Sex Identification in Some Putative Infanticide Victims from Roman Britain Using Ancient DNA |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand;2. Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Straβe 10, Jena 07745, Germany;1. Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Via G. Gradenigo 6, 35131 Padova, Italy;2. Centro Studi Sudanesi e Sub-Sahariani (CSSeS), Strada Canizzano 128/d, 31100 Treviso, Italy |
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| Abstract: | Previous study of infant burials has suggested that infanticide was routinely practised during the Roman period in Britain. This, together with the observation that there is an adult sex imbalance in favour of males at many Romano-British cemetery sites, has raised the question of female infanticide. We attempted to investigate this possibility by identifying sex in some infant skeletons from Romano-British contexts using ancient DNA (aDNA) techniques. Of 31 individuals sampled, sex identification was successful in 13, of which nine were males and four females. These results are discussed in the light of previous work on DNA-based seeking of infant burials. |
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