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Cited by 138

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Megalithic tombs in western and northern Neolithic Europe were linked to a kindred society

Sánchez-Quinto, Federico, Malmström, Helena, Fraser, Magdalena, Girdland-Flink, Linus, Svensson, Emma M., Simões, Luciana G., George, Robert, Hollfelder, Nina, Burenhult, Göran, Noble, Gordon, Britton, Kate, Talamo, Sahra, Curtis, Neil, Brzobohata, Hana, Sumberova, Radka, Götherström, Anders, Storå, Jan, Jakobsson, Mattias·2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1818037116PMC PMC6511028
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Abstract

Paleogenomic and archaeological studies show that Neolithic lifeways spread from the Fertile Crescent into Europe around 9000 BCE, reaching northwestern Europe by 4000 BCE. Starting around 4500 BCE, a new phenomenon of constructing megalithic monuments, particularly for funerary practices, emerged along the Atlantic façade. While it has been suggested that the emergence of megaliths was associated with the territories of farming communities, the origin and social structure of the groups that erected them has remained largely unknown. We generated genome sequence data from human remains, corresponding to 24 individuals from five megalithic burial sites, encompassing the widespread tradition of megalithic construction in northern and western Europe, and analyzed our results in relation to the existing European paleogenomic data. The various individuals buried in megaliths show genetic affinities with local farming groups within their different chronological contexts. Individuals buried in megaliths display (past) admixture with local hunter-gatherers, similar to that seen in other Neolithic individuals in Europe. In relation to the tomb populations, we find significantly more males than females buried in the megaliths of the British Isles. The genetic data show close kin relationships among the individuals buried within the megaliths, and for the Irish megaliths, we found a kin relation between individuals buried in different megaliths. We also see paternal continuity through time, including the same Y-chromosome haplotypes reoccurring. These observations suggest that the investigated funerary monuments were associated with patrilineal kindred groups. Our genomic investigation provides insight into the people associated with this long-standing megalith funerary tradition, including their social dynamics.

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Fig. 1. Map of Europe with megalithic burial sites (red squares) and nonmegalithic sites (red circles) from this study, and comparative published data from megalithic sites (black squares) sequenced to date in Europe (Dataset S1.3). The date range represents the 95% CI of available samples from these sites, except for La Mina in Spain. Blue shading represents the estimated distribution of early megalithic burials. Bold italic type indicates dates (95% CI) estimated for the start of dolmens and passage grave monuments, based on samples from these contexts. Regular text indicates time interval associated with the earliest cultural material in the megaliths (27, 45).
Fig. 1. Map of Europe with megalithic burial sites (red squares) and nonmegalithic sites (red circles) from this study, and comparative published data from megalithic sites (black squares) sequenced to date in Europe (Dataset S1.3). The date range represents the 95% CI of available samples from these sites, except for La Mina in Spain. Blue shading represents the estimated distribution of early megalithic burials. Bold italic type indicates dates (95% CI) estimated for the start of dolmens and passage grave monuments, based on samples from these contexts. Regular text indicates time interval associated with the earliest cultural material in the megaliths (27, 45).CC BY-NC-ND · PubMed Central
Fig. 2. (A) PCA of 429 present-day west Europeans (gray dots) with previously published Western HG (WHGs), Atlantic coast and Central European Neolithic farmer samples (filled symbols), and the samples from the present study (shaded symbols) projected onto the first two principal components (more details in SI Appendix, Section S11.1). (B) Inferred ancestry components (assuming seven clusters) of ancient individuals (Methods and SI Appendix, Section S11.2). All individuals to the left of Yoruba are prehistoric individuals, all of which are shotgun-sequenced unless marked with “CP” for SNP capture data. In the label names, the following letters indicate an archaeological context: CA, Chalcolithic; EN, Early Neolithic; N, Neolithic; MN, Middle Neolithic; LN, Late Neolithic. The LN individuals from Portugal come from different sites (key provided in Dataset S1.3).
Fig. 2. (A) PCA of 429 present-day west Europeans (gray dots) with previously published Western HG (WHGs), Atlantic coast and Central European Neolithic farmer samples (filled symbols), and the samples from the present study (shaded symbols) projected onto the first two principal components (more details in SI Appendix, Section S11.1). (B) Inferred ancestry components (assuming seven clusters) of ancient individuals (Methods and SI Appendix, Section S11.2). All individuals to the left of Yoruba are prehistoric individuals, all of which are shotgun-sequenced unless marked with “CP” for SNP capture data. In the label names, the following letters indicate an archaeological context: CA, Chalcolithic; EN, Early Neolithic; N, Neolithic; MN, Middle Neolithic; LN, Late Neolithic. The LN individuals from Portugal come from different sites (key provided in Dataset S1.3).CC BY-NC-ND · PubMed Central
Fig. 3. Kinship relationships in the Primrose, Carrowmore, and Ansarve burials. Solid line, first degree; dashed line, second degree. Males are displayed in green; females, in orange. The MtDNA and YDNA haplogroups are presented to the right of the figures. Bars underneath figures represent calibrated dating, with 95% CI (details in Table 1 and SI Appendix, Table S1).
Fig. 3. Kinship relationships in the Primrose, Carrowmore, and Ansarve burials. Solid line, first degree; dashed line, second degree. Males are displayed in green; females, in orange. The MtDNA and YDNA haplogroups are presented to the right of the figures. Bars underneath figures represent calibrated dating, with 95% CI (details in Table 1 and SI Appendix, Table S1).CC BY-NC-ND · PubMed Central

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Cited by

Metadata

Authors
Sánchez-Quinto, F., Malmström, H., Fraser, M., Girdland-Flink, L., Svensson, E. M., Simões, L. G., George, R., Hollfelder, N., Burenhult, G., Noble, G., Britton, K., Talamo, S., Curtis, N., Brzobohata, H., Sumberova, R., Götherström, A., Storå, J., & Jakobsson, M.
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2019-04-15
Volume
116
Issue
19
Pages
9469-9474
ISSN
  • 0027-8424
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1818037116
PMC
PMC6511028
Cited by
138
References
17
Language
en
Licence
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (vor)
Funders
  • Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (M13-0904:1)
  • Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse (N/A)
  • Berit Wallenberg foundation (N/A)

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