LAUSR

Abstract An unusual kinship case arrived to our laboratory, having as main objective to perform a genetic analysis between a living presumable niece and some human remains –eight bones from a hand. The bone samples probably belonged to a cleric executed in Almeria (Spain), during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), where, after the execution, the cadaver was thrown to a dry well and covered with lime. Later, the cadaver was transferred to a local cemetery, where due to a flood, was then relocated in another sanctuary. It was at this moment when the hand was separated from the other remains, and kept under the control of the family for decades. After an anthropological study, the three best specimens from the eight available bones were selected to perform the genetic analysis. After the DNA extraction, a mitochondrial DNA analysis was accomplished to test the alleged maternal uncle-niece relationship. The results confirmed the bones degradation, since each sample produced different mitochondrial sequences, being impossible to obtain a consensus profile. It was impossible to confirm any kinship between the incomplete hand and the living person, or to conclude if the bones were part of the same hand. Although our study focused on samples with less than 100 years old, similar investigations have been previously successfully achieved in our laboratory on very degraded samples, for example, from the Chalcolithic Period (Palomo-Diez et al., 2017). In that study, the obtained results allowed, not only to establish biological kinships, but also to associate different human remains. It is therefore crucial to distinguish between both concepts - ancient versus degraded (samples). The elapsed time since the sample deposition may not influence the results as much as the preservation conditions.