Central European Early Bronze Age chronology revisited: A Bayesian examination of large-scale radiocarbon dating

Abstract

In archaeological research, changes in material culture and the evolution of styles are taken as major indicators for socio-cultural transformation. They form the basis for typo-chronological classification and the establishment of phases and periods. Central European Bronze Age material culture from burials reveals changes during the Bronze Age and represents a perfect case study for analyzing phenomena of cultural change and the adoption of innovation in the societies of prehistoric Europe. Our study focuses on the large-scale change in material culture which took place in the second millennium BC and the emergence at the same period of new burial rites: the shift from inhumation burials in flat graves to complex mounds and simple cremation burials. Paul Reinecke was the first to divide the European Bronze Age (EBA) into two phases, Bz A1 and A2. The shift from the first to the second phase has so far been ascribed to technical advances. Our study adopted an innovative approach to quantifying this phenomenon. Through regressive reciprocal averaging and Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon-dated grave contexts located in Switzerland and southern Germany, we modelled chronological changes in the material culture and changes in burial rites in these regions in a probabilistic way. We used kernel density models to summarize radiocarbon dates, with the aim of visualizing cultural changes in the third and second millennium BC. In 2015, Stockhammer et al. cast doubt on the chronological sequence of the Reinecke phases of the EBA on the basis of newly collected radiocarbon dates from southern Germany. Our intervention is a direct response to the results of that study. We fully agree with Stockhammer’s et al. dating of the start of EBA, but propose a markedly different dating of the EBA/MBA transition. Our modelling of radiocarbon data demonstrates a statistically significant typological sequence of phases Bz A1, Bz A2 and Bz B and disproves their postulated chronological overlap. The linking of the archaeological relative-chronological system with absolute dates is of major importance to understanding the temporal dimension of the EBA phases.

Dating the Ladies

“…In order to detail the chronology of the cemetery in NM, it was decided to use information from studies on selected categories of finds carried out for other areas of Central Europe (Stockhammer et al 2015;Erneé 2015;Brunner et al 2020;Massy, Stockhammer 2020). A detailed analysis of the grave goods from NM burials (Nová≠ek 2017.40-115), supported by the results of statistical analysis, made it possible to distinguish chronologically most 'sensitive' finds from the available set.…”

“…Burials equipped with pins of both types constitute the group of the youngest objects in the ceme-tery. Based on the available radiocarbon dated examples from outside NM, the period of occurrence of these types of pins should be assumed to be around 1850-1650 cal BC (Brunner et al 2020;Stockhammer et al 2015).…”

The Evolution of Antler and Bone Cheekpieces From the Balkan-Carpathian Region to Central Kazakhstan: Chronology of “Chariot” Cultures and Mycenaean Greece

“…1550 BC 228 , but now the generally accepted date is 1600 BC 229 . The use of Bayesian statistics for AMS dates of complexes reliably associated with the Reinecke's phases in Switzerland and southern Germany allowed the BzA/ BzB transition to be dated within 1615-1530 BC 230 . This procedure is not as strict as dendrochronology, and may partly reflect the tendency of older dates, characteristic of the radiocarbon method.…”

Early and Middle Bronze Age Chronology of the Carpathian Basin Revisited: Questions Answered or Persistent Challenges?

“…Since in the majority of cases there is insufficient contextual data to group observations based on prior information, the emphasis is made on exploratory investigation of whether regional trajectories indicate the contemporaneity of human activity in the entire macroregion. Recently, the approach has been successfully and similarly used to compare the shift in burial practices in Central Europe (Brunner et al 2021), as well as trace the spread of millet throughout Bronze Age Europe (Filipović et al 2020).…”