A pair of ancient Egyptian mummies, known for over a century as the Two Brothers, were actually half brothers. The high-ranking men shared a mother but not a father, say archaeo-geneticist Konstantina Drosou of the University of Manchester in England and colleagues. That family tie came to light thanks to the retrieval of two types of DNA from the mummies' teeth, the scientists report in the February Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. The finding highlights the importance that Egyptians placed on maternal lines of descent, Drosou's group contends.
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