This was a patriarchal family in which all its members were descended from an individual known to archaeologists as the "founding father" of the cemetery. All its members lived almost 7,000 years ago at the site of Gurgy 'les Noisats', south of Paris (France). The analysis of their remains has allowed the creation of the largest family tree ever made from ancient DNA.
In total, researchers from the Max Planck Institute and the University of Bordeaux have analyzed the remains of up to 94 individuals spanning up to seven generations who were patrilocal (women went to live with the husband's family) and patrilineal (each generation is related to each other). with the next through the biological father). These men, moreover, always paired up with women from other genetically close tribes.
As explained in an article published in the journal Nature, the archaeological remains studied also indicate that there was a high presence of adult full-sibs and the absence of half-siblings, which indicates a commitment to monogamy. “They were large families, with a high fertility rate and generally stable health and nutrition conditions, which is quite surprising for such ancient times,” says Maïté Rivollat, lead author of the study.
The Neolithic lifestyle, when it shifted from hunting and gathering to agriculture, arose in the Near East around 12,000 years ago and contributed profoundly to creating the modern way of life. The ability to produce and store food led to the development of new customs and the formation of social hierarchies.
The region of the Paris Basin where Gurgy is located is known for its monumental burial sites, which are understood to have been built for the "elite" of society. The analyzes carried out with the skeletons of the archaeological site of 'Les Noisats' reveal the existence of two 'families'.
The first connects 64 individuals over seven generations while the second connects twelve individuals over five generations. “There was full control of the burial space and only very few overlapping burials, indicating that the site was managed by a group of closely related people, or at least by people who knew who was buried where,” says Stéphane Rottier of the University. de Bordeaux, who excavated the site between 2004 and 2007.
At first it was already thought that there was a possibility that the deceased were buried near a relative. Now, genetic analysis has revealed, in addition to a strong patrilineal pattern, a non-local origin of most of the women, suggesting the practice of patrilocality.
Rather, most of the adult daughters of the lineage are missing, consistent with female outbreeding, which could indicate a reciprocal exchange system. These “new” women coming into the clan were only very distantly related to each other, meaning they must have come from a network of nearby communities.
The researchers point to the existence of a male individual from whom all the members of the largest family tree descended and whom they identify as the "founding father" of the cemetery. His burial is unique, as his skeletal remains were interred as a secondary repository within the grave of a woman, for whom genomic data could not be obtained.
The theory of experts is that the bones of this pater familias were brought from wherever he originally died to be reburied at Gurgy. "It had to represent a person of great importance to the founders of the site to be taken there after a primary burial elsewhere," says Marie-France Deguilloux, co-lead author of the study.
Since there are no adult burials in recent generations, archaeologists consider that there was only brief use of the site. The group may have left a previous village, leaving behind their deceased sons, but they took the father of the lineage with them.
Only a few generations later the same thing happened: the adults of the last few generations left Gurgy for another place, leaving their own children behind. Therefore, the settlement was probably only used for three or four generations, or about a century.
