A multiple burial from the viking age in semigallia, Latvia

Abstract

During the Iron Age(c. 7th –11th centuries CE), in the period corresponding to the Viking Age in Scandinavia (c. 800–1050 CE), the dead in Semigallian cemeteries in Latvia were almost exclusively buried in single graves. At the Cunkani-Drengeri cemetery in the Zemgale region, only seven of 750 excavated inhumation burials (0.9%) contained more than one individual, making Burial 351 - with six individuals the largest and among the rarest. This study employed bioarchaeological and ancient DNA (aDNA) analyses with the aim of investigating the circumstances and biological relationships of the deceased. Palaeopathological analysis revealed sharp-force perimortem trauma in three adult males (Individuals A, B, and C), suggesting a violent cause of death. aDNA analysis identified a first-degree relationship (father and son) between Individuals C and D, and a third-degree relationship between Individuals A and D, while Individuals B and F were biologically unrelated to the others. All Y chromosomal haplogroups belonged to the N haplogroup. Population genetic analyses (PCA, F3/F4 statistics) indicated that the individuals are most similar to local ancient Baltic populations, with no evidence of predominantly Scandinavian ancestry. All the deceased were buried according to Semigallian burial traditions, and the event is dated to the second half of the 9th century CE, raising the possibility that the violence was connected to a Viking Age raid.