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 Strontium isotope evidence for Neanderthal and modern human mobility at the upper and middle palaeolithic site of Fumane Cave (Italy)

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0254848
Author(s):  
Michael P. Richards ◽  
Marcello A. Mannino ◽  
Klervia Jaouen ◽  
Alessandro Dozio ◽  
Jean-Jacques Hublin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transition Period ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Strontium Isotope ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Isotope Evidence ◽  
Baseline Values

To investigate the mobility patterns of Neanderthals and modern humans in Europe during the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition period, we applied strontium isotope analysis to Neanderthal (n = 3) and modern human (n = 2) teeth recovered from the site of Fumane Cave in the Monti Lessini region of Northern Italy. We also measured a large number of environmental samples from the region, to establish a strontium ‘baseline’, and also micromammals (vole teeth) from the levels associated with the hominin teeth. We found that the modern humans and Neanderthals had similar strontium isotope values, and these values match the local baseline values we obtained for the site and the surrounding region. We conclude that both groups were utilizing the local mountainous region where Fumane Cave is situated, and likely the nearby Lessini highlands and Adige plains, and therefore the strontium evidence does not show differening mobility patterns between Neanderthals and modern humans at the Fumane site.

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 Universal predictability of mobility patterns in cities

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (100) ◽  
pp. 20140834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Yong Yan ◽  
Chen Zhao ◽  
Ying Fan ◽  
Zengru Di ◽  
Wen-Xu Wang
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
Mobility Data ◽  
Universal Prediction ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Mobility Behaviour ◽  
History Of ◽  
Different Characteristics ◽  
The City

Despite the long history of modelling human mobility, we continue to lack a highly accurate approach with low data requirements for predicting mobility patterns in cities. Here, we present a population-weighted opportunities model without any adjustable parameters to capture the underlying driving force accounting for human mobility patterns at the city scale. We use various mobility data collected from a number of cities with different characteristics to demonstrate the predictive power of our model. We find that insofar as the spatial distribution of population is available, our model offers universal prediction of mobility patterns in good agreement with real observations, including distance distribution, destination travel constraints and flux. By contrast, the models that succeed in modelling mobility patterns in countries are not applicable in cities, which suggests that there is a diversity of human mobility at different spatial scales. Our model has potential applications in many fields relevant to mobility behaviour in cities, without relying on previous mobility measurements.

scholarly journals TESTING THE MIDDLE GROUND IN ASSYRO-ANATOLIAN MARRIAGES OF THE KĀRUM PERIOD

Iraq ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. 71-83
Author(s):  
Yağmur Heffron
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Social History ◽  
Central Anatolia ◽  
Middle Ground ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Cultural Contact ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Dynamic Time

Central Anatolia in the Middle Bronze Age is marked by a well-documented Old Assyrian presence during the kārum period (20th–17th century b.c.), a dynamic time of long-distance trade and cultural contact. One of the idiosyncrasies of the social history of this period is a special bigamous arrangement which allowed Assyrian men to enter second marriages on the condition that one wife remained at home in Aššur, and the other in Anatolia. In testing the extent to which a middle ground for cross-cultural compromise is recognisable in such Assyro-Anatolian marriage practices, this article considers whether the terminology used in reference to the first and second wives (amtum and aššatum respectively) can be interpreted as the crucial element of misunderstanding in middle ground formation.

Jaffa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Isaac
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Eastern Shore ◽  
Urban Centre ◽  
Tel Aviv ◽  
History Of ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
The City

The city of Joppe/Jaffa/Yafo on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, immediately south of modern Tel Aviv, has a long history of importance as an urban centre, from the Middle Bronze Age onward until the 20th century. It was one of the few sites along the Palestinian coast that had a usable anchorage. The present article focuses on the Hellenistic, Roman, and late Roman periods, giving a brief survey of the major events, the political, social, and administrative history, and the major sources of information.

THE EARLY AND MIDDLE BRONZE AGE SETTLEMENT AT KOIMISIS, THERASIA: PERIODS OF HABITATION AND ARCHITECTURE

2020 ◽  
Vol 115 ◽  
pp. 105-132
Author(s):  
Kostas Sbonias ◽  
Iris Tzachili ◽  
Maya Efstathiou ◽  
Clairy Palyvou ◽  
Costas Athanasiou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Geological Structure ◽  
Archaeological Investigation ◽  
New Information ◽  
Surface Survey ◽  
History Of ◽  
Geophysical Investigations ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Early Phases

The study of the history of the first excavations on prehistoric Therasia in the nineteenth century, which were carried out in the context of contemporary scientific interest in the volcanic eruptions of Santorini, has led to the systematic archaeological investigation of the island from 2007 onwards. The intensive archaeological surface survey, the geological survey of the geological structure and palaeotopography of Therasia, and geophysical investigations, undertaken in conjunction with the ongoing excavation of the prehistoric settlement at the site of Panaghia Koimisis at the southern end of modern Therasia, have created the conditions for a more comprehensive approach to the archaeological landscape of the island. Based on the results from the excavation trenches in the south and south-east terraces of the Koimisis hill, which have been excavated down to the virgin soil, we present findings on the organisation, architecture and habitation phases of the Koimisis settlement. The site emerges as an important settlement located on the imposing hilltop rising on the west side of the pre-eruption Santorini caldera in the Early Bronze Age, with a long period of habitation to the end of the Middle Cycladic period, when it was definitively abandoned. The excavation of the settlement provides new information on its architecture and spatial organisation during the Early and Middle Bronze Age, completing the picture from Akrotiri, whose early phases are preserved in a piecemeal fashion under the buildings of the Late Cycladic town.

New Evidence for the Early History of Palaepaphos

1983 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 229-233
Author(s):  
F. G. Maier
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Early History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
New Evidence

Material from earlier as well as recent excavations at Palaepaphos is considered; it is now clear that a considerable quantity of pottery was imported from the Aegean during the thirteenth century and earlier; this is summarily described. Evidence for a Chalcolithic settlement is analysed. Finally, pottery from the intervening Middle Bronze Age is advanced as an indication of occupation at Kouklia in MC II–MC III times.

scholarly journals Bronze age settlement and necropolis of Trnjane, near Bor - revision and new research results

Starinar ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 51-84
Author(s):  
Aleksandar Kapuran ◽  
Mario Gavranovic ◽  
Mathias Mehofer
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Copper Ore ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Settlement Area ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
New Research ◽  
Cultural Connections ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

In archaeological literature, the site of Trnjane, near Bor in eastern Serbia is known as an urn necropolis, with 43 discovered urn graves. The excavations in Trnjane took place between 1985 and 1987-1989, and continued in 1998. The investigations also included an excavation of a nearby settlement, but the results of this research were never published. In most of the previous studies, Trnjane was assigned to the Middle and Late Bronze Age, while the necropolis was often connected with the spread of the Urnfield Phenomena from Central Europe toward the Balkans. New investigations started in 2017 as cooperation between the Archaeological Institute in Belgrade and the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology (OREA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences shed new light on the chronology and cultural assignment of Trnjane and other similar surrounding sites in the region of eastern Serbia. The excavation of the settlement area in 2017 and 2018 yielded numerous finds indicating metallurgical activities connected with copper ore smelting (slag and ores), while pottery finds showed a typological resemblance with an Early and Middle Bronze Age repertoire. The radiocarbon dates from the settlement area and from urn graves of the neighbouring necropolis also point to a much earlier time than previously assumed. The new chronological determination of Trnjane raises a set of new questions, especially regarding the cultural connections between central Europe and the Balkans and transfers of copper ore smelting technology in the Bronze Age.

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