In the 12th century, a woman was laid to rest in Vilusenharju, a village in western Finland, and a man was buried 30 kilometres away in Ristiänmäki. For centuries, no one knew they were connected — until now. Ancient DNA testing has revealed that they were sister and brother, providing rare, tangible evidence of family ties across medieval Finland.
The discovery is part of a new study analysing the remains of 25 individuals buried between the 12th and 19th centuries in the Tampere region. The findings also show that the genetic makeup of people in this area has remained remarkably consistent for at least 800 years.
“This provides tangible evidence of family connections between different communities,” says Dr. Ulla Nordfors, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Turku.
Researchers compared the ancient DNA to more than 4,000 modern Finnish genomes from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare’s biobank. They found that the medieval individuals had the closest genetic affinities with people living in the same region today.
“These results point to a remarkable degree of genetic continuity in the area since at least the early Middle Ages,” adds Sanni Peltola, a doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki.
The study was led by the Museum Centre Vapriikki in Tampere, Finland, in collaboration with the universities of Turku and Helsinki. Published in iScience, it marks a significant achievement in a country where acidic soils often make DNA recovery difficult. Additional genetic links were identified between Finnish individuals and ancient genomes from Scandinavia and the Lake Ladoga region, pointing to mobility and cultural contact during the Viking Age and beyond.
“Although the dataset is relatively small, the findings clearly show that medieval Finland was not isolated,” Peltola notes. “It was part of the wider networks of interaction that shaped northern Europe.”
Health and hereditary traits
In an ancient DNA study conducted in collaboration between Vapriikki and the Universities of Turku and Helsinki, 25 individuals were analyzed from Vilusenharju in Tampere, Ristiänmäki in Pälkäne (ca. 1100–1200 CE), and the Ruins Church in Pälkäne (1200–1800 CE). Photo by Heli Nousiainen / Vapriikki.
The analysis also revealed traces of health and disease. Microbial DNA in 13th-century dental calculus contained bacteria linked to both oral and systemic health, while a post-medieval man showed evidence of Treponema, the bacterial genus that includes the causative agent of syphilis.
Researchers also identified hereditary traits: most of the individuals were lactose tolerant, similar to modern Finns, and one 12th-century man likely had corneal dystrophy, a degenerative eye disease that could have impaired his vision.
“Genes cannot capture the full complexity of a person and their life, but learning about health, traits, and family ties can help us see ancient people as individuals who once lived, felt, and experienced the world,” says Nordfors. “When interpreted within their archaeological and historical context, these details allow us to approach the past on a more human level.”
Our study is out!
•13th-c. Pirkanmaa ppl genetically like today’s → centuries of continuity, Sámi-related ancestry stable since Viking Age.
•Found full siblings 30 km apart!
•pathogens incl. Treponema & Yersinia (NOT pestis).https://t.co/GbCaSnI9FS#aDNA#archaeogenetics
The article, “Archaeogenetics reveals fine-scale genetic continuity and patterns of kinship and health in medieval Finland,” by Ulla Nordfors, Sanni Peltola, Ronan James O’Sullivan, Aida Andrades Valtueña, Thiseas C. Lamnidis, Kerttu Majander, Luca Traverso, Johannes Krause, Elina Salmela and Päivi Onkamo, is published in iScience. Click here to read it.
Top Image: The woman’s grave in Vilusenharju, Tampere was discovered in 1962, and the man’s grave in Ristiänmäki, Pälkäne in 1982. Ancient DNA research has now revealed that the deceased were siblings. Illustrations by Veronika Paschenko. Photo by Vapriikki.
In the 12th century, a woman was laid to rest in Vilusenharju, a village in western Finland, and a man was buried 30 kilometres away in Ristiänmäki. For centuries, no one knew they were connected — until now. Ancient DNA testing has revealed that they were sister and brother, providing rare, tangible evidence of family ties across medieval Finland.
The discovery is part of a new study analysing the remains of 25 individuals buried between the 12th and 19th centuries in the Tampere region. The findings also show that the genetic makeup of people in this area has remained remarkably consistent for at least 800 years.
“This provides tangible evidence of family connections between different communities,” says Dr. Ulla Nordfors, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Turku.
Researchers compared the ancient DNA to more than 4,000 modern Finnish genomes from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare’s biobank. They found that the medieval individuals had the closest genetic affinities with people living in the same region today.
“These results point to a remarkable degree of genetic continuity in the area since at least the early Middle Ages,” adds Sanni Peltola, a doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki.
The study was led by the Museum Centre Vapriikki in Tampere, Finland, in collaboration with the universities of Turku and Helsinki. Published in iScience, it marks a significant achievement in a country where acidic soils often make DNA recovery difficult. Additional genetic links were identified between Finnish individuals and ancient genomes from Scandinavia and the Lake Ladoga region, pointing to mobility and cultural contact during the Viking Age and beyond.
“Although the dataset is relatively small, the findings clearly show that medieval Finland was not isolated,” Peltola notes. “It was part of the wider networks of interaction that shaped northern Europe.”
Health and hereditary traits
The analysis also revealed traces of health and disease. Microbial DNA in 13th-century dental calculus contained bacteria linked to both oral and systemic health, while a post-medieval man showed evidence of Treponema, the bacterial genus that includes the causative agent of syphilis.
Researchers also identified hereditary traits: most of the individuals were lactose tolerant, similar to modern Finns, and one 12th-century man likely had corneal dystrophy, a degenerative eye disease that could have impaired his vision.
“Genes cannot capture the full complexity of a person and their life, but learning about health, traits, and family ties can help us see ancient people as individuals who once lived, felt, and experienced the world,” says Nordfors. “When interpreted within their archaeological and historical context, these details allow us to approach the past on a more human level.”
The article, “Archaeogenetics reveals fine-scale genetic continuity and patterns of kinship and health in medieval Finland,” by Ulla Nordfors, Sanni Peltola, Ronan James O’Sullivan, Aida Andrades Valtueña, Thiseas C. Lamnidis, Kerttu Majander, Luca Traverso, Johannes Krause, Elina Salmela and Päivi Onkamo, is published in iScience. Click here to read it.
Top Image: The woman’s grave in Vilusenharju, Tampere was discovered in 1962, and the man’s grave in Ristiänmäki, Pälkäne in 1982. Ancient DNA research has now revealed that the deceased were siblings. Illustrations by Veronika Paschenko. Photo by Vapriikki.
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