The Study of Adoption in Archaeological Human Remains

Genealogy

article

Manuel Lozano-García¹  Cláudia Gomes¹  Sara Palomo-Díez¹  Ana María López-Parra¹  Eduardo Arroyo-Pardo¹ 

[1] Legal Medicine, Psychiatry and Pathology Department, Medicine School, Complutense University of Madrid;Forensic Sciences Group, Forensic Genetics and Toxicology, Health Research Institute of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos

关键词: adoption;    archaeological site;    genetics;    families;    kinship;    burials;   

DOI  :  10.3390/genealogy7020038

学科分类：公共、环境与职业健康

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

This review aims to establish criteria for identifying an adoption process in an archaeological context. We define adoption as raising an individual who does not belong genetically to the family. Adoption appears in different moments of past societies, and when establishing a “family” nucleus burial place we must consider certain social behaviors, such as burials under the houses, collective burials, or laying bodies in specific positions. After observing these signs, we are carrying out a genetic analysis, in order to confirm a biologically related family nucleus. These traces have been traditionally linked to family nuclei because they have been found previously in burials where biological kinship was confirmed. However, there can be cases where, after carrying out the genetic analyses, it is confirmed that certain individuals are not genetically related. In such cases, an adoption case cannot be ruled out. These cases are not easy to identify due to the differences between societies and cultures, so more in-depth studies should be carried out on the type of funeral practice in which these human remains are found to be able to discriminate an adopted individual from one who was not adopted. Therefore, the study of adoption should be carried out based on an in-depth knowledge of the cultural background, before using a powerful tool such as ancient DNA technology.

【 授权许可】

CC BY