Ancient DNA analysis reveals Marriage rules in Minoan Crete

New archaeogenetic data allow exciting insights into the social order of the Aegean Bronze Age

The well-known figure of a Minoan goddess, artistically appropriated and depicted holding DNA chains instead of snakes. The population is born from her "ancient" body. The orange and red genealogy refers to the research finding of endogamy between first and second cousins. Credit: Eva Skourtanioti

An international team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, reports completely new insights into Bronze Age marriage rules and family structures in Greece. Analyses of ancient genomes show that the choice of marriage partners was determined by one's own kinship.

A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, together with an international team of partners, analysed over 100 genomes of Bronze Age people from the Aegean. “Without the great cooperation with our partners in Greece and worldwide, this would not have been possible,” says archaeologist Philipp Stockhammer, one of the study’s lead authors.

Akrotiri, 1600 BC. G.Rava art

First biological family tree of a Mycenaean family

Thanks to recent methodological advances in the production and evaluation of ancient genetic datasets, it has now been possible to produce extensive data even in regions with problematic DNA preservation due to climate conditions, such as Greece. For a Mycenaean hamlet of the 16th century BC, it has even been possible to reconstruct the kinship of the house’s inhabitants – the first family tree that has so far been genetically reconstructed for the entire ancient Mediterranean region.

Apparently, some of the sons still lived in their parents’ hamlet in adulthood. At least their children were buried in a tomb under the courtyard of the estate. One of the wives who married into the house brought her sister into the family, as her child was also buried in the same grave.

olive harvesting in the Aegean Bronze Age. Credit: Nikola Nevenov

Customary to marry one’s first cousin

However, another finding was completely unexpected: on Crete and the other Greek islands, as well as on the mainland, it was very common to marry one’s first cousin 4000 years ago. “More than a thousand ancient genomes from different regions of the world have now been published, but it seems that such a strict system of kin marriage did not exist anywhere else in the ancient world,” says Eirini Skourtanioti, the lead author of the study who conducted the analyses. “This came as a complete surprise to all of us and raises many questions.”

How this particular marriage rule can be explained, the research team can only speculate. “Maybe this was a way to prevent the inherited farmland from being divided up more and more? In any case, it guaranteed a certain continuity of the family in one place, which is an important prerequisite for the cultivation of olives and grapes, for example,” Stockhammer suspects. “What is certain is that the analysis of ancient genomes will continue to provide us with fantastic, new insights into ancient family structures in the future,” adds Skourtanioti.

More information: Eirini Skourtanioti, Ancient DNA reveals admixture history and endogamy in the prehistoric Aegean, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01952-3.

Palatiano (Ioron) of Kilkis city, Greece: The ancient city that worshiped Dionysus and idolized Patraοs

The story of a city founded in the 10th century BC, glorified the family of Patraos, who is unknown until today, and when it was mysteriously destroyed, it was never inhabited again.

In a magical place at the foot of the Krousia massif, which is as green today as it was thousands of years ago, the ruins of an ancient city are preserved on a hill. From this peak the inhabitants saw their life, the land that fed them, the water, the plants that sprouted, they saw the sun dancing on the leaves of the olive groves, the vines that promised delicious wine, the figs that filled their daily table with sweetness. They saw the land where their herds grazed, next to the river Echedoros, meaning "the one that has gifts" and gave everything that its name promised, its raw materials, its precious metals, gifts of wealth, the most important of which was gold!

The ancient city of Palatiano, 20 kilometers north of Kilkis, was in a naturally fortified position and controlled the important passage from the ancient region of Christonia to the regions of Parorvilia and Sintica, that is, to Lake Kerkini and Serres, and even further west.

It is even very likely that it is identified with the ancient city of Ioron, which means guardian, and the name is fully justified by its location.

Palatiano was founded in the 10th century BC and developed in the classical and Hellenistic years from the 4th to the 1st century BC, centuries in which it became an urban center.

