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

Cummings, Vicki, Fowler, Chris, Olalde, Inigo, Cuthbert, Sarah and Reich, David 2025. Building tombs and entombing the dead as technologies of descent and affinity in Neolithic northern Scotland. Antiquity

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Abstract

This article demonstrates the significance of incorporating aDNA into wider archaeological analyses to investigate Neolithic tombs in contiguous regions. The results demonstrate close genetic relatedness between individuals whose remains were placed in these tombs, providing unique evidence for sustained contact between communities in Caithness and Orkney beyond the onset of the Neolithic, shared understandings of kinship, including descent and a broader sense of affinity, and emerging local differences in how kinship was materialized. This approach is innovative and critical for understanding the spread and use of monumental architecture and interpretations of kinship in northern Europe more widely.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	0003-598X
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	17 December 2025
Date of Acceptance:	2 October 2025
Last Modified:	17 Dec 2025 14:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/183303

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