scholarly journals Mobility patterns in inland southwestern Sweden during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Malou Blank ◽  
Karl-Göran Sjögren ◽  
Corina Knipper ◽  
Karin M Frei ◽  
Helena Malmström ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Large Dataset ◽  
Strontium Isotope Analysis ◽  
Sex Assessment ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

AbstractIn this paper, we investigate population dynamics in the Scandinavian Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in southwestern Sweden. Human mobility patterns in Falbygden were studied by applying strontium isotope analysis combined with archaeological and bioarchaeological data, including mtDNA and sex assessment on a large dataset encompassing 141 individuals from 21 megalithic graves. In combination with other archaeological and anthropological records, we investigated the temporal and spatial scale of individual movement, mobility patterns of specific categories of people and possible social drivers behind them. Our results of strontium and biomolecular analyses suggest that mobility increased in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age compared to the earlier parts of the Neolithic. The data indicate individuals moving both into and away from Falbygden. Mobility patterns and contact networks also shift over time.

scholarly journals Human mobility in a Bronze Age Vatya ‘urnfield’ and the life history of a high-status woman

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0254360
Author(s):  
Claudio Cavazzuti ◽  
Tamás Hajdu ◽  
Federico Lugli ◽  
Alessandra Sperduti ◽  
Magdolna Vicze ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Strontium Isotope ◽  
High Status ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
History Of ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

In this study, we present osteological and strontium isotope data of 29 individuals (26 cremations and 3 inhumations) from Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy, one of the largest Middle Bronze Age cemeteries in Hungary. The site is located in the northern part of the Csepel Island (a few kilometres south of Budapest) and was in use between c. 2150 and 1500 BC, a period that saw the rise, the apogee, and, ultimately, the collapse of the Vatya culture in the plains of Central Hungary. The main aim of our study was to identify variation in mobility patterns among individuals of different sex/age/social status and among individuals treated with different burial rites using strontium isotope analysis. Changes in funerary rituals in Hungary have traditionally been associated with the crises of the tell cultures and the introgression of newcomers from the area of the Tumulus Culture in Central Europe around 1500 BC. Our results show only slight discrepancies between inhumations and cremations, as well as differences between adult males and females. The case of the richly furnished grave n. 241 is of particular interest. The urn contains the cremated bones of an adult woman and two 7 to 8-month-old foetuses, as well as remarkably prestigious goods. Using 87Sr/86Sr analysis of different dental and skeletal remains, which form in different life stages, we were able to reconstruct the potential movements of this high-status woman over almost her entire lifetime, from birth to her final days. Our study confirms the informative potential of strontium isotopes analyses performed on different cremated tissues. From a more general, historical perspective, our results reinforce the idea that exogamic practices were common in Bronze Age Central Europe and that kinship ties among high-rank individuals were probably functional in establishing or strengthening interconnections, alliances, and economic partnerships.

EXPLORING MOBILITY PATTERNS AND BIOLOGICAL AFFINITIES IN THE SOUTHERN AEGEAN: FIRST INSIGHTS FROM EARLY BRONZE AGE EASTERN CRETE

2015 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sevi Triantaphyllou ◽  
Efthymia Nikita ◽  
Thomas Kador
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Strontium Isotope ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Biological Distance ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
First Time

This paper presents the results of a pilot project which combines, for the first time, biodistance and strontium isotope analyses in the study of human skeletal remains from Early Bronze Age Crete (third millennium bc). Information from these analyses offers, in a direct way, insights into the biological distance, and consequently the gene flow and mobility patterns, among human populations in eastern Crete. The results are synthesised with the evidence of funerary practices in order to explore the nature of interaction among communities in eastern Crete. The biodistance analysis supports a strong genetic affinity between the populations represented at the two Kephala Petras skeletal assemblages, while the results of the available strontium isotope analysis favour their local origin; thus the combined results suggest the lack of significant population influx. The biological distance of the two chronologically contemporary populations at Livari-Skiadi, also manifesting completely different patterns of mortuary disposal, is of particular interest since it contrasts with the Petras situation and raises issues of intra-community distinctions, cultural and biological.

scholarly journals Female exogamy and gene pool diversification at the transition from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age in central Europe

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (38) ◽  
pp. 10083-10088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corina Knipper ◽  
Alissa Mittnik ◽  
Ken Massy ◽  
Catharina Kociumaka ◽  
Isil Kucukkalipci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Dna Analysis ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Isotope Ratios ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Bell Beaker ◽  
The Bronze Age

Human mobility has been vigorously debated as a key factor for the spread of bronze technology and profound changes in burial practices as well as material culture in central Europe at the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. However, the relevance of individual residential changes and their importance among specific age and sex groups are still poorly understood. Here, we present ancient DNA analysis, stable isotope data of oxygen, and radiogenic isotope ratios of strontium for 84 radiocarbon-dated skeletons from seven archaeological sites of the Late Neolithic Bell Beaker Complex and the Early Bronze Age from the Lech River valley in southern Bavaria, Germany. Complete mitochondrial genomes documented a diversification of maternal lineages over time. The isotope ratios disclosed the majority of the females to be nonlocal, while this is the case for only a few males and subadults. Most nonlocal females arrived in the study area as adults, but we do not detect their offspring among the sampled individuals. The striking patterns of patrilocality and female exogamy prevailed over at least 800 y between about 2500 and 1700 BC. The persisting residential rules and even a direct kinship relation across the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age add to the archaeological evidence of continuing traditions from the Bell Beaker Complex to the Early Bronze Age. The results also attest to female mobility as a driving force for regional and supraregional communication and exchange at the dawn of the European metal ages.

scholarly journals The Emergence of Coercive Societies in Northwestern Scandinavia During the Late Neolithic–Early Bronze Age

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-37
Author(s):  
Knut Ivar Austvoll
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Organizational Strategy ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Natural Ecology

AbstractThis paper discusses how coastal societies in northwestern Scandinavia were able to rise in power by strategically utilizing the natural ecology and landscape in which they were situated. From two case studies (the Norwegian regions of Lista and Tananger), it is shown that it was possible to control the flow of goods up and down the coast at certain bottlenecks but that this also created an unstable society in which conflict between neighboring groups occurred often. More specifically the paper outlines an organizational strategy that may be applicable cross-culturally.

scholarly journals In the Sorraia River Valley (Coruche, Portugal): Settlement Dynamics of Ancient Peasant Societies on the Left Bank of the Lower Tagus River (5500 to 1800 B.C.E.)

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 95-158
Author(s):  
Ana Catarina Sousa ◽  
Victor S. Gonçalves ◽  
André Texugo ◽  
Ana Ramos-Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Left Bank ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Tagus River ◽  
Settlement Dynamics

This article is the result of archaeological and paleoenvironmental investigations carried out within the scope of the ANSOR project in the Sorraia valley (Coruche), on the left bank of the Lower Tagus. In the analysis of settlement dynamics between 5500 and 1800 a.n.e. we considered four moments: 1) The first peasant societies of the ancient Neolithic; 2) The Middle and Late Neolithic; 3) Chalcolithic; 4) The Early Bronze Age. The Sorraia valley was also framed in the framework of the Center and South of Portugal during the period under analysis. Interpretative models are presented for changes in the implantation patterns in the four stages under study, oscillating between paleoenvironmental factors and the socio-economic changes registered in the old peasant societies. 

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document