olsen, Jesper

AU - Kristiansen, Kristian

AU - Willerslev, Eske

AU - Frei, Karin M.

AU - Sikora, Martin

AU - Johannsen, Niels N.

AU - Allentoft, Morten E.

N1 - Copyright © 2019 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1820210116

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1820210116

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 31061125

VL - 116

SP - 10705

EP - 10710

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

SN - 0027-8424

IS - 22

ER -

ID: 217697144