Earliest nuclear family found
Posted by Kiran | Under Society and People, Spirituality and Religion Monday Nov 17, 2008
The oldest known burial of a nuclear family, which includes a mother, father, and two boys, has been unearthed in Germany.
The 4,600-year-old family, which was buried together in a deliberate huddle, may have died during a violent massacre.
he find also gives scientists clues about the social organization of the late Stone Age period, which started around 10,000 B.C.
The skeletons were uncovered in 2005 in a group of graves at an archeological site in the Eulau region.
The excavation revealed four separate graves containing 13 bodies—5 adults and 8 children. Within the group, DNA analysis confirmed a family of four, with the two children between 4 to 5 and 8 to 9 years old, respectively.
“Normally a family doesn’t die at the same time and isn’t buried in the same time.”
Multiple burials occurred during the Neolithic, but individuals were usually buried at different times, sometimes years apart, Haak added.
