BIOLOGICAL KINSHIP IN 750 YEARS OLD HUMAN REMAINS FROM CENTRAL ARGENTINA WITH SIGNS OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE

NORES R.; RENA V; ANGELETTI S; DEMARCHI DA; MODESTI N; FABRA M

FORENSIC SCIENCE MEDICINE AND PATHOLOGY

HUMANA PRESS INC

Lugar: Oregon; Año: 2020

1547-769X

Humanskeletal remains of an adult male (20-24 years old) and a juvenile (4-8 yearsold), dated to 750 ± 85 14 C years BP, were found on the southern margin of MarChiquita Lagoon (Córdoba, Argentina). Both individuals show signs of beingvictims of interpersonal violence, with arrowheads associated to the remainsand perimortem lesions on the juvenile, besides an unusual form of burial, withthe juvenile partially overlapped with the adult. The aim of this work is tostudy a possible kin relationship between these two individuals through ancientDNA analysis. Biological kinship was evaluated by autosomal and Y-chromosomeSTRs (short tandem repeats) typing, PCR-APLP for SNP determination andhypervariable region I sequencing of the mitochondrial DNA. Results signal thatthese individuals shared the same Y chromosomal haplotype but differentmitochondrial lineages. Likelihood ratio analyses based on autosomal lociindicate that genetic profiles of the human remains are more likely under thehypothesis of father-son bond. The paleogenetic approach combined with forensicgenetics methods applied to this study allowed to confirm a hypothesisoriginated in bioarchaeological evidence and constitutes a unique case inArgentina of kinship determination based on DNA profiles of human remains in anarchaeological context of  interpersonalviolence. It is important to highlight the contribution made by these studiesto address topics usually hidden in bioarchaeological studies, such ascommunity organization, cultural customs and mortuary practices.