New research has cast doubts over suggestions an incestuous social elite ruled over the ancient people of Ireland more than 5,000 years ago. Researchers examined the evidence from burials of individuals at the Newgrange prehistoric monument in Ireland - a large circular mound containing a chamber where cremated and unburnt human remains were placed, the discovery of which led to speculation that those buried there must have been from an elite class or a royal family. In 2020, the DNA analysis of a bone skull fragment found in the chamber, however, suggested that at least one of the individuals buried there was the result of a relationship between two siblings or a parent and child, and was also distantly related
