Highlights
- •triple burial from medieval Berlin/Cölln reveals remains of three men in a crouching position and extensive injuries.
- •genetic analysis indicates no close biological kinship between the individuals.
- •genetic and isotope analyses of geographical origin assignes two individuals as local and one with a possible distant origin.
- •data suggests that the shared grave arose from special circumstances of their death and the necessity of transport of the corpses to Berlin/Cölln.
Abstract
The German capital Berlin originates from the two medieval settlements Berlin and
Cölln on either side of the river Spree. Whereas Berlin is world famous, there is
very little awareness of former Cölln. From 2007–2009, during excavations of the earliest
cemetery of this forgotten medieval town; 3,126 graves were discovered containing
the remains of 3,717 individuals. Amongst those graves was an unusual triple burial.
This grave was exceptional due to the relative postures of the skeletons and their
extensive facial injuries. Here we present genetic and isotope data for this grave.
Genetic results confirmed all of them as biological male individuals and ruled out
their biological kinship. Combining genetic ancestry information with strontium isotope
data we furthermore determined that two of the men most likely originated from the
Berlin-Brandenburg region, whereas a more distant origin of the third individual can
be debated.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 04, 2022
Accepted:
May 1,
2022
Received in revised form:
April 28,
2022
Received:
February 1,
2022
Identification
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© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
