8 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Infinite Embrace: New research sheds light on Bronze Age family relationships that link Britain to Luxembourg

A new study of early Bronze Age examples from Luxembourg and Britain, led by researchers from the universities of Mainz and Ferrara, finds indications of a patrilineal descent system for western Eurasian Bell Beaker communities. / Family relationships that link Britain to Luxembourg.

Poignant prehistoric burials containing the remains of an adult and child laid in the grave as though embracing in death have long fascinated archaeologists. A new study of early Bronze Age examples from Luxembourg and Britain provides insights into family relationships in prehistoric communities and the transition from collective to individual burial in 3rd millennium BC Western Eurasia. The results provide the first genetic evidence that Bell Beaker communities in Northwest Europe buried children with their biological mothers and other close biological relatives.

Astonishing similarities between a double burial in Luxembourg and a British grave 500 kilometers away

In 2000, archaeologists from Luxembourg working on the construction of a highway in the south of the country at Altwies ‘Op dem Boesch’, discovered graves dated to the Bell Beaker period (2450 – 1800 BC). One grave contained the skeletons of a woman and child, buried facing each other, the adult holding the head of the dead child in her hand in a final gesture of maternal love.

As part of a new project on the prehistory of Luxembourg, this ancient family tragedy has now provided a team of European researchers with an opportunity to answer wider questions about Bronze Age burial practices and family relationships in Europe using archaeology, anthropology, and ancient DNA. For the burial was not unique. Work by Dr Foni Le Brun-Ricalens, Director of the Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques (INRA) and one of the instigators of the study, uncovered another hauntingly similar grave from a round barrow at Dunstable Downs in Bedfordshire in Britain – more than 500 kilometers away from Altwies.

This burial, uncovered in 1887, led archaeologist Dr. Maxime Brami of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), one of the lead authors of the study, to investigate whether the two graves were connected in some way. What was the particular significance of the double burial? Did the adult and child die together, perhaps violently? Did these families know each other? Why were the burial rituals so similar? To answer these questions, a team was put together to analyze and compare the grave goods and skeletal remains from the graves in Britain and Luxembourg.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



Skeletal remains of an adult and a child at Altwies "Op dem Boesch". Photo/©: Foni Le Brun-Ricalens, Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques, Luxembourg
Skeletal remains of an adult and a child at Altwies “Op dem Boesch”. Photo/©: Foni Le Brun-Ricalens, Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques, Luxembourg

Ancient DNA analysis reveals that adults and children were closely related

The bones from Dunstable Downs were traced to Luton Cultural Trust with the help of Elise Naish, Head of Heritage and Collections at Luton Cultural Trust, and Dr. Katie Meheux from the UCL Institute of Archaeology Library. Despite their early excavation date in the late 19th century, the provenance of the skeletons was well-documented and the bones were in a good state of preservation. Anthropologist Dr. Nicoletta Zedda from the University of Ferrara, a lead author of the study, was able to examine the remains. Together with geneticists from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), she was able to analyze the genomes of all four skeletons from the two adult-child burials.

The DNA revealed fascinating insights into shared ancestry and culture in Early Bronze Age Europe. All four individuals, although separated by hundreds of kilometers, traced most of their ancestry from steppe populations that migrated from Eastern and Central Europe in the 3rd millennium BC. Perhaps more significant was the intriguing family relationships revealed.  “The skeletons from Altwies were of a woman and a boy of around three years of age, and DNA analysis revealed that they were indeed mother and son,” explained Dr. Nicoletta Zedda. “The picture looks different for Dunstable Downs: a young woman and a girl about 6 years old, but DNA revealed they are in fact paternal aunt and niece.”

Genetic data suggest a patrilineal descent system

In continental Europe, the orientation of Bell Beaker graves followed strict rules based on the sex of the individual. In Altwies, the orientation of the grave was aligned with the sex of the child, a male, and not that of his biological mother. At Dunstable Downs, the adult and child were second-degree related on the paternal side, suggesting that here a paternal aunt perhaps played the role of substitute parent or primary caregiver for the child, at least in death. “The data might hint at a patrilineal descent system for western Eurasian Bell Beaker people,” affirmed archaeologist Dr. Maxime Brami. “And our findings suggest that – at least in some Early Bronze Age communities – extended families lived and buried their dead together, placing emphasis on biological and kin relationships.”

