Unraveling ancestry, kinship, and violence in a Late Neolithic mass grave

TLDR

The third millennium BCE saw major cultural and demographic shifts in Europe, with Pontic steppe peoples expanding westward to form the Corded Ware complex while the Globular Amphora culture spread across Central and Eastern Europe, yet its interactions with neighboring Corded Ware and steppe societies remain poorly understood. The study aims to analyze a Late Neolithic mass grave in southern Poland, comprising 15 Globular Amphora individuals killed by head blows. Genomic sequencing at 1.1–3.9× coverage and kinship analyses revealed that the 15 individuals formed a large extended family. The bodies were arranged by kinship, the group lacked steppe ancestry distinguishing them from neighboring Corded Ware, and the combined genetic and archaeological data illuminate the kinship structure and social behavior of this Late Neolithic community.

Abstract

The third millennium BCE was a period of major cultural and demographic changes in Europe that signaled the beginning of the Bronze Age. People from the Pontic steppe expanded westward, leading to the formation of the Corded Ware complex and transforming the genetic landscape of Europe. At the time, the Globular Amphora culture (3300–2700 BCE) existed over large parts of Central and Eastern Europe, but little is known about their interaction with neighboring Corded Ware groups and steppe societies. Here we present a detailed study of a Late Neolithic mass grave from southern Poland belonging to the Globular Amphora culture and containing the remains of 15 men, women, and children, all killed by blows to the head. We sequenced their genomes to between 1.1- and 3.9-fold coverage and performed kinship analyses that demonstrate that the individuals belonged to a large extended family. The bodies had been carefully laid out according to kin relationships by someone who evidently knew the deceased. From a population genetic viewpoint, the people from Koszyce are clearly distinct from neighboring Corded Ware groups because of their lack of steppe-related ancestry. Although the reason for the massacre is unknown, it is possible that it was connected with the expansion of Corded Ware groups, which may have resulted in competition for resources and violent conflict. Together with the archaeological evidence, these analyses provide an unprecedented level of insight into the kinship structure and social behavior of a Late Neolithic community.