Ancient Korean DNA Reveals Marriages Between Closely Related Individuals

DNA From 1,500-Year-Old Korean Mass Grave Exposes a Brutal Ancient Ritual

In ancient times, power plays were on a whole other level.

Entire families were bred to be sacrificed in ancient society, archaeologists reveal in horrifying study

A groundbreaking genetic investigation has uncovered evidence that whole families were put to death as offerings to local rulers in the ancient Silla kingdom, located in present-day South Korea, roughly 1,500 years ago.The research, published last Wednesday in Science Advances, examined remains from the Imdang-Joyeong burial site in Gyeongsan, situated in the southeastern Korean Peninsula.An international team of scientists studied 78 skeletons …

Ancient Korean DNA reveals marriages between closely related individuals

DNA studies of 1,500-year-old skeletons have revealed that ancient Koreans lived in tightly knit family networks where marrying close relatives was common in some cases, from powerful elites to individuals chosen for human sacrifice.