The ancient DNA of a man buried in a monumental Stone Age tomb in Ireland revealed he was born of incest 5,000 years ago. But this fact doesn't mean he was a "god-king" as previously claimed, according to a new study.
"Nothing in the archaeological record from Neolithic Ireland indicates that 'kings' — or any sort of royal hierarchy — existed at the time," study lead author Jessica Smyth, an associate professor of archaeology at University College Dublin, told Live Science in an email. "It's a social category from a much later time period that's been inappropriately applied."
