Burial of two closely related infants under a “dragon stone” from prehistoric Armenia

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“Dragon stones” are prehistoric basalt stelae carved with animal imagery found in Armenia and surrounding regions. These monuments have a complex history of use and reuse across millennia, and the original date of creation is still a matter of debate. In this article, we present a unique dragon stone context excavated at the site of Lchashen, Armenia, where a three-and-a-half-meter high basalt stela with an image of a sacrificed bovid was found above a burial dating to the 16th century BC. The burial stands out among hundreds from this site as the only one in connection with a “dragon stone”, and one of very few containing the remains of newborn babies. Furthermore, our analyses of ancient DNA extracted from the well-preserved skeletal remains of two 0–2-month-old individuals showed them to be second-degree related females with identical mitochondrial sequences of the haplogroup U5a1a1 lineage, thus indicating that the infants are closely related. Additionally, we assessed that the buried individuals displayed genetic ancestry profiles similar to other Bronze Age individuals from the region.

Original languageEnglish
Article number104601
JournalJournal of Archaeological Science: Reports
Volume57
Number of pages15
ISSN2352-409X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s)

    Research areas

  • Ancient DNA, Armenia, Bronze Age, Burial practices, Caucasus, Next-generation sequencing

ID: 396094860