Children buried beside adults in medieval graves have long been seen as family members. A new DNA study from Stockholm University tells a different story. The findings show that people buried together were rarely close biological relatives, even in places where many families lived near one another.
Oscar Nilsson collecting information from Lady 56 for the forensic facial reconstruction. Credit: Anders Götherström/Stockholm University, 2026
The study, published in Science Advances, looked at DNA from 142 people who lived during the late Viking Age and the Middle Ages. The group included 74 adults and 68 children and teenagers from burial sites in Sigtuna, Västerhus in Jämtland, and Fjälkinge in Skåne. Researchers studied 27 single graves and 50 graves holding more than one person.
For years, archaeologists often linked adults and children in the same grave as parents and children or close relatives. The DNA results challenged that idea. Lead author Maja Krzewińska said close family ties appeared in only a small number of shared graves. This points to social, religious, or local customs playing a bigger part in burial choices than close blood ties.
The team also found something else. Even in cemeteries where many people shared family links across the burial ground, relatives were usually placed in separate graves. Extended family networks still shaped these communities, though immediate relatives were not commonly buried together.
The Västerhus church ruin, Frösö parish, Jämtland, before 1951. Credit: Riksantikvarieämbetets arkiv – The church ruin of Västerhus, Frösö parish,Jämtland, Sweden
Ancient DNA gave researchers a way to answer questions that bones alone could not. Young children’s skeletons do not show clear signs of biological sex, making studies of childhood difficult. Early Christian graves also rarely include objects linked to gender, leaving few clues for archaeologists.
By reading DNA, the team identified the biological sex of children who had died at young ages. The results showed boys and girls usually followed the same burial rules as adults. At the cemetery in Västerhus, men and women were buried on opposite sides of the churchyard. Children matched this pattern. Boys rested with men, while most girls rested with women.
The pattern suggests people assigned gender roles early in life. Anders Götherström, a professor of molecular archaeology at Stockholm University, said children were treated under the same social and religious customs as adults rather than being placed in a separate group.
The research also showed there was room for flexibility. While most children followed adult burial customs, some did not. Those differences suggest local traditions were not always fixed.
Forensic facial reconstruction based on morphology and genetics of one of the key Västerhus individuals analyzed in the study. Credit: The reconstruction and the photograph are by Oscar Nilsson/Stockholm University, 2026
One burial from Västerhus stood out. A young woman, known to researchers as Lady 56, shared DNA with several relatives buried across the cemetery, including her parents, brother, and two daughters. Unlike many people in the study, her close family members were spread through different parts of the churchyard instead of resting beside her.
One of the pilgrim shells found at the Västerhus cemetery – a site investigated in the study. Credit: Christer Åhlin/Historiska museet, 2012
Her grave also held a scallop shell, a rare find in medieval Scandinavia. The shell marked pilgrims who had traveled to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, one of Europe’s best-known Christian pilgrimage sites. The object suggests Lady 56 made the long trip across the continent before returning home. She died before reaching 30 years of age.
The findings give a fresh view of life and death in early Christian Scandinavia. Shared graves did not always represent close families. Burial customs reflected social ties, religious beliefs, and community rules as much as blood relationships. At the same time, DNA helps fill gaps left by the archaeological record, offering a clearer picture of childhood, family life, and the way medieval communities organized their cemeteries.
Publication: Krzewińska, M., Kjellström, A., Yaka, R., Rodríguez-Varela, R., Pochon, Z., Kempe Lagerholm, V., … Götherström, A. (2026). Equal in death: Ancient genomic analysis of children’s early Christian burials. Science Advances, 12(28). doi:10.1126/sciadv.aeb8588