Genealogy: The Tree Where History Meets Genetics

Abstract

Although biological relationships are a universal reality for all human beings, the concepts of “family” and “family bond” depend on both the geographic region and the historical moment to which they refer. However, the concept of “family” can be determinant in a large variety of societies, since it can influence the lines of succession, inheritances and social relationships, as well as where and with whom an individual is buried. The relation between a deceased person and other members of a community, other individuals of the same necropolis, or even with those who are buried in the same tomb can be analysed from the genetic point of view, considering different perspectives: archaeological, historical, and forensic. In the present work, the concepts of “family” and “kinship” are discussed, explaining the relevance of genetic analysis, such as nuclear and lineage markers, and their contribution to genealogical research, for example in the heritage of surnames and Y-chromosome, as well as those cases where some discrepancies with historical record are detected, such as cases of adoption. Finally, we explain how genetic genealogical analyses can help to solve some cold cases, through the analysis of biologically related relatives.

How Mitochondrial DNA Can Write Pre-History: Kinship and Culture in Duero Basin (Spain) during Chalcolithic and Bronze Age

“…However, it must be taken into account that we found a higher number of collective burials in Proto-Cogotas I culture than in the other periods, but it certainly looks like that it was more frequent to inhumate biologically related individuals together during this Proto-Cogotas I culture period; meanwhile, in other cases, it appears that the criterion to bury different individuals together could be another kind of criteria, like group associations. It must be considered that the concept of "family", which nowadays is reflected in the way of inhumation, was perhaps not the same in past times and societies (Gomes et al 2021).…”

Family in Medieval Society: A Bioarchaeological Perspective

“…There is no way of knowing exactly what the concept of family would have been like in prehistoric societies, as there are no written records. The approach that is often attempted is through the study of funeral practices and burials (Lee et al 2014;Palomo-Díez et al 2017;Gomes et al 2020;Gomes et al 2021;Rath et al 2024), trying to understand whether these were related to a certain biological kinship between individuals. In the case of the discovery of multiple graves with non-simultaneous burials (because in this case simultaneous burials, this could be due to epidemics or wars), the absence of biological kinship between individuals allows us to think about other types of "family", for example, a concept based on social rather than biological relations between individuals.…”

“…Nowadays, genetics is a valuable tool for finding solutions in historical, anthropological, and archaeological fields (Gomes et al 2021). Geneticists can provide answers to questions such as infants' biological sex, biogeographical origin, or external phenotype.…”

Family History in the Iberian Peninsula during Chalcolithic and Bronze Age: An Interpretation through the Genetic Analysis of Plural Burials

“…This would suggest that the organization of cemeteries may reflect the most important social relationships in our society. However, the image of the importance of the family in today's Western society may be poorly representative with regard to other cultures or periods, given that the concept of family may have varied, and this could be reflected in the burials (Gomes et al 2021).…”

“…Likewise, if we transfer this idea to past times, the study of kinship relationships between individuals buried together in other past cultures, we could get an idea of the weight given to certain social relationships. We can learn whether the biological family was also one of the key structures in society in other historical periods (Gomes et al 2021), or whether, on the contrary, greater importance was given to other social relationships not related to biological ties.…”