Researchers discovered a 4,600 year old burial site in Germany earlier this month, a find that is especially significant as it yields the earliest known evidence of people living together in family units.
Four nearly identical Stone Age burial sites were located in Eulau, Saxony-Anhalt. Through DNA analysis researchers were able to prove that the graves were actually family burials. The remains of a mother, father, and two children were found carefully buried together. Another grave contained two siblings and an unrelated female. Researchers believe this female was likely a paternal aunt. The individuals were buried facing each other and all remains dated to the same time period.
Wolfgang Haak of the University of Adelaide commented, "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."
While tools and artifacts dating to the Stone Age have been studied in depth, not much is currently known about the societal norms of Stone Age life. This find is particularly significant because it proves that early peoples recognized nuclear families, and perhaps even resided in nuclear family units.
Furthermore, the evidence suggests that the individuals located were victims of a raid. Researchers believe that the survivors of this raid returned once their attackers had left in order to bury their dead. Burial is significant because it often suggests a belief in the afterlife, or in the very least a reverence for the dead. Burying family units together suggests that such units were recognized and important to early peoples. The uniformity of the burials suggests that the ritual of burying the dead had already been established, something previously unknown.
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