A distinct section of the early bronze age society? Stable isotope investigations of burials in settlement pits and multiple inhumations of the Únětice culture in central germany

Knipper, Corina; Fragata, Matthias; Nicklisch, Nicole; Siebert, Angelina; Szécsényi-Nagy, Anna; Hubensack, Vera; Metzner-Nebelsick, Carola; Meller, Harald; Alt, Kurt W.

doi:10.1002/ajpa.22892

Cited by 23 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…The high proportion of nonlocal females occurs at the same time as a high and increasing haplotype diversity, i.e., a high diversity of maternal lineages, and is consistent with a patrilocal residential system and female exogamy (39,40). Predominantly nonlocal females were also found in BBC contexts in southern Bavaria (especially if 0.71050 is used as 87 Sr/ 86 Sr cutoff), Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic (18), and Britain (21), among CWC burials in southern Germany (12), and EBA inhumations in central Germany (24), pointing to a supraregional prevalence of patrilocal residential rules. The pattern is, however, most striking in the Lech River valley.…”

Section: Stable Isotope Analysissupporting

confidence: 53%

“…not occur together, as well as finished artifacts (22). Isotope analyses in EBA contexts revealed a heterogenic picture ranging from no clear indication for nonlocal individuals at Singen in southwest Germany (23) to a few nonlocal persons in mostly smaller burial communities in central Germany (24), while data from Ún etice contexts in Silesia (Poland), were interpreted to be a reflection of "hypermobility" (25).…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

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

Knipper

Mittnik²,

Massy

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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155

112

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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.

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Section: Stable Isotope Analysissupporting

confidence: 53%

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

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

Knipper

Mittnik²,

Massy

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

155

112

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furthermore, several areas within Europe might be characterized by overlapping ranges which provides additional difficulties and challenges in delineating specific potential areas of origin. At the moment, the closest areas that seem to meet baseline ranges characterized by 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values of ~ 0.713 are: to the south, middle-eastern Germany [55], northeastern Netherlands [56], and northeastern Czech Republic [57]; to the north, southern Sweden [58]; and to the west, some areas in Britain [59]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A matter of months: High precision migration chronology of a Bronze Age female

et al. 2017

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Establishing the age at which prehistoric individuals move away from their childhood residential location holds crucial information about the socio dynamics and mobility patterns in ancient societies. We present a novel combination of strontium isotope analyses performed on the over 3000 year old “Skrydstrup Woman” from Denmark, for whom we compiled a highly detailed month-scale model of her migration timeline. When combined with physical anthropological analyses this timeline can be related to the chronological age at which the residential location changed. We conducted a series of high-resolution strontium isotope analyses of hard and soft human tissues and combined these with anthropological investigations including CT-scanning and 3D visualizations. The Skrydstrup Woman lived during a pan-European period characterized by technical innovation and great social transformations stimulated by long-distance connections; consequently she represents an important part of both Danish and European prehistory. Our multidisciplinary study involves complementary biochemical, biomolecular and microscopy analyses of her scalp hair. Our results reveal that the Skrydstrup Woman was between 17–18 years old when she died, and that she moved from her place of origin -outside present day Denmark- to the Skrydstrup area in Denmark 47 to 42 months before she died. Hence, she was between 13 to 14 years old when she migrated to and resided in the area around Skrydstrup for the rest of her life. From an archaeological standpoint, this one-time and one-way movement of an elite female during the possible “age of marriageability” might suggest that she migrated with the aim of establishing an alliance between chiefdoms. Consequently, this detailed multidisciplinary investigation provides a novel tool to reconstruct high resolution chronology of individual mobility with the perspective of studying complex patterns of social and economic interaction in prehistory.

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“…Strontium isotope values above 0.7105 are rather uncommon for the Rhine region and other lowland areas, including the North Sea area, but are typical for low and high mountain ranges with Mesozoic, Paleozoic, and older rocks (Bentley & Knipper, ; Brettell et al, ; Gillmaier et al, ; Knipper et al, ; McManus et al, ; Müller, Fricke, Halliday, McCulloch, & Wartho, ; Oelze et al, ; Smits, Millard, Nowell, & Pearson, ; Voerkelius et al, ). However, a recent study has shown that highly radiogenic bioavailable strontium signatures also occur in lowland localities which are influenced by glacial till of Scandinavian origin such as the Middle Elbe‐Saale region (Knipper et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracing residential mobility during the Merovingian period: An isotopic analysis of human remains from the Upper Rhine Valley, Germany

Schuh

Makarewicz

2016

American J Phys Anthropol

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A distinct section of the early bronze age society? Stable isotope investigations of burials in settlement pits and multiple inhumations of the Únětice culture in central germany

Abstract: The analytical results let to conclude that inhumations in settlement pits and multiple burials were two of the manifold burial practices of the Early Bronze Age. The selection criteria of the individuals for the different forms of inhumation remained undisclosed.

Cited by 23 publications

References 66 publications

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

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

A matter of months: High precision migration chronology of a Bronze Age female

Tracing residential mobility during the Merovingian period: An isotopic analysis of human remains from the Upper Rhine Valley, Germany

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