Kinship-based social inequality in Bronze Age Europe

Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 366 (6466) ◽  
pp. 731-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alissa Mittnik ◽  
Ken Massy ◽  
Corina Knipper ◽  
Fabian Wittenborn ◽  
Ronny Friedrich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
High Status ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Genome Wide Data ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Shed Light

Revealing and understanding the mechanisms behind social inequality in prehistoric societies is a major challenge. By combining genome-wide data, isotopic evidence, and anthropological and archaeological data, we have gone beyond the dominating supraregional approaches in archaeogenetics to shed light on the complexity of social status, inheritance rules, and mobility during the Bronze Age. We applied a deep microregional approach and analyzed genome-wide data of 104 human individuals deriving from farmstead-related cemeteries from the Late Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age in southern Germany. Our results reveal individual households, lasting several generations, that consisted of a high-status core family and unrelated low-status individuals; a social organization accompanied by patrilocality and female exogamy; and the stability of this system over 700 years.

The Iron Age Enclosures and Prehistoric Landscape of Sutton Common, South Yorkshire

1997 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 221-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Parker Pearson ◽  
R.E. Sydes ◽  
S. Boardman ◽  
B. Brayshay ◽  
P.C. Buckland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

The Early Iron Age enclosures and associated sites on Sutton Common on the western edge of the Humberhead Levels contain an exceptional variety of archaeological data of importance not only to the region but for the study of later prehistory in the British Isles. Few other later prehistoric British sites outside the East Anglian fens and the Somerset Levels have thus far produced the quantity and quality of organically preserved archaeological materials that have been found, despite the small scale of the investigations to date. The excavations have provided an opportunity to integrate a variety of environmental analyses, of wood, pollen, beetles, waterlogged and carbonised plant remains, and of soil micromorphology, to address archaeological questions about the character, use, and environment of this Early Iron Age marsh fort. The site is comprised of a timber palisaded enclosure and a succeeding multivallate enclosure linked to a smaller enclosure by a timber alignment across a palaeochannel, with associated finds ranging in date from the Middle Bronze Age to the Roman and medieval periods. Among the four adjacent archaeological sites is an Early Mesolithic occupation site, also with organic preservation, and there is a Late Neolithic site beneath the large enclosure. Desiccation throughout the common is leading to the damage and loss of wooden and organic remains. It is hoped that the publication of these results, of investigations between 1987 and 1993, will lead to a fuller investigation taking place.

scholarly journals Ancient genomic time transect from the Central Asian Steppe unravels the history of the Scythians

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (13) ◽  
pp. eabe4414
Author(s):  
Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone ◽  
Elmira Khussainova ◽  
Nurzhibek Kahbatkyzy ◽  
Lyazzat Musralina ◽  
Maria A. Spyrou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Gene Pools ◽  
Social Rules ◽  
Eurasian Steppe ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Genome Wide Data ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Millennium

The Scythians were a multitude of horse-warrior nomad cultures dwelling in the Eurasian steppe during the first millennium BCE. Because of the lack of first-hand written records, little is known about the origins and relations among the different cultures. To address these questions, we produced genome-wide data for 111 ancient individuals retrieved from 39 archaeological sites from the first millennia BCE and CE across the Central Asian Steppe. We uncovered major admixture events in the Late Bronze Age forming the genetic substratum for two main Iron Age gene-pools emerging around the Altai and the Urals respectively. Their demise was mirrored by new genetic turnovers, linked to the spread of the eastern nomad empires in the first centuries CE. Compared to the high genetic heterogeneity of the past, the homogenization of the present-day Kazakhs gene pool is notable, likely a result of 400 years of strict exogamous social rules.

Late Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age barrows in Bukivna, Western Ukraine as a source to understand soil evolution and its environmental significance

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 101972
Author(s):  
Iwona Hildebrandt-Radke ◽  
Przemysław Makarowicz ◽  
Zhanna N. Matviishyna ◽  
Aleksandr Parkhomenko ◽  
Sergiy D. Lysenko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Environmental Significance ◽  
Soil Evolution ◽  
Western Ukraine ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

Barrows in action. Late Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age Barrow Landscapes in the Upper Dniester Basin, Ukraine

2019 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-115
Author(s):  
P. Makarowicz ◽  
J. Niebieszczański ◽  
M. Cwaliński ◽  
J. Romaniszyn ◽  
V. Rud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Steppe Zone ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Linear Pattern ◽  
The Past ◽  
Western Ukraine ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Direction Of Movement ◽  
Cultural Code

Abstract The aim of this article is to view the spatial distribution of Upper Dniester Basin’s (Western Ukraine) barrows and to interpret their location principles. These monuments were often situated on the flattened summits of watershed ridges or hills. It appeared also that some of them were located on upper parts of gentle slopes of not more