Incestuous ‘god-kings’ may not have ruled Neolithic Ireland after all. A previous study suggested that Newgrange, a Neolithic monument and passage tomb, may have been a burial site for god-kings and other dignitaries from a society that practiced incest. However, a new study, published in Antiquity, casts doubt upon this claim.
An international research team from University College Dublin (UCD), University of Bergen, the Australian National University, the University of York, University of Exeter, University of Liverpool, and the Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit reanalyzed the remains and noted very few instances of incest.
“People were definitely being selected for burial in passage tombs — the whole community does not end up in these monuments. However, we don’t know the reasons behind this selection, and why they were thought to be special,” said associate professor Jessica Smyth in the press release.
A 2020 Nature study identified skull fragments of a person ...
