Overview
- A peer-reviewed study published in Science Advances in July 2026 analyzed DNA from 142 skeletons from three Swedish cemeteries dated to the 10th–14th centuries.
- The researchers found that adults and children interred together rarely shared close biological kinship, overturning the common assumption that co-burials equal parent–child or nuclear-family plots.
- People buried together were usually the same biological sex, and DNA sexing of infants showed children were placed according to the same gendered cemetery rules applied to adults.
- The authors say several forces probably shaped those burial choices, including early Christian rules that excluded unbaptized infants from consecrated ground, seasonal difficulties in burying the dead, and non‑biological community ties.
- The study also identified multi‑generation kin groups at some sites—most notably a woman called 'Lady 56' linked by DNA to parents, siblings and daughters and buried with a scallop shell that signals a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela—showing that burial practice varied by status and community role.