Scientists find the world’s oldest known identical twins in a 31,000-year-old tomb

The existence of human twins in the past is not unheard of. However, finding relatively well-preserved skeletons of a pair of newborn twins from thousands of years ago is nothing short of fascinating. An international team of scientists has discovered a 31,000-year-old burial site, and in it, the world’s oldest buried remains of identical twins.

According to the team of multidisciplinary researchers, the tomb belongs to the Upper Paleolithic period, which lasted 40,000 to 10,000 years ago, commonly known as the Old Stone Age. At the burial site, scientists found not only the remains of the twins, but also a third child, who is most likely a cousin.

“Discovering a multiple burial from the Paleolithic period is a specialty in itself. The fact that sufficient old and high-quality DNA could be extracted from the baby’s fragile skeletal remains for a genome analysis exceeded all our expectations and can be compared. to a lottery ticket, “Maria Teschler-Nicola, the study’s lead researcher, said in a statement.

Together in death

The oval-shaped tomb of the twins was found in an archaeological dig in Krems-Wachtberg, an ancient settlement, along the banks of the Danube River near the center of the city of Krems an der Donau, Austria, in 2005. Found covered with ocher— an earthy pigment made up of ferric oxide which was used in burials in ancient times – they were the mortal remains of the two children.

To confirm the relationship between the children, archaeologists conducted a genomic analysis of ancient DNA. The examination led the authors to conclude that two were not just twins, but identical twins. Additionally, the third child, believed to be around 3 months old and buried about 1.5 meters (5 feet) from where the twins were laid, was possibly a cousin.

Another interesting aspect of the discovery was that the twin, who lived a few weeks longer than his brother, was buried with him after his death. Therefore, the reopening of the tomb would be required for “burial”. This confirms a recently discovered cultural-historical phenomenon of opening tombs to re-interrupt corpses, something not known for the Paleolithic period.

Buried with “treasures”

The twins were not buried without treasures. 53 grains made of mammoth ivory were unearthed in the graves of the brothers that were probably strung on a thread like a necklace. Along with the pearls, a pierced fox incisor and three pierced mollusks, which were likely dangling on a necklace, were also found according to the study. Protecting the babies’ bodies from the elements above, a giant shoulder blade had been placed over their bodies.

Their supposed cousin, who had been buried not far from them, was also smeared with ocher. In his possession was an 8-centimeter (3-inch) mammoth ivory brooch, which may have been used to hold a leather garment in place during burial, the researchers explained.

Life, struggle and death

While genetic analysis revealed the relationship between the three ancient remains, a careful examination of the upper lateral deciduous incisors helped the researchers pinpoint their age. The authors focused on the “neonatal line or neonatal line (NNL) – a dark line on tooth enamel that separates the enamel that formed prenatally from the enamel formed after birth.

The NNL, along with the skeletal structures, suggested that the siblings completed nearly full or complete term and belonged to a hunter-gatherer group. Upon chemical analysis of several elements in tooth enamel, including isotopes such as barium, carbon, and nitrogen, it was learned that the twins had been breastfed. The authors speculated that one of the babies died not long after birth, while her twin brother only survived for 6-7 weeks. The cause of their death, however, has yet to be ascertained.

Although their cousin lived for three months, the “stress lines” on his teeth indicate that he was marred by feeding difficulties. This was likely because her mother suffered from mastitis – a painful breast infection – or died in childbirth. According to the authors, the premature death of children is perhaps a reflection of a phase of scarce food availability among the Paleolithic group of hunter-gatherers who settled in the area 30,000 years ago.