It reached its peak in the Roman years, from the 1st to the 3rd century AD, when it was destroyed by an unknown cause. This era is called the Pax Romana (Roman Peace) and Palatiano flourishes and benefits from the goods of peace.

The city was protected by fortifications and its development was adapted to the morphology of the terrain. In the excavated eastern part of the hill, which developed amphitheatrically, a high retaining wall contributed to its division into two districts.

Today's ruins, set in a beautiful natural landscape, seem to exude the splendor of antiquity. The visitor can walk through the authentic ancient streets of the city and climb to the top of the hill where the sanctuaries of the gods, the center of public life, were probably located. He can cross the narrow streets between buildings, houses and workshops, follow the natural slopes of the hill and wander through the neighborhoods that were once bustling with life.

The Palatiano was destroyed - for unknown reasons - but never rebuilt and never inhabited again, but the houses of the ancient inhabitants have survived the centuries unscathed. The modern passerby can imagine the people who once filled these buildings with life. In the rooms of the houses were found the personal belongings of the former inhabitants: mirrors and jewelry, tools for the house and field, lamps to drive away the darkness of the night, storage and drinking vessels, even toys, small clay carts with wheels for children, so many thousands of years ago, just like today.

The head of the Department of Antiquities of Kilkis, Georgia Stratouli says that "among the most important monuments that testify to the wealth of the city are the two honorary Heroa found in one of its neighborhoods. One of them, the family Heroon(a shrine dedicated to an ancient Greek or Roman hero and used for the commemoration or cult worship of the hero) of Patraos, Ammia and their three sons, is preserved in very good condition, with four of the five statues of the family members almost intact."

Patraos wears a tunic in a classical statue type that exudes prestige and respect, while the wife and mother, Ammia, is a respected mistress. Two of the three sons, one of whom is depicted as an athlete in heroic nudity while the other holds scrolls. Perhaps he was educated, perhaps he had distinguished himself in the political or intellectual life of his place.

The archeologists studying the material are now called upon to answer the question: Who was this famous Patraos really? Was he a metal trader who became rich? The archeological excavation brought him and his whole family to light, and the discovery is perhaps another myth in the labyrinth of human imagination.

According to Ms. Stratoulis, "the inhabitants of Palatiano believed in Olympian gods: Zeus, Hermes, Athena, but it seems that their favorite was the god Dionysus. In fact, a full-figure statue of the god with a panther skin was found in the area, while an inscription gives him the epithet GONGYLOS (= round). However, they also worshiped other deities such as the eastern Kybele, the Greek mother of the gods and the Egyptian god Bissa".

The finds from Palatiano indicate a robust, developed and diverse urban society, associated with agriculture and animal husbandry, but also with crafts and trade, while the large number of coins suggests trade relations with other Macedonian cities.

It is very likely that the source of their great wealth was some kind of metalworking craft, which was apparently very important for the inhabitants of the ancient city. Perhaps Patraos became rich through it, who raised an honorary Heroon for his family.

"The important thing about this archaeological site is that we can empathize with the people of the past. How did the people who lived in these houses, who walked through the alleys to get to their sanctuaries, or to their properties at dawn? What stories can we tell? Let us think about them when we look at their personal belongings," says Ms Stratoulis.

Palatiano is a vibrant city. A city that still exudes the aura, the joys, the sorrows, the failures and the successes, the loves and the sorrows of a complex but also simple society. And by its simplicity it fascinates the visitor.

The Ephorate of Antiquities of Kilkis has created a very interesting film to introduce the Palatiano to the general public. The general coordination and the overall editing of the film is the responsibility of the head of the Ephorate, Georgia Stratoulis, the scientific editing is done by the archaeologists Nektarios Poulakakis and Maria Farmaki, while the "tour guide" in the area is also the archaeologist Theodoros Papakostas and the direction was led by Thanos Kartsoglou.

Gary Vikan: It is nonsense that the British Museum will be emptied if Elgin Marbles are returned

Gary Vikan was director of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore from 1994 to 2013.

