The woman and two children in the ancient tomb turned out not to be mothers and children

Scientists from Uppsala University studied the DNA of people buried 5,500 years ago on the island of Gotland and found out that it was often not the closest relatives (mum, dad, children) who were buried in the same grave, but more distant relatives - aunts, cousins and second cousins. This means that not only "families in the modern sense" but also a wide circle of relatives were important for Stone Age people.

The study was conducted at the Ajvide burial ground, one of the most famous Stone Age monuments in Scandinavia. A total of 85 burials were found there. In some graves lay several people at once. Scientists chose four such graves and took samples from the teeth and bones of ten people to understand who came to whom.

Here's what came out.

1) A woman and two children - but it wasn't mum and kids.
In one grave lay a young woman (early 20s) and two small children. DNA showed: the children were siblings. But the woman was not their mother. According to the authors' version, she was most likely their aunt on their father's side (or a close relative in that line).

2) The girl and the man are father and daughter.
In another grave, the remains of an adult male were found next to the child (they may have been moved there later). DNA analysis showed that the man was the girl's father.

3) Two children in the same grave - probably cousins.
The third grave contained a boy and a girl. They turned out to be related "across a generation", that is, not brother and sister, but probably cousins.

4) A girl and a young woman - also not mother and daughter.
In the fourth grave, they found a girl and a young woman. DNA showed kinship at about the same level - that is, they could have been cousins or another similar relationship, but not "mother and child" or siblings.

The scientists note: archaeologists often automatically assume that if people were buried together, then they were the closest relatives. But this is not confirmed at Ajvide. Judging by the DNA data, people were well aware of who belonged to which clan, and could specifically bury together not only the "core of the family", but a large kin.

The team calls the work a first step. Further researchers plan to study the remains of more than 70 more people from the same burial ground to better understand how the ancient communities were organised and what rules they had in funeral rites.