Positions of the z = 5.5 − 6 subset of our sample in GOODS-S. We highlight our sample with stars and additional spectroscopically confirmed sources at z = 5 − 6 from JADES and FRESCO as coloured points. Photometric candidates from JADES with z_phot = 5 − 6 are show as grey points, with grey shading marking their density distribution. DLA candidates (as described in Section 6.2) are marked with red circles with projected radii of 30 and 100 pkpc (≲16″). The DLA candidates are more likely to have nearby neighbours (both in projection and physical distance) compared to sources which do not show strong damping wing signatures.