DNA analysis of prehistoric bones tells us an awful lot about what went on before written records. The genetic profiles of people living in Ireland around 5,000 years ago reveal first-degree incest among the area's ruling elite.
An adult male, buried at Newgrange passage tomb, had DNA consistent with first-degree incest, meaning his parents were siblings or possibly parent and child. The authors of the new study, led by Daniel Bradley from Trinity College Dublin, say this individual was likely a member of the ruling social elite, who used incest as a political tool.
“I’d never seen anything like it. We all inherit two copies of the genome, one from our mother and one from our father,” said Lara Cassidy, also from Trinity and the first author of the paper, in a press release. “Well, this individual’s copies were extremely similar, a tell-tale sign of close inbreeding. In fact, our analyses allowed us to confirm that his parents were first-degree relatives.”
Of course, royal families have practiced incest in many places, to avoid sharing wealth or power with other families. The research at Newgrange also reveals an instance of Down's syndrome, clues about the beginnings of agriculture in Ireland, and a possible oral history connection that harks back to those times. Read about the study at Gizmodo.
(Image credit: L. M. Cassidy et al., 2020)