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Building tombs and entombing the dead as technologies of descent and affinity in Neolithic northern Scotland

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Chris FowlerORCiD

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Abstract

When grounded within relevant archaeological contexts, ancient DNA analysis can provide critical insights into prehistoric human populations. This is demonstrated in this article, where the authors examine the genetic relatedness of individuals whose remains were placed in five Neolithic tombs in Caithness and Orkney, northern Scotland. The results reveal a web of biological ties that, the authors argue, suggests sustained contact between these communities beyond the onset of the Neolithic and shared understandings of kinship, including descent and a sense of affinity, but emerging local differences in how kinship was materialised through monumental architecture.

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Author(s): Cummings V, Fowler C, Olalde I, Cuthbert S, Reich D

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Antiquity

Year: 2026

Volume: 100

Issue: 410

Pages: 324–339

Print publication date: 14/04/2026

Online publication date: 14/04/2026

Acceptance date: 02/10/2025

Date deposited: 02/06/2026

ISSN (print): 0003-598X

ISSN (electronic): 1745-1744

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

URL: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2026.10291

DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2026.10291

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