“Raptus Sabinae?” complemented: molecular genetic studies on a female calvarium of the Bandkeramik settlement of Rovantsi in Volhynia (UA)

Abstract

A fragmented human cranial calotte was discovered in a Bandkeramik (LBK) settlement context at Rovantsi in Volhynia (UA). The female calvarium of a mature woman with an age of about 45-50 years was uncovered in the deepest part of a settlement pit. It can be dated to round about 5,250 BC. PCR-based molecular genetic analyses were successfully performed on these extremely rare skeletal remains from the Early Neolithic of Ukraine. The female family line can be assigned to haplogroup T2, in which it represents the lineage T2c1d+152. The woman was lactose intolerant, like most LBK individuals. Her hair colour was brown, and her eye colour was found to be hazel.