The sex of infants at tell Yunatsite in the context of the funerary rite (early bronze age)

This article is devoted to the study of infant burials within the territory of the multi-level settlement of Yunatsite in Thrace (Bulgaria). The practice of burying infants within settlements has been found over whole millennia in conjunction with a variety of world views and funerary rites. By 2001 half the surface of the tell had been investigated (horizons XVI-XVII - X dating from EBA I-II). Twenty-eight infant burials were found in vessels or pits located in structures (Fig. 1; 2). The context of the burials indicates that what we find here is a deliberate and to some extent regulated ritual practice. The age of the children has been determined - from 0 to 18 months - and the majority of deaths occurred during the first six months of life (Tab. 1). The article presents the results obtained when the sex of the infants was determined by palaeo-DNA. Sixteen samples were taken from the skeletal remains of 9 infants. The extraction of genome-DNA and the subsequent PCR amplification were carried out in accordance with the norms and standards for work with samples of palaeo-DNA. This research (Sex «1») served to establish the sex of five infants, all of which were male. In one case the sex remained unclear. In order to verify the results obtained, an additional investigation was carried out (Sex «2») which made it possible to determine that the sex of all six infants was male (Tab. 2). The identification of the age and ritual nature of this group of deceased individuals demonstrates that the burials of boys of various ages were laid out along the long walls of built structures, in their centre or at their corners (Figs. 1; 2). These six burials constitute however only 21% of the whole series of skeletal remains.