A highly codified burial practice with a lost meaning

The cause of death and reasons for joint burial are still unknown. No marks of violence were found on the skeletons. Further research for the project uncovered over a hundred joint burials of adults and children similar to the ones described here across Eurasia, dating from the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC. The researchers could propose many explanations for joint burial and simultaneous death, perhaps violence, infections, or pandemics, but the astonishing similarities between the burials from Luxembourg and Britain suggest that communities, indeed perhaps families, in Bell Beaker Europe mourned their dead according to widely held and closely followed formal rituals. “The body of a woman, lying as though sleeping, clasping a child in her arms, is poignant and emotive. Although that peaceful image may be deceptive, it still reflects a lost meaning retained across thousands of miles and amongst many diverse cultures,” emphasized Dr. Maxime Brami.

Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-45612-3

Cover Photo: Skeletal remains of an adult and a child at Dunstable Downs (ill./©: illustration from the book “Man, The Primeval Savage” (1894) by Worthington Smith

Related Articles

Spectacular ancient mosaic found in Paphos, Cyprus

21 July 2021

21 July 2021

During the excavations carried out on Fabrika Hill in Kato Paphos, Cyprus, an ancient mosaic floor belonging to the Hellenistic...

A 2,500-year-old celestial map carved on the surface of a circular stone found in Italy

25 December 2023

25 December 2023

Two circular stones measuring 50 centimeters in diameter have been discovered in Castelliere di Rupinpiccolo, an ancient hilltop fortress in...

The 4,500-year-old Wisconsin canoe was built around the same time that Stonehenge was being constructed

31 May 2024

31 May 2024

Historians from Wisconsin have reported the amazing finding of at least eleven prehistoric canoes in Lake Mendota, which is close...

Naked Venus statue discovered in a Roman garbage dump in France

29 March 2023

29 March 2023

Archaeologists from the French National Institute for Preventative Archaeological Research (Inrap) has been uncovered a trove of artifacts, including two...

Remains of first Islamic madrassa found in Turkey’s Harran

1 December 2021

1 December 2021

The remnants of a 12th-century madrassa (Islamic institution of higher instruction) have been discovered in the archaeological site of Harran,...

Oregon may be home to oldest human occupied site in North America

12 July 2023

12 July 2023

Where and when the first humans appeared in North America is a contentious issue that many disagree on, and this...

Colossal Assyrian Winged Bull Unearthed in Iraq: Largest Ever at Six Meters

21 September 2025

21 September 2025

Iraq’s cultural authorities have revealed a discovery that could redefine the scale of Assyrian art: a six-meter-tall winged bull, or...

New Research Uncovers Earliest Evidence of Humans in Rainforests, Pushing Timeline Back 150,000 Years

3 March 2025

3 March 2025

The rainforests, as important biomes on earth, were considered uninhabited until recent history. New findings now show that humans lived...

Dozens of unique bronze ornaments discovered in a drained peat bog in Poland

28 January 2023

28 January 2023

Numerous bronze ornaments have been discovered in Poland’s Chełmno region (Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship). Archaeologists report that dozens of bronze ornaments, including...

A princely tomb discovered in the infrastructure project of the A7 Ploieşti-Buzău highway in Romania

20 December 2022

20 December 2022

An impressive archaeological discovery took place on the Ploiești-Buzău section of the Moldova Highway. The excavations uncovered a princely tomb,...

5,700-Year-old Ancient “Chewing Gum” Gives Information About People and Bacteria of the Past

4 April 2021

4 April 2021

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have successfully extracted the complete human genome from “chewing gum” thousands of years ago....

The earliest Buddha statues in China found in northwestern Shaanxi

10 December 2021

10 December 2021

The two copper-tin-lead alloy Buddha statues discovered in northwestern Shaanxi Province became the earliest Buddha statues of this kind unearthed...

A Connection Between Viking Knots And Quantum Vortices Discovered

14 December 2022

14 December 2022

Scientists demonstrated how three vortices can be linked in such a way that they cannot be dismantled. Although this study...

2,000-year-old Celtic hoard of gold ‘rainbow cups’ discovered in northeastern Germany

13 January 2022

13 January 2022

Archaeologists have found an ancient Celtic coins treasure consisting of 41 gold coins in a field in Brandenburg, a state...

An artificial intelligence “Ithaca” that will improve our understanding of ancient history

11 March 2022

11 March 2022

A deep neural network trained to restore ancient Greek texts can do so with 72% accuracy when used by historians,...