The British Commission for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures cites a recent New York Times article and statements by Gary Vikan, former director of the Baltimore museum.

"If anyone tells me that the British Museum will somehow be emptied by the return of the Parthenon sculptures to Greece, that's nonsense", commented Gary Vikan, director of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore from 1994 to 2013.

Prior to his work in Baltimore, Vikan was a senior fellow at Harvard's Center for Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington. He is a graduate of the Harvard Program for Art Museum Directors and the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program.

Vikan notes, "When I first entered the curatorial world, it was like the Wild West. Curators and museum directors wanted to acquire important works. They wanted to be the ones to get this painting, this sculpture, etc".

According to him, respective countries can - and do - make demands for antiquities that became illegal to export without official permission when it was already too late. "Italy, for example, has had such a law since 1909," he says.

Vikan, a former museum director, said that while he fully supports repatriation campaigns, the cost to museums is not just the loss of objects already in the collection. Given their limited acquisition budgets, U.S. museums rely on donations of antiquities, and now donors who do not have the necessary documents may be reluctant to donate and museums reluctant to accept them.

However, he is not concerned that the major museums, which typically display only a fraction of their holdings, will be hit hard by the increased repatriation efforts.

"If someone tells me that the British Museum will be emptied if the Parthenon sculptures are sent back to Greece, that's nonsense," he concluded.

Taiwan finds 4,800-year-old fossil of mother cradling baby

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Archaeologists in Taiwan have found a 4,800-year-old human fossil of a mother holding an infant child in her arms, museum officials said on Tuesday.

The 48 sets of remains unearthed in graves in the Taichung area are the earliest trace of human activity found in central Taiwan. The most striking discovery among them was the skeleton of a young mother looking down at a child cradled in her arms.

“When it was unearthed, all of the archaeologists and staff members were shocked. Why? Because the mother was looking down at the baby in her hands,” said Chu Whei-lee, a curator in the Anthropology Department at Taiwan’s National Museum of Natural Science.

The excavation of the site began in May 2014 and took a year to complete. Carbon dating was used to determine the ages of the fossils, which included five children.

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About 8 kilometers as the crow flies north from the Pyramids of Giza plateau, is the region of Abu Rawash, containing archaeological remains from different periods ranging from the Early Dynastic to the Coptic period. They are almost exclusively funerary features, covering all phases of the Pharaonic period and places of worship for the most recent eras. And one of these sites, which dates back to the Old Kingdom, is in a terrible state and is the subject of much speculation. Not much of it remains today, leaving archaeologists scratching their heads.

Was it unfinished, or was it just meant to be as it appears today? Could it have been a solar temple or a water reservoir? Or was it a pyramid destroyed in antiquity?

In today’s video, we will dive into the mysteries of the bewildering pyramid at Abu Rawash as we look into what the archaeologists discovered at this site that was overlooked for so long.

8 Million-Year-Old Hipparion Fossils Found In Xinjiang

URUMQI -- Fossils of Hipparion fauna have been found in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Archaeologists with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) recently discovered these fossils which could date back to 8 million years ago at a hillside in a pasture in Wenquan county.

The fossil beds are concentrated and dense, and some fossils are interrelated. After preliminary analysis and identification, the fossil group is left by Hipparion and common members of Hipparion fauna such as antelope, Palaeotragus and Tetralophodont which existed at the same time, according to Wang Shiqi with IVPP.

Hipparion fauna was widely distributed in the mid-latitude region of Eurasia 8 million to 5 million years ago, and their fossils were found in many provinces in northern China, Greece and Turkey.

In Xinjiang, Hipparion fauna only appeared in Wenquan county, making it a key location to link the distribution of Hipparion fauna at the east and west ends of Eurasia, which is of great significance for the study of paleoecological evolution during this period.

This fossil discovery site has high scientific research value, and will be excavated in a planned way in the future, Wang said.

