Neolithic nuclear family raises archaeologists' eyebrows
Tuesday, 18 Nov 2008 00:01
Meet the first nuclear family - or what's left of them
Archaeologists have uncovered the world's oldest ever nuclear family.
A mother, father and two sons aged around eight and four years old were discovered at a site in Germany where they had been buried 4,600 years ago.
They, together with the remains of seven others, were discovered and excavated at Eulau in Saxony-Anhalt in 2005.
It appears they were the victims of a raid on their settlement as several had skull fractures and one had a stone projectile point embedded in one of her vertebra.
But this is not what is unusual about the find: they appeared to have been arranged to mirror their relations in life. Several pairs were buried facing each other with their arms and links interlinked.
The familial link was established by analysing their DNA, as lead author Wolfgang Haak of the University of Adelaide explained.
"By establishing the genetic links between the two adults and two children buried together in one grave, we have established the presence of the classic nuclear family in a prehistoric context in central Europe – to our knowledge the oldest authentic molecular genetic evidence so far," he said.
"Their unity in death suggests a unity in life."
This does not mean the elemental family was a universal model or the oldest institution of human communities, however.
Marrying out, and females moving to the location of the males to avoid inbreeding and foster kinship, are noted traditions of the Neolithic era.