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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，他們在德國發現了一個距今4600年、葬有兩個成年人和兩個小孩的墓穴，這是目前發現的最早的可證明史前部落也重視家庭單位的證據。
研究人員采用DNA分析和其它鑒定技術得出結論，墓穴中合葬的是一家四口——包括父親、母親和兩個年齡分別在8-9歲和4-5歲的男孩。墓中的人是面對面地被埋葬，這在新石器時代并不常見。
阿德萊德大學的沃夫岡·哈克在一份聲明中稱，通過建立墓穴中四個人的基因聯系，我們發現，中歐史前文明時期已存在典型的核心家庭。據我們了解，這是迄今為止發現的最早的可靠分子遺傳學證據。
他說：“這種合葬方式說明他們生前也很親密。”
哈克及其同事在《美國國家科學院院刊》上發表的研究報告中稱，這四具遺骸是在幾個共葬有13人的墓穴中發現的。
其中有幾具遺骸是面對面擺放，有很多遺骸的手臂和手纏在一起。經鑒定，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。
鑒定結果顯示，很多人死時身負重傷，這表明他們可能死于一場暴力事件。其中一具女性遺骸的背部有一個石彈擊中點，還有一具遺骸的頭骨有裂痕。
研究人員寫道：“通過研究Eulau地區發掘出的這些遺骨，我們可以判斷這些人當時死于一場暴力突襲，遺骸上的石斧傷和箭傷可以說明這一點，另外還有一些證據表明有些人死前曾試圖保護自己。”
此外，研究人員通過牙齒鑒定發現，墓葬中的女性與她們的丈夫和孩子來自不同的地區，這也增進了人們對石器時代的了解。
研究人員稱，這說明當時的男性從不同的地區尋找配偶，以避免近親繁殖，而女性嫁到男性的家鄉也是當時的一大習俗。
研究負責人之一、布里斯托大學考古學家艾利斯戴爾?派克稱，這些傳統對避免近親繁殖，以及與其他部落建立血緣關系十分有利。
（實習生許雅寧 英語點津 姍姍 編輯）
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