Buried in each other's arms:Scientists discover remains of world's most ancient nuclear family

Daily Mail ^ | 17 Nov 2008 | Daily Mail

[BGHater]

FR family ping.

[KingSnorky]

And, amazingly, they all managed to vote in Ohio’s election earlier this month.

[erkyl]

Were they perhaps the victims of a violent Gay pride rally?

[SunkenCiv]

The Simpsons? The Jetsons? The Einsteins?

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks BGHater. Thought I'd seen this before, but couldn't find it. PING! To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[Citizen Blade]

Hmmm.... I’d be careful trying to compare these people to what we consider the modern nuclear family.

As was the case throughout most of human history, they probably lived in a multi-generational family setting, with three or more generations (including widowed aunts, bachelor uncles and infirm grandparents) living close by.

The post WWII nuclear family of mom, dad and the kids is a historical anomaly.

[SirJohnBarleycorn]

analysis revealed the researchers were a mother, father and their two sons

A family of stone-age researchers. Remarkable.

[erkyl]

The article said testing done on the remains indicate they were related as mother, father, and sons. But the article did agree with your assertion that we mustn’t assume this was the norm.

[Fido969]

All hetros?

[bmwcyle]

Several bodies also had defence injuries to the forearms and hands.

What does this tell you?

[BGHater]

No Heckler & Koch back then?

[bmwcyle]

LOL

[Citizen Blade]

The article said testing done on the remains indicate they were related as mother, father, and sons. But the article did agree with your assertion that we mustn’t assume this was the norm.

I think it makes sense to bury a family unit like that together, especially if they were all killed at the same time by raiders or bandits or whatever. I think that's a natural response for any society. I'd guess their surviving tribesmen buried these people after the attack.

[WOBBLY BOB]

look for Prop 8 loony opponents to come stomp on them now.

[Ciexyz]

Mr. and Mrs. Barney Rubble and Bam Bam. Second son was cut from TV show due to time contraints.

[Vaduz]

Some times stompers become stompees your sticks please.

[wrhssaxensemble]

Thankfully ACORN really does represent the unrepresented like this family

[Varda]

By definition, the nuclear family is mother/father. Relatives beyond that aren't nuclear, they are peripheral to the central grouping. Extended family groupings that include aunts uncles, cousins etc are clan groups.

The fact that these people were buried together like this suggests that this culture consciously separated the nuclear family from the rest of the group. Pretty neat but I would guess nuclear families as the human norm are at least 10,000 years old.

[GOPyouth]

I'm somewhat confused by some of the comments made within this article. The article suggests that this is a one of a kind find, stating that "this is a particularly significant find because it is the first time we can conclusively prove a family has been buried together." It goes on to state that previous graves were mass graves.

However, when discussing the position of the bodies, the article points out that it was unusual for children to be positioned facing the parents during that time.

To me, that suggests that finding the families buried together is not unique, but that the positioning of the children is.

Maybe this is the oldest found nuclear from Germany or Europe, rather than the world.