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 Northwest Belgian Bronze Age Barrow in Context: A Review of the 14C Chronology from the Late Neolithic to Bronze Age

Radiocarbon ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (02) ◽  
pp. 479-488
Author(s):  
Jeroen De Reu
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Sudden Appearance ◽  
Bell Beaker ◽  
Building Practice ◽  
The Bronze Age

To formulate a solid chronology of the northwest Belgian Bronze Age barrow phenomenon, a critical review of the available radiocarbon dates was necessary. The resulting14C chronology of the barrows was compared with the14C chronologies of the Late Neolithic Bell Beaker graves, the Bronze Age metalwork depositions, the evidence of barrow reuse, and the Bronze Age longhouses. This research revealed interesting patterns concerning the appearance and disappearance of the barrow phenomenon. The earliest14C-dated barrows are dated during the Late Neolithic and coincide with the presence of the Bell Beaker culture in the region. The peak of the barrow-building practice occurred between 1700 and 1500/1400 cal BC, a period of flourishing trade networks in the regions along the North Sea basin. The period around 1500 cal BC is characterized by the disappearance of barrow-building practices and the sudden appearance of ritual depositional practices, reflecting changes in society.

The Catholme Ceremonial Complex, Staffordshire, UK

2010 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 135-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry P. Chapman ◽  
Mark Hewson ◽  
Margaret S. Watters ◽  
Lawrence Barfield ◽  
Christopher Bronk Ramsey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Previous Investigation ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Aerial Reconnaissance ◽  
Northern Side ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Bronze Age

During the 1960s and 1970s, aerial reconnaissance on the northern side of the confluence of the Rivers Trent, Tame, and Mease in Staffordshire revealed a cluster of features indicative of prehistoric ceremonial activity. Some of the features within the cluster are morphologically unique, but a lack of previous investigation meant that their dating, phasing, and function were unknown. This paper details the results of a multi-disciplinary approach to addressing these questions about the complex and to place it into its contemporary landscape context. The results indicate that the complex represents numerous phases of symbolic and ceremonial activity extending from the late Neolithic and into the early Bronze Age. Furthermore, it has shown how these structures fit within a wider landscape of ceremonial activity extending back to the earlier Neolithic and continuing into the Bronze Age.

scholarly journals Ancient genomes provide insights into family structure and the heredity of social status in the early Bronze Age of southeastern Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Žegarac ◽  
L. Winkelbach ◽  
J. Blöcher ◽  
Y. Diekmann ◽  
M. Krečković Gavrilović ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Structure ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Genetic Relationships ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Status Differences

AbstractTwenty-four palaeogenomes from Mokrin, a major Early Bronze Age necropolis in southeastern Europe, were sequenced to analyse kinship between individuals and to better understand prehistoric social organization. 15 investigated individuals were involved in genetic relationships of varying degrees. The Mokrin sample resembles a genetically unstructured population, suggesting that the community’s social hierarchies were not accompanied by strict marriage barriers. We find evidence for female exogamy but no indications for strict patrilocality. Individual status differences at Mokrin, as indicated by grave goods, support the inference that females could inherit status, but could not transmit status to all their sons. We further show that sons had the possibility to acquire status during their lifetimes, but not necessarily to inherit it. Taken together, these findings suggest that Southeastern Europe in the Early Bronze Age had a significantly different family and social structure than Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age societies of Central Europe.

scholarly journals Harcosnők klubja? – Specializált társadalmi helyzetű nők a késő rézkor időszakában Magyarországon

2018 ◽  
pp. 79-94
Author(s):  
Tünde Horváth
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Phase ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Copper Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Neolithic Culture ◽  
The Status ◽  
Bell Beaker

This article focus on the status of the woman in the main cultures (Baden complex and Yamna) of the Late Copper Age (3600–2800 BC) and the transitional period (2800–2600 BC). Although the Bell Beaker complex belongs to the Early Bronze Age in Hungary (2500–1900 BC), in European terminologies it is a Late Neolithic culture and belongs to the Reinecke A0 horizon in its late phase, which is why I included it into my research. I identify charismatic people displaying signs of agression in these three culture complexes, whose personalities are associated with warfare. In all three cultures there were women with specialised status: their knowledge, property and profession raised them above the average man and woman.

scholarly journals The Northwest Belgian Bronze Age Barrow in Context: A Review of the 14C Chronology from the Late Neolithic to Bronze Age

Radiocarbon ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 479-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeroen De Reu
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Sudden Appearance ◽  
Bell Beaker ◽  
Building Practice ◽  
The Bronze Age

To formulate a solid chronology of the northwest Belgian Bronze Age barrow phenomenon, a critical review of the available radiocarbon dates was necessary. The resulting 14C chronology of the barrows was compared with the 14C chronologies of the Late Neolithic Bell Beaker graves, the Bronze Age metalwork depositions, the evidence of barrow reuse, and the Bronze Age longhouses. This research revealed interesting patterns concerning the appearance and disappearance of the barrow phenomenon. The earliest 14C-dated barrows are dated during the Late Neolithic and coincide with the presence of the Bell Beaker culture in the region. The peak of the barrow-building practice occurred between 1700 and 1500/1400 cal BC, a period of flourishing trade networks in the regions along the North Sea basin. The period around 1500 cal BC is characterized by the disappearance of barrow-building practices and the sudden appearance of ritual depositional practices, reflecting changes in society.

scholarly journals A Ritual Feature with Bell Beaker Elements in a Late Neolithic Hunter-Gatherer Campsite in North-Eastern Poland

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Dariusz Manasterski ◽  
Katarzyna Januszek ◽  
Adam Wawrusiewicz ◽  
Aleksandra Klecha
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Western Group ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Bell Beaker ◽  
The Bronze Age

The ephemeral nature of religious practices and rituals makes them challenging to trace in the archaeological record of Late Neolithic hunter-gatherer communities in central and eastern Europe. A ritual feature with Bell Beaker elements discovered in north-eastern Poland, a region occupied by hunter-gatherer groups of the Neman cultural circle, is thus exceptional. Its syncretic character indicates its role as a harbinger of wider cultural change that led to the emergence in this region of the western group of the Bronze Age Trzciniec cultural circle.

