Genetic Kinship and Sex Determination of Early Modern Period Human Remains from a Defunct Graveyard in the Former Village of Obora (Located on Šporkova Street in Prague’s Lesser Town District)

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to determine genetic kinship and genetic sex of individuals buried either in the same grave, multi-level grave, or neighbourhood grave. Success of genetic analyses is based on the quantity and quality of extracted aDNA, which can be compromised by degradation of DNA and possible contamination by modern DNA. We analysed archaeological skeletal remains from an Early Modern period graveyard belonging to the Church of St. John the Baptist in the former village of Obora, one of the most honourable Early Modern period archaeological sites in the Czech Republic. Most of the 906 excavated anatomically-laid burials are dated to the years 1730s–1770s. The results of 23 analysed individuals (divided into 4 groups) revealed that individuals are not blood relatives. Studies of historical written sources provide information that the parish affiliation at the time of death had a crucial role in choosing the place for burial. Genetic analyses increased success rate of sex determination to 91% compared to 61% determined by morphological methods. We were thus able to determine the genetic sex of children, an evaluation that cannot be made by morphological methods. IANSA 2019 ● X/2 ● 143–152 Jana Nováčková, Otakara Řebounová, Dana Kvítková, Martin Omelka, Vlastimil Stenzl: Genetic Kinship and Sex Determination of Early Modern Period Human Remains from a Defunct Graveyard in the Former Village of Obora (Located on Šporkova Street in Prague’s Lesser Town District) 144 (Deguilloux et al., 2014; Juras et al., 2017; Melchior et al., 2010; Simón et al., 2011). Each marker has its own unique mechanism of heritability from parent to offspring, and can reveal or exclude genetic relationships at different levels. We analysed the skeletal remains from a defunct graveyard of the Church of St. John the Baptist in the former village of Obora, situated at Šporkova Street no. 322/III in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. Genetic kinship and genetic sex was determined from the results of autosomal and Y-chromosomal STR markers. The site of Obora used to be a village located near Prague castle in the quarter known as Prague’s Lesser Town. The first written record referencing Obora is dated to the years 1278– 1282, but previous excavation has uncovered fragments dated to between the 9th–10th century (Dragoun, 1988a; 1988b; 1991). Obora was assigned to Prague in the 1650s, and its Church of St. John the Baptist was incorporated into the parish district of the Church of St. Wenceslas. The church with its graveyard was closed in 1784, and rebuilt into a residential building (Omelka, 2009). Skeletal remains of 906 anatomically-laid burials or parts thereof, that were dated to the years 1730s–1770s according to their grave goods, were excavated and documented during the archaeological rescue excavation conducted by the Department of Archaeology of the National Heritage Institute in Prague in the year 2002 (study no. 30/02) and 2004 (study no. 30/04) – Figure 1. The archaeological location in Šporkova Street is one of the most valuable Early Modern period archaeological sites in the Czech Republic due to the assemblage collection of grave goods and preserved written historical sources, providing great possibilities to study: funerary customs among the burgher citizens of the time (Omelka, Řebounová, 2017); other manifestations of Baroque religiousness (Omelka, Řebounová, 2011; 2014); as well as social and demographic structures among this population (Omelka, Řebounová, 2012b). Several articles were published (mainly in Czech peer-reviewed journals) regarding artefacts found in the grave, including goods such as rings (Omelka, Šlancarová, 2007), beads (Omelka, Řebounová, 2008), crosses (Omelka et al., 2009; 2010), pins (Omelka et al., 2011), a medallion (Omelka, 2006a; Omelka, Řebounová, 2012a; 2016) and buttons (Omelka et al., 2018). Pilot results of genetic analyses of 11 individuals were presented at the International conference “Internationale Tagung der Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Mittelalterarchäologie 2018” in Sankt Pölten (Austria) (Nováčková et al., in press). In the present study, we increased the number of analysed individuals to confirm or reject the hypothesis that the pattern of funerary practices of Early Modern society, as suggested by the pilot study, would hold up under further examination. 2. Material and methods We analysed a total of 46 samples (bones and teeth) from 23 individuals (Table 1), of which 12 individuals (group 3 and group 4) are newly published, and 11 individuals (group 1 and group 2) were previously published (Nováčková et al., in press). Individuals were divided into four groups (Table 1) according to their stratigraphic relationships in the graveyard (Figure 2). The groups contain the genetic material of men, women and children, except for group 2, where two children (newborn and 18 months old) were buried just above an adult woman. Multi-level graves contained skeletal remains of adult women, men and children and so there is a high probability that they are members of one family (for example, Figure 1. The plan of three phases of excavations at the defunct graveyard of the Church of St. John the Baptist and ground plan of the church. The archaeological rescue excavation was carried out only on the part of graveyard in which construction work took place on (Omelka, 2006b, unpublished). Drawn by Martin Omelka.