Unraveling ancestry, kinship, and violence in a Late Neolithic mass grave

In 2011 archaeological excavations near the village of Koszyce, Poland, uncovered a 5000-year-old mass burial with the remains of 15 men, women and children belonging to the Globular Amphora culture. All had suffered violent deaths but had been buried with great care. To shed new light on this apparent tragedy we conducted a detailed interdisciplinary investigation of the skeletons. Genome-wide kinship analyses revealed an extended family with several first- and second-degree relationships. The bodies had been carefully arranged according to these relationships by someone who knew the deceased. Strontium isotope measurements of tooth enamel indicate a semi-settled lifestyle. The analyses provide an unprecedented level of insight into social behavior, group structure, and violent intergroup conflict at the end of the Neolithic period in Europe.