Central and Eastern Europe

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
William O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Copper Slag ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Copper Strip ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Neolithic Culture ◽  
Copper Mines

This survey of prehistoric copper mines in Europe began with the oldest known examples, namely Rudna Glava and Ai Bunar in the Balkans. It is now time to consider some of the largest Bronze Age mines, which were major producers of copper that influenced its supply across large parts of the continent. Much of the focus is on Austria, where the earliest scientific investigations of early copper mines were undertaken in Europe. The earliest use of copper in central Europe can be linked to a Late Neolithic culture called the Münchshöfen group, best known in south-eastern Bavaria. A small number of copper objects can be associated with this culture group, including axe-hammers and flat axes, awls, beads, and rings. Scientific analysis of these objects reveals that they probably originated in the Balkans, as part of a spread of metal use into central Europe from that area during the second half of the fifth millennium BC (Höppner et al. 2005). This is supported by the material culture of the Münchshöfen group, in particular the ceramic evidence, which finds close typological parallels with metal-using groups in the Carpathian Basin. It is likely that the same spread of copper use into Austria and southern Germany eventually led to the first attempts to exploit the copper resources of the Alpine region. The evidence comes from the hill-top settlement of Mariahilfbergl near Brixlegg in the Inn Valley of North Tyrol, Austria. Excavation uncovered traces of metallurgical processes in the form of a fireplace with fragments of copper slag, two clay nozzles, and two items of copper metal (Bartelheim et al. 2002, 2003). Radiocarbon analysis indicates a 4500–3640 BC date range, however, the wider cultural context of the site may place these discoveries in the later fifth millennium BC. It is not certain whether smelting took place in this site, though some of the slag-like material suggests the heat treatment of a type of fahlore (tetrahedrite) that is common in the Brixlegg area. Interestingly, chemical and lead isotope analyses of a copper bead and copper strip from the same site context revealed a different chemical composition from that of the slag, one that matches with copper metalwork from Bulgaria and Serbia (Pernicka et al. 1997).

Radiocarbon dates and absolute chronology of the central European Early Bronze Age

Antiquity ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 67 (255) ◽  
pp. 218-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stašo Forenbaher
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Central European ◽  
Age Sequence ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology ◽  
The Bronze Age

It is more than forty years now since the first radiocarbon dates began the reconciliation of conventional and absolute chronologies for later prehistory. This pioneering radiocarbon chronology for the Bronze Age sequence in Central Europe brings that process nearer to a close, by filling the last major gap in the radiocarcbon chronology of the European continent.

scholarly journals Ceramic materials of the late neolithic - early bronze age of the Podzorovo site on the Upper Don from the excavations by M.E. Foss in 1953

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-149
Author(s):  
Andrey Sergeevich Zheludkov ◽  
Roman Viktorovich Smolyaninov ◽  
Irina Viktorovna Klimkova
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Ceramic Materials ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Neolithic Culture ◽  
Cultural Types ◽  
Technological Analysis ◽  
The Bronze Age

The following paper analyzes ceramic collection from the excavations by M.E. Foss in 1953 from the Podzorovo site in Michurinsky District , Tambov Region, stored in the collections of the State Historical Museum (GIM 104032, inventory A 833). According to the results of the research, M.E. Foss concluded that there was originally a Late Neolithic site, and then a Bronze Age settlement. At the same time, the ceramics were divided into two groups: Late Neolithic (first of all pit-comb ornamented) and relating to the Bronze Age (other). When reviewing the collection in the light of new knowledge we were able to identify the materials of Dronicha late Neolithic culture, Eneolithic Srednestog culture and ceramics of the Ksizovo type, as well as Repino culture of the early Bronze Age. All of them find numerous analogies in the settlements of Don forest-steppe area. Thus, it was established that only in the Neolithic era - early Bronze, the Podzorovo site was settled at least six times. As additional information when describing ceramics, we present data on the results of the technical and technological analysis obtained during the study of ceramics of these cultures and cultural types originating from the settlements of the Upper Don.

On the chemical composition of prehistoric Greek copper-based artefacts from mainland Greece

1999 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 81-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Mangou ◽  
Panayiotis V. Ioannou
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Pure Copper ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Metallographic Examination ◽  
Chemical Content ◽  
Cold Worked ◽  
Arsenical Copper ◽  
The Bronze Age

170 copper-based objects from various sites in mainland Greece covering the Late Neolithic period and the whole of the Bronze Age have been analysed for their chemical content (twelve elements) by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The results indicate that at all sites during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age relatively pure copper and arsenical copper were used, while during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages bronze dominated. Bronze objects of the Early Bronze Age were probably imported. Lead was not usually used to help casting. Metallographic examination of eight Late Neolithic, Early and Late Bronze Age hammered objects revealed that they have been cold-worked and annealed, most probably through several cycles.

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