Isotope data in Migration Period archaeology: critical review and future directions

Abstract

Early Mediaeval Archaeology was long influenced by traditional narratives related to so-called Völkerwanderungen. Based on the interpretation of ancient written sources, the “Migration Period” was traditionally perceived as a time of catastrophic changes triggered by the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and massive migration waves of “barbarian” groups across Europe. In the last decades, isotope analyses have been increasingly used to test these traditional narratives by exploring past mobility patterns, shifts in dietary habits, and changes in subsistence strategies or in socio-economic structures among early medieval societies. To evaluate the achievements of isotope studies in understanding the complexity of the so-called Migration Period, this paper presents a review of 50 recent publications. Instead of re-analysing the data per se, this review first explores the potentials and limitations of the various approaches introduced in the last decades. In a second step, an analysis of the interpretations presented in the reviewed studies questions to what extend traditional expectations are supported by isotope data from the Migration Period. Beside revising the concept of massive migrations, isotope data reveal so-far underestimated mobility patterns and open new perspectives in the investigation of early medieval world.

Bioarchaeological analyses reveal long-lasting continuity at the periphery of the Late Antique Roman Empire

“…To question these ethnically derived comparisons, there has been an increase in the use of bioarchaeological methods in Early Medieval archaeological research. 24 Genetic analyses (ancient DNA, hereafter referred to as aDNA) are often used to understand Early Medieval migration patterns, 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 social structures, 25 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 and the impact of Early Medieval migrations on the genetic composition of modern populations. 34 , 35 , 36 In addition, strontium (Sr) and oxygen (O) isotope analyses have become common tools to trace potential mobility or migration events 25 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 and the consequences of these migrations on the local population.…”