Wenquan county is located in the west of the Mongolian autonomous prefecture of Bortala in Xinjiang. Mammalian fossils were reported to have been discovered here as early as the 1960s.

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This Girl Has Been Dead for a Century. When You See What She Does, You'll Be Terrified!

The Capuchin Catacombs of Palmero is located in Sicily. The catacombs were cared out of limestone caves in the late 16th century. It is believed that the catacombs were carved out after the local order of Capuchin friars ran out of burial space. According to the legend, 45 dead monks didn't have a burial placed after the cemetery had no room, so they built the new tomb.

The friars were shocked when they found that their 45 brothers that were placed in the catacombs didn't decompose. It likely happened naturally due to the conditions of the environment, but the monks believed that it was a Godly miracle. The dead monks were put on display so that their miraculous remains could be viewed.

Soon after the mummified monks became known, the Capuchin catacombs became a desirable place to be buried. Between the 17th and the 19th centuries, many affluent Palermites paid to be laid to rest in the catacombs. Inside, the mummies were displayed based on their social status, their sex, and their profession. They had special corridors and chapels set up for women, men, children, virgins, families, the clergy, and professional specialists.

In 1880, the catacombs were full to capacity, and they closed the door to new arrivals. After they stopped allowing new arrivals in, there were only two exceptions made. The first was in 1911, and the body of Giovanni Paterniti, the Vice-Consul of the United States, was admitted inside. The second was in 1920, and it was the body of a little girl named Rosalia Lombardo.

There isn't much documentation about Rosalia's background. According to the local lore, she was the daughter of a wealthy nobleman named Mario Lombardo. He served as a military general, which may be way exceptions were made to have her admitted into the catacombs. Legend says that she was a delicate child who was prone to illness and infection. After his daughter's death, Mario was heartbroken. He commissioned a master taxidermist named Alfredo Salafia to preserve her body. According to all accounts, Rosalina was Alfredo's most memorable and finest work. During his career as a taxidermist, it is said that he embalmed over 100 bodies until his death in 1933. After she was preserved, she was dubbed, Sleeping Beauty.

Alfredo took notes when he would embalm a body, and according to the handwritten note about Rosalina, he used a unique chemical formula that he designed himself. He used on part glycerin, one part formalin saturated with zinc sulfate and zinc chloride, and one part of an alcohol solution saturated with salicylic acid. During animal taxidermy, the organs are removed. When Alfredo preserved Rosalina's body, he didn't extract her organs. Instead, he drained her blood and injected the formula that he created. He likely did this through the femoral artery. The glycerine staved off desiccation and got rid of the bacteria that causes bodies to decay. The salicylic killed off any fungi, and the zinc salts preserved her body in a rigid state.

Rosalina's body was so immaculately preserved that she looks like she is made of wax. The History Channel wanted to determine if it was actually a human body, so they x-rayed her coffin in the 2000s. The x-ray showed that her skeleton and her brain were diminished by half the size. In 2009, National Geographic went a step further by performing an MRI scan of Rosalina. They were able to create a 3D map of her body, which showed the position of every organ. Every part of the little girl was so well preserved that it is hard to believe that she died almost a century ago.

Many people who have seen Rosalina's remains believe that her restless spirit haunts her body. There have been reports of her cool blue eyes opening, and staring at those who observe it. It is believed that she opens her eyes several times a day, and it has been documented. At least one photographer has captured her eyes opening.

Paranormal enthusiasts believe that her soul still possesses her body. Skeptics believe that the humidity and the ambient temperatures in the catacombs are responsible for her eyes opening. Piombino-Mascali, the curator of the catacombs, believes that it is merely an optical illusion produced by the light that comes in from the side windows. He also says that when her body was placed in the coffin that her eyes weren't completely closed.

This girl has been dead for a century. So when you see what she does, you'll be terrified. The sight of her eyes opening is as frightening as it is terrifying. Maybe she is haunting her own body, but perhaps there is a scientific reason. We may never know.

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