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Ancient Irish Royals
Here’s a fascinating discovery from 2020: scientists found evidence of extreme inbreeding in an ancient Irish burial site called Newgrange. They studied the remains of a man who must have been seriously important – he was buried in what was essentially the prehistoric equivalent of a luxury crypt.
When researchers analyzed his DNA, they found something shocking: his parents were either siblings or parent and child. This wasn’t just any ordinary family – these were the elites of Stone Age Ireland, living around 5,000 years ago. It’s one of the earliest concrete examples we have of how power and inbreeding often went hand in hand.
