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Human remains are seen in a grave, near Eulau in Germany in this undated handout photograph received in London on November 17, 2008.
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A 4,600-year-old grave in Germany containing the remains of two adults and their children provides the earliest evidence that even prehistoric tribes attached importance to the family unit, researchers said on Monday.
The researchers used DNA analysis and other techniques to determine that the group buried facing each other -- an unusual practice in Neolithic culture -- consisted of a mother, father and their two sons aged 8-9 and 4-5 years.
"By establishing the genetic links between the two adults and two children buried together in one grave, we have established the presence of the classic nuclear family in a prehistoric context in Central Europe -- to our knowledge the oldest authentic molecular genetic evidence so far," Wolfgang Haak of the University of Adelaide said in a statement.
"Their unity in death suggests a unity in life."
The remains were found in graves that held a total of 13 people, Haak and colleagues reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Several were buried face-to-face, with arms and hands interlinked in many cases. The remains included children ranging from newborns up to 10 years of age, and adults of around 30 years or older.
Tests showed that many had suffered massive injuries, suggesting they were victims of a violent raid. One female had a stone projectile point embedded in her back and another had skull fractures.
"Our study of the Eulau individuals shows that their deaths were sudden and violent, apparent in lesions caused by stone axes and arrows, with evidence of attempts of some of the individuals to defend themselves from blows," the researchers wrote.
An analysis of dental remains also offered up insight into Stone Age society and showed that the females came from different regions than the males and their children.
This is evidence that men sought partners from different regions to avoid inbreeding and that it was customary for women to move to the location of the males, the researchers said.
"Such traditions would have been important to avoid inbreeding and to forge kinship networks with other communities," Alistair Pike, an archaeologist at the University of Bristol, who co-led the study, said in a statement.
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(Agencies)
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研究人員于本周一稱，他們?cè)诘聡?guó)發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)距今4600年、葬有兩個(gè)成年人和兩個(gè)小孩的墓穴，這是目前發(fā)現(xiàn)的最早的可證明史前部落也重視家庭單位的證據(jù)。
研究人員采用DNA分析和其它鑒定技術(shù)得出結(jié)論，墓穴中合葬的是一家四口——包括父親、母親和兩個(gè)年齡分別在8-9歲和4-5歲的男孩。墓中的人是面對(duì)面地被埋葬，這在新石器時(shí)代并不常見。
阿德萊德大學(xué)的沃夫?qū)す嗽谝环萋暶髦蟹Q，通過(guò)建立墓穴中四個(gè)人的基因聯(lián)系，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，中歐史前文明時(shí)期已存在典型的核心家庭。據(jù)我們了解，這是迄今為止發(fā)現(xiàn)的最早的可靠分子遺傳學(xué)證據(jù)。
他說(shuō)：“這種合葬方式說(shuō)明他們生前也很親密。”
哈克及其同事在《美國(guó)國(guó)家科學(xué)院院刊》上發(fā)表的研究報(bào)告中稱，這四具遺骸是在幾個(gè)共葬有13人的墓穴中發(fā)現(xiàn)的。
其中有幾具遺骸是面對(duì)面擺放，有很多遺骸的手臂和手纏在一起。經(jīng)鑒定，墓穴中的遺骸有剛出生至10歲年齡不等的小孩，還有30多歲的成年人。
鑒定結(jié)果顯示，很多人死時(shí)身負(fù)重傷，這表明他們可能死于一場(chǎng)暴力事件。其中一具女性遺骸的背部有一個(gè)石彈擊中點(diǎn)，還有一具遺骸的頭骨有裂痕。
研究人員寫道：“通過(guò)研究Eulau地區(qū)發(fā)掘出的這些遺骨，我們可以判斷這些人當(dāng)時(shí)死于一場(chǎng)暴力突襲，遺骸上的石斧傷和箭傷可以說(shuō)明這一點(diǎn)，另外還有一些證據(jù)表明有些人死前曾試圖保護(hù)自己。”
此外，研究人員通過(guò)牙齒鑒定發(fā)現(xiàn)，墓葬中的女性與她們的丈夫和孩子來(lái)自不同的地區(qū)，這也增進(jìn)了人們對(duì)石器時(shí)代的了解。
研究人員稱，這說(shuō)明當(dāng)時(shí)的男性從不同的地區(qū)尋找配偶，以避免近親繁殖，而女性嫁到男性的家鄉(xiāng)也是當(dāng)時(shí)的一大習(xí)俗。
研究負(fù)責(zé)人之一、布里斯托大學(xué)考古學(xué)家艾利斯戴爾?派克稱，這些傳統(tǒng)對(duì)避免近親繁殖，以及與其他部落建立血緣關(guān)系十分有利。
（實(shí)習(xí)生許雅寧 英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 姍姍 編輯）
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