Strontium and oxygen isotopes to trace mobility routes during the Bell Beaker period in the north of Spain

Abstract

Strontium and oxygen isotopes of individuals from El Hundido and Valdescusa (north of Spain) sites, corresponding to the Bell Beaker culture, were analysed in order to determine mobility patterns and provenance areas. Strontium and oxygen isotope ratios in three teeth from two individuals at El Hundido and two teeth from the five individuals at Valdescusa were studied. The analyses were performed in both dentine and enamel fractions. 87Sr/86Sr ratios of El Hundido individuals indicate one was of foreign origin and the other was local whereas at Valdescusa were all of foreign provenance. Calculated δ18Ow values of El Hundido suggest a provenance from the geographical area close to the site while the Valdescusa would come from a warmer region. The comparison of oxygen and strontium isotope signatures indicate the west of the Iberian Peninsula (Zamora or the east of Leon regions) as the provenance area for the foreign individual at El Hundido and southwest France (Garonne basin) as the region of provenance for the Valdescusa.

Isotopic evidence for human mobility in late antique Bulla Regia (Tunisia)

“…2 . Approaches using both oxygen and strontium isotopes can serve to bolster interpretations made from a single chemical element alone ( Britton et al, 2021 ; recent case studies demonstrating the successful application of combined isotopes: Depaermentier et al, 2020 , Francisci et al, 2020 , Ortega et al, 2021 ).

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The Bell Beaker Phenomenon in Europe

“…As is always the case in Bell Beaker studies, the question of the movement of goods leads to a discussion regarding the scale and nature of human mobility. Strontium isotope analyses indicate a variety of scenarios (e.g., Waterman et al 2014;Díaz-del-Río et al 2022), often with a low level of mobility but sometimes with indications of movement over longer distance and involving more individuals, as is the case at the early 2nd millennium calBC site of Valdescusa (Ortega et al 2021). It is noteworthy that this diversity is echoed by work undertaken on contemporaneous non-Bell Beaker sites (Díaz-Zorita Bonilla et al 2018).…”

Identifying major phases in the use of land, energy and changing landscapes by agrarian societies (7,000 cal BP-Present) in Cantabrian Spain, based on cultural changes and anthropogenic signals

“…Copper production in northern Spain largely exceeded the regional needs and the surplus was traded with closest neighbors, such as in the northern Meseta (Ontañón-Peredo, 2003). Once again, specialization and trade were not used as a proper subsistence strategy (Renfrew, 1969), but more likely were part of the "package" of goods with cultural identity value, which were exchanged along with the incipient expansion of the Bell Beaker (Rojo Guerra et al, 2005;Ortega et al, 2021).…”