中世纪共葬墓穴的真相：DNA揭示非血缘关系

斯德哥尔摩大学研究人员通过DNA分析对中世纪瑞典的埋葬习俗进行了深入调查，发现考古学上看似亲属关系的共同埋葬实际上往往并无血缘联系。1该研究分析了来自瑞典三处遗址——Sigtuna、Västerhus和Fjälkinge的142具中世纪晚期至维京时代晚期遗骨，其中包括60多名儿童和青少年。1研究人员Maja Krzewińska表示："我们通常认为成人与儿童共葬说明他们是父母与子女或其他近亲关系。但在大多数情况下，我们发现并非如此。"1这表明社会、宗教等因素而非血缘关系决定了中世纪埋葬的分组方式。1

研究还揭示了中世纪社会的性别分化埋葬模式。1在Västerhus遗址，男性和女性通常被埋葬在教堂墓地的不同侧边，男孩和女孩也遵循相同的埋葬模式。1此外，研究发现了一位名为Lady 56的女性，她与其父母、兄弟和两个女儿在同一教堂墓地的不同位置埋葬。1Lady 56的墓中发现了贝壳，象征她可能完成过前往西班牙西北部圣地亚哥德孔波斯特拉的中世纪朝圣之旅。1这位女性卒年不足30岁。1该研究已发表于《Science Advances》期刊。1

Researchers at Stockholm University have challenged long-held assumptions about medieval burial practices through genetic analysis of skeletal remains. DNA testing of 142 individuals from late medieval and late Viking Age Sweden, including more than 60 children and adolescents, revealed that adults and children interred together were typically not close relatives, contrary to what their proximity in graves might suggest 1. Instead, social and religious factors appear to have determined who was buried alongside whom.

The study examined remains from three Swedish sites: Sigtuna, Västerhus, and Fjälkinge 1. At Västerhus, the researchers discovered clear gender-based burial patterns in the churchyard, with males and females placed on opposite sides, a distinction that extended to boys and girls as well 1. This systematic spatial separation indicates that burial practices were governed by established social conventions rather than kinship bonds.

Among the notable findings was the case of an individual identified as Lady 56, who died before age 30 1. Though she was buried separately from her parents, siblings, and two daughters within the same churchyard 1, shells discovered in her grave suggest she had completed the medieval pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain 1. As researcher Maja Krzewińska stated, "We often assume that adults and children sharing a grave were parents and children or other close family members. In most cases, that was not what we found" 1. The research, published in Science Advances, fundamentally reshapes our understanding of how medieval communities organized death and commemoration.