Researchers have announced two “surreal” reconstructions of two adult sisters who lived and worked in the brutal mining community in the present Czech Republic over 6,000 years ago.
The stunning 3D reconstruction is based on a new analysis of sister ruins excavated more than 15 years ago from prehistoric chart mines in the South Moravian region. New evidence suggests that the sisters were working in the mines, extracting heavy rocks for tools and weapons.
The new study was published in the Journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences on June 18th.
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The sisters were buried on one side on a mine shaft. The first skeleton belonging to the sister was found 20 feet (6 meters) from the ground, and the second skeleton was found below it at 3 feet (1 m). The woman was buried in the shaft “probably because she worked there,” said Martin Oliva, an archaeologist at the Marvian Museum, a study co-author.
Researchers found that the skeleton showed no signs of violent death or illness, but it is still possible for the sister to be sacrificed due to injuries or “placed when it no longer worked,” Oliva told Live Science via email.
The burial still has many mystical details that will keep scientists confused. For example, the sister was buried with the body of a small dog. The little dog archaeologist was found near the upper skeleton, while other bones were excavated near the base skeleton. What’s even more confusing was the discovery of a newborn baby that remains in my sister’s chest but had no genetic connections with either woman.
Related: See the stunning reconstruction of a Stone Age woman who lived in Belgium 10,500 years ago
“The kids were all, but not theirs. The dogs had few bones,” Oliva said. “We really can’t know,” the reason why these individuals were buried together is that even new results,
Hard work and childhood
Previous studies have already established sibling relationships between women and dated them between 4050 and 4340 BC using radiocarbon dating, researchers say. However, to build a clearer picture of life in the prehistoric mining community, the researchers behind the new study conducted multiple analyses, including genetic testing, microscopy of sister teeth, and in-depth pathological examination of the skeletal frame. The team also measured various forms or isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in the skeleton to find out what the sisters ate.
New results suggest that the sisters were well nourished and strong in adults, but as malnourished, weak and sick as children. The skeleton also showed signs of severe tension, including injured vertebrae and semi-treated injuries. The sister’s forearm carried a partially recovered fracture, along with evidence suggesting she had been forced to work despite the injury.
The skeleton date coincides with the rise of a new social order in which the most vulnerable people have been misused, the researchers wrote in their study. “The strongest labor may no longer be done by the strongest, but by those who can be forced to do it,” they wrote.
The sister’s teeth indicated that the younger women were between 30 and 35 years old, while the older women were approaching 40 years old. Both were about 4.8 feet (1.5 m) tall and were able to lift heavy loads. Their diet contained more meat than usual in Europe at the time, but researchers wrote that this was not because South Moravia was densely packed in dense forests and the wild game was abundant.
Genetic data revealed that her sister likely has dark-haired hazel or green eyes, while her sister likely has blue eyes and blonde hair.
The reconstruction demonstrates these properties and garments, as well as the clothing that the sisters may have worn, based on fragments of fiber discovered from around the same time in Europe. They are 3D models made of plaster and silicon, with false implants for the eyes. The shape of the head is determined by the dimensions of the skull, but in this case it was well preserved.
“All fabrics preserved since the Neolithic period only show the plant fibers used to produce flax: flax, bark fiber, nettle, etc.” wrote the researchers. “The older woman wore a simple blouse with wrap woven from the same plant material. Her hair was held in place by a hairnet […]. The younger of the two women wore blouses made of coarser linen canvas. The remaining strips of fabric were braided into her hair. ”
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