...our sequence data show that the highly publicized Hiller Lock originated from a woman with close autosomal affinity in PCA space to present day North African, Middle Eastern, and Jewish populations24 (Methods S1K). Its mitochondrial haplogroup, K1a1b1a (Table S2), is highly prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews.25 Toxicological analyses of hairs extracted from this lock have been used to argue that Beethoven’s health problems were caused or compounded by plumbism, and to refute suggestions that he was administered opiates during the course of his final illness and mercury for a hypothesized infection with syphilis. 2,3,4,26,27 We now conclude that these findings do not apply to Beethoven. We additionally demonstrate that patterns of longitudinally distributed lead isotope concentrations believed to have been shared between hair strands from the Hiller, Halm-Epstein, and Erdödy Locks 3 do not constitute proof of their authenticity, as the Hiller Lock is inauthentic.

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