Incestuous ‘god-kings’ may not have ruled Neolithic Ireland after all. A previous study suggested that Newgrange, a Neolithic monument and passage tomb, may have been a burial site for god-kings and other dignitaries from a society that practiced incest. However, a new study, published in Antiquity, casts doubt upon this claim.
An international research team from University College Dublin (UCD), University of Bergen, the Australian National University, the University of York, University of Exeter, University of Liverpool, and the Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit reanalyzed the remains and noted very few instances of incest.
“People were definitely being selected for burial in passage tombs — the whole community does not end up in these monuments. However, we don’t know the reasons behind this selection, and why they were thought to be special,” said associate professor Jessica Smyth in the press release.
Fragmented Family in Neolithic Ireland
A 2020 Nature study identified skull fragments of a person who was likely the child of incest. Since the remains were discovered inside the tomb chamber of Newgrange, it was believed that this person could have been royalty. Other remains of distant relatives were found in other tombs across Ireland, leading to the belief that the elites of the time practiced incest.
The term ‘god-king’ was attributed to this situation, as it seemed similar to those of the ancient Pharaohs in Egypt and higher-ups in the Incan Empire, according to a press release.
However, the lead authors of the Antiquity study, Smyth and associate professor Neil Carlin, of the UCD School of Archaeology, have found no other evidence of incest across Paleolithic Ireland or Britain and sparse evidence of incest across prehistoric Europe.
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Incest in the Royal Family
Newgrange is older than the Pyramids of Giza and Stonehenge, and was believed to have been built by a farming community in County Meath about 5,000 years ago. The skull fragments from the Nature study were dated between 3340 B.C.E and 3020 B.C.E., and according to the press release, may have been from a rare case of incest and not from an incestuous elite.
However, Smyth and Carlin argue this idea that the individual from Newgrange was an elite stems from other ancient cultures where incest was isolated to the royal family — like in Ancient Egypt — but looks over the incest that occurred in non-elite or egalitarian communities.
“A one-off example of incest is a shaky foundation on which to reconstruct an elite, let alone a specific social [hierarchy],” said the authors in the press release.
Minimal DNA Evidence
According to the Antiquity study, genetic clustering in passage tombs typically involves distant relationships, such as second cousins or great-great-great-grandparents. Because of this, the study authors say, the evidence suggests that burial practices weren’t always determined by family lineage.
“We now have some really great examples of monuments elsewhere in Europe that contain people with very close biological ties — parents, children, grandparents, etc. This sort of aDNA evidence is much closer to the idea of a lineage or dynasty. We do not see this evidence in Irish passage tombs,” said Smyth in the press release.
However, much of what was once encased in Newgrange has been disturbed or destroyed. Before its excavation in 1960, other people from as far back as 1699 had entered the passage tomb.
“Burnt and unburnt fragments from just five people were recovered from the 1960s excavations of the tomb. Due to the high levels of disturbance in the centuries before that, we don’t know if this number was originally much higher,” said Carlin in the press release.
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A graduate of UW-Whitewater, Monica Cull wrote for several organizations, including one that focused on bees and the natural world, before coming to Discover Magazine. Her current work also appears on her travel blog and Common State Magazine. Her love of science came from watching PBS shows as a kid with her mom and spending too much time binging Doctor Who.
