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Related in death? A curious case of a foetus hidden in bishop Peder Winstrup's coffin in Lund, Sweden

Krzewińska, Maja ; Rodríguez-Varela, Ricardo ; Ahlström Arcini, Caroline ; Ahlström, Torbjörn LU orcid ; Hertzman, Niklas ; Storå, Jan and Götherström, Anders (2021) In Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 37.
Abstract

When the famous bishop of Lund, Peder Winstrup, died in 1679 he was laid to rest in a family crypt in Lund Cathedral alongside his wife. Following a restoration of the Cathedral in the late 19th century, Peder Winstrup's coffin was moved to the crypt, as the family grave was dismantled. In 2012, a decision was made to move his remains to a different location presenting scientists with an opportunity to investigate bishop's mummified remains. Unexpectedly, hidden underneath Winstrup's body, a small bundle containing mummified remains of a 5–6-month-old foetus was found. This finding prompted questions regarding the possible relation between both individuals with most hypotheses suggesting no relation and an opportunistic character of the... (More)

When the famous bishop of Lund, Peder Winstrup, died in 1679 he was laid to rest in a family crypt in Lund Cathedral alongside his wife. Following a restoration of the Cathedral in the late 19th century, Peder Winstrup's coffin was moved to the crypt, as the family grave was dismantled. In 2012, a decision was made to move his remains to a different location presenting scientists with an opportunity to investigate bishop's mummified remains. Unexpectedly, hidden underneath Winstrup's body, a small bundle containing mummified remains of a 5–6-month-old foetus was found. This finding prompted questions regarding the possible relation between both individuals with most hypotheses suggesting no relation and an opportunistic character of the placement of the foetus in bishop's coffin. Here we test the hypotheses using ancient DNA genomics, including mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome data, as tools for kinship analyses. We identified a second-degree kinship relation, which, in combination with genealogical analysis, suggests a grandparent-grandchild relation, as highly probable affiliation.

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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
aDNA, Kinship, Winstrup
in
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
volume
37
article number
102939
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85103732772
ISSN
2352-409X
DOI
10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102939
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c5d60a0a-24e5-4080-940b-9c197e345e12
date added to LUP
2021-12-23 11:04:38
date last changed
2023-03-16 18:40:33
@article{c5d60a0a-24e5-4080-940b-9c197e345e12,
  abstract     = {{<p>When the famous bishop of Lund, Peder Winstrup, died in 1679 he was laid to rest in a family crypt in Lund Cathedral alongside his wife. Following a restoration of the Cathedral in the late 19th century, Peder Winstrup's coffin was moved to the crypt, as the family grave was dismantled. In 2012, a decision was made to move his remains to a different location presenting scientists with an opportunity to investigate bishop's mummified remains. Unexpectedly, hidden underneath Winstrup's body, a small bundle containing mummified remains of a 5–6-month-old foetus was found. This finding prompted questions regarding the possible relation between both individuals with most hypotheses suggesting no relation and an opportunistic character of the placement of the foetus in bishop's coffin. Here we test the hypotheses using ancient DNA genomics, including mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome data, as tools for kinship analyses. We identified a second-degree kinship relation, which, in combination with genealogical analysis, suggests a grandparent-grandchild relation, as highly probable affiliation.</p>}},
  author       = {{Krzewińska, Maja and Rodríguez-Varela, Ricardo and Ahlström Arcini, Caroline and Ahlström, Torbjörn and Hertzman, Niklas and Storå, Jan and Götherström, Anders}},
  issn         = {{2352-409X}},
  keywords     = {{aDNA; Kinship; Winstrup}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports}},
  title        = {{Related in death? A curious case of a foetus hidden in bishop Peder Winstrup's coffin in Lund, Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102939}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102939}},
  volume       = {{37}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}