Ancient DNA study of the remains of putative infanticide victims from the Yewden Roman villa site at Hambleden, England
Ancient DNA study of the remains of putative infanticide victims from the Yewden Roman villa site at Hambleden, England
Previous analysis of the perinatal infant burials from Romano-British Yewden villa, Hambleden, indicated the practice of infanticide at that site. We attempted to determine whether this practice was specifically targeted at one sex or other by determining the sex of the infants using analysis of fragments of the amelogenin gene. We also analysed mtDNA in order to shed light on aspects of kinship. Thirty-three infants were analysed, and sex was successfully identified in 12. Seven were female, five male. No two infants shared identical mtDNA polymorphisms, indicating that all came from different mothers. Taken together with previous DNA results from perinatal remains from Romano-British sites where infanticide has been identified, they provide no evidence that manipulation of the sex ratio was a motivation for infanticide in Roman Britain
aDNA, sex determination, amelogenin, mtDNA, kinship
192-197
Hassan, A.
f16d7813-136b-414a-88cc-46c38cddff45
Brown, K.
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Eyers, J.
3595a8e3-0834-4298-b48f-f2602274a724
Brown, T.
65b220ab-5839-4e03-b923-97694339baaf
Mays, S.
ca149e77-7af6-4ff9-aa0b-0861d288adf3
2014
Hassan, A.
f16d7813-136b-414a-88cc-46c38cddff45
Brown, K.
4e1e882e-432a-45fd-b144-096c48621f7c
Eyers, J.
3595a8e3-0834-4298-b48f-f2602274a724
Brown, T.
65b220ab-5839-4e03-b923-97694339baaf
Mays, S.
ca149e77-7af6-4ff9-aa0b-0861d288adf3
Hassan, A., Brown, K., Eyers, J., Brown, T. and Mays, S.
(2014)
Ancient DNA study of the remains of putative infanticide victims from the Yewden Roman villa site at Hambleden, England.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 43, .
(doi:10.1016/j.jas.2013.12.017).
Abstract
Previous analysis of the perinatal infant burials from Romano-British Yewden villa, Hambleden, indicated the practice of infanticide at that site. We attempted to determine whether this practice was specifically targeted at one sex or other by determining the sex of the infants using analysis of fragments of the amelogenin gene. We also analysed mtDNA in order to shed light on aspects of kinship. Thirty-three infants were analysed, and sex was successfully identified in 12. Seven were female, five male. No two infants shared identical mtDNA polymorphisms, indicating that all came from different mothers. Taken together with previous DNA results from perinatal remains from Romano-British sites where infanticide has been identified, they provide no evidence that manipulation of the sex ratio was a motivation for infanticide in Roman Britain
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Published date: 2014
Keywords:
aDNA, sex determination, amelogenin, mtDNA, kinship
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Archaeology
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Local EPrints ID: 365084
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/365084
ISSN: 0305-4403
PURE UUID: 5a1afdbd-fba3-4ea9-a6eb-869af2e3f1b5
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Date deposited: 23 May 2014 08:06
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 16:46
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Author:
A. Hassan
Author:
K. Brown
Author:
J. Eyers
Author:
T. Brown
Author:
S. Mays
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