Unexpected secrets of famous mausoleums in Ireland

A new study shows that the genetic material of human bones found in the famous Newgrange tomb in Ireland belongs to a man who lived during the Neolithic period. This could be a king whose parents were siblings.
Ireland in the Neolithic period about 5,000 years ago was ruled by a glorious dynasty but had a tradition of intermarriage to separate itself from the common people, like the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt and some Inca royal families in Mesoamerica.


This new research was just published in the journal Nature, USA, on June 17. Researchers tested the genetic material of 42 people buried at a Stone Age site in Ireland, dating to between 5,800 and 4,500 years ago, and two Mesolithic people from burials dated approximately 6,100 to 6,700 years ago.
They discovered that one of them was buried in the most ornate stone niche of the Newgrange tombs, one of the earliest Stone Age monuments in Europe. This is an adult male whose parents are first-degree relatives, meaning they can be siblings or father-son, mother-child, although this has been extremely rare throughout history. human.
Lead author of the study, geneticist Lara Cassidy of Trinity College Dublin, said each of us inherits one set of genes from our mother and one set of genes from our father and the research team compared the two sets of genes. This is in the bones of the man mentioned above. Basically, these two genomes are extremely similar. When the researchers calculated the inbreeding coefficient based on the amount of DNA both parents shared, they found the two genomes were 25% similar. “This is a sign of mating between first-degree relatives, people who have 50% of the same DNA,” said geneticist Cassidy.

Ancient dynasty

Incestuous marriage between siblings is a taboo in almost the entire human world, for both cultural and biological reasons. The only social acceptance was among the elite, typically among royal families considered divine, such as the Egyptian pharaohs. This is the way people who consider themselves noble class use to separate themselves from commoners, they break taboos, break social customs that others must follow.

As a result, marriages between siblings were limited to royal families that were considered gods. And although the solemn burial of the man found at Newgrange indicates social acceptance of his parents' union, there is no trace of a similar marital relationship anywhere. anywhere else in Irish Stone Age sites

This discovery also coincides with a local legend about a special sun shining phenomenon in Newgrange. This legend says that there was an elaborate mausoleum in the Brú na Bóinne stone necropolis in north Dublin, where the midwinter dawn sent a brilliant light deep inside to the stone niche where a person was buried. special
Also according to this legend, a king tried to build a high tower near Dowth in just one day (Dowth is about 1 mile from Newgrange) thanks to his sister's magic that made the sun not set until until the tower is completed. But the king broke the spell because he committed adultery with his sister. Perhaps that is why this place is called Fertae Chuile, which means "Sin Hill" or "Incest Hill".

Stone Age Ireland

Research into ancient Irish genomes also shows that the man buried at the Newgrange tomb site was a distant relative of the man buried at the Stone Age tomb at Carrowmore in County Sligo, about 140 miles from Newgrange. km to the west.


The people buried in these two tombs are also more closely related to each other than other people in the community. Chemical analysis of their bones also shows that they ate more meat than other people living at the same time. It seems that this is a group of relatives who enjoy burial rites reserved for noble people. This custom was followed elsewhere in Ireland for many centuries.

The researchers also compared the similarities and differences between Stone Age inhabitants of Ireland and pre-existing indigenous groups through two representatives, the two Mesolithic skeletons mentioned above. above. The results of the study confirm the view that Ireland was inhabited by Stone Age estate owners about 5,800 years ago, who came from the Iberian Peninsula and occupied the land of specialized indigenous people. live by hunting and gathering

. But there was a Stone Age man in the west of Ireland who carried the genes of an aboriginal hunter-gatherer. This shows that the indigenous people were assimilated, not exterminated.

Researchers also found genetic evidence of a first case of Down syndrome. This is a newborn baby boy buried in the Poulnabrone tomb in County Clare, dating back more than 5,500 years. Analysis of some chemical isotopes showed that this baby was breastfed and buried in elaborate rituals, so he may have been a member of a noble family.