Cultural changes in the second millennium BC: a Bayesian examination of radiocarbon evidence from Switzerland and Catalonia

Capuzzo, Giacomo; Barceló, Juan Antonio

doi:10.1080/00438243.2015.1053571

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…It should be noted that charcoal always bears the risk of old wood effect. The selection of charcoal dates was limited to reliable samples as already proposed for the Swiss data in Capuzzo and Barceló 2015 [49].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Capuzzo and Barceló 2015 have tried to calculate the transition from inhumation burials to cremations on the Swiss Plateau with the help of a phase model created in OxCal. They assumed that inhumations were gradually replaced by cremations and the possible transition was calculated to have taken place between 1640 and 1535 BC [49]. However, the situation became more complex from the MBA onwards, when new burial customs followed in quick succession, as a detailed article by Schmid 2019 shows [54].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

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

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Archaeological records highlight the existence of periods in which cremation was widely used, as is the case during the Late Bronze Age with the macro-scale diffusion of the so-called Urnfield culture (Falkenstein 2012;Capuzzo and Barceló 2015;De Mulder et al 2016). In other periods, such as the Mesolithic and the Neolithic, inhumation seems to be the dominant funerary rite in Belgium (Toussaint 2013;Meiklejohn et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

CREMATION VS. INHUMATION: MODELING CULTURAL CHANGES IN FUNERARY PRACTICES FROM THE MESOLITHIC TO THE MIDDLE AGES IN BELGIUM USING KERNEL DENSITY ANALYSIS ON¹⁴C DATA

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The adoption of a new funerary ritual with all its social and cognitive meanings is of great importance to understanding social transformations of past societies. The first known occurrence of cremation in the territory corresponding to modern Belgium dates back to the Mesolithic period. From the end of the Neolithic onward, the practice of cremation was characterized by periods in which this rite was predominant and periods of contractions, defined by a decrease in the use of this funerary ritual. This paper aims to quantify such phenomenon for the first time by modeling discontinuities in burial practices through kernel density analysis of 1428 radiocarbon (14C) dates from 311 archaeological sites located in Belgium from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages. Despite possible taphonomic and sampling biases, the results highlight the existence of periods with a large uptake of cremation rite followed by periods of contractions; such discontinuities took place in correlation with changes in the socio-economical structure of local communities, as, for example, during the later Middle Bronze Age and at the end of the Roman Period.

show abstract

“…En contextos del Calcolítico y del Bronce Inicial esta alteración se documenta parcialmente (Capuzzo y Barceló 2015). Sin embargo en la Cova del Gegant hay que relacionar esta cremación con alteraciones postdeposicionales sin vinculación con una prác-tica funeraria.…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Objetos de oro y epicampaniforme en la Cova del Gegant. Relaciones en la costa mediterránea de la Península Ibérica durante la Edad del Bronce

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

RESUMENEn este trabajo se analiza el estrato XXV de la Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona), adscrito a la Edad del Bronce, y se destaca la problemática cronológica de este período. En este yacimiento encontramos decoraciones epicampaniformes del "Grupo del Nordeste", tradicionalmente atribuidas a un Bronce Antiguo, un osario colectivo datado por C14 en el Bronce Medio, ornamentos en ámbar/resina de amplia cronología y dos piezas áu-reas, muy escasas en el nordeste de la Península Ibérica, que vinculamos con el episodio sepulcral. Las piezas arqueológicas y la serie de dataciones radiocarbónicas nos proporcionan datos importantes sobre las redes de intercambio y los desplazamientos a lo largo de la fachada mediterránea de la Península Ibérica durante la Edad de Bronce.

show abstract

Cultural changes in the second millennium BC: a Bayesian examination of radiocarbon evidence from Switzerland and Catalonia

Cited by 13 publications

References 13 publications

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

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

CREMATION VS. INHUMATION: MODELING CULTURAL CHANGES IN FUNERARY PRACTICES FROM THE MESOLITHIC TO THE MIDDLE AGES IN BELGIUM USING KERNEL DENSITY ANALYSIS ON¹⁴C DATA

Objetos de oro y epicampaniforme en la Cova del Gegant. Relaciones en la costa mediterránea de la Península Ibérica durante la Edad del Bronce

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Cultural changes in the second millennium BC: a Bayesian examination of radiocarbon evidence from Switzerland and Catalonia

Cited by 13 publications

References 13 publications

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

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

CREMATION VS. INHUMATION: MODELING CULTURAL CHANGES IN FUNERARY PRACTICES FROM THE MESOLITHIC TO THE MIDDLE AGES IN BELGIUM USING KERNEL DENSITY ANALYSIS ON14C DATA

Objetos de oro y epicampaniforme en la Cova del Gegant. Relaciones en la costa mediterránea de la Península Ibérica durante la Edad del Bronce

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

CREMATION VS. INHUMATION: MODELING CULTURAL CHANGES IN FUNERARY PRACTICES FROM THE MESOLITHIC TO THE MIDDLE AGES IN BELGIUM USING KERNEL DENSITY ANALYSIS ON¹⁴C DATA