31,000-Year-Old Grave Reveals Oldest Known Baby Twin Burial in The World

An ancient grave in Austria may represent the oldest burial of twins on record, a new study finds.

The 31,000-year-old burial dates to the Upper Paleolithic (a period lasting from 40,000 to 10,000 years ago), also known as the Old Stone Age. One of the infants died shortly after birth, while his twin brother lived for about 50 days, or just over 7 weeks, according to analyses of both babies.

A third infant, a 3-month-old, interred in a burial about 5 feet (1.5 meters) away is likely their cousin, according to the research, published online on 6 November in the journal Communications Biology.

Researchers found the twins' oval-shaped burial at the archaeological site of Krems-Wachtberg, on the bank of the Danube River by the town center of Krems in 2005. The twin infants' remains were covered with ochre, a red pigment often used in ancient burials across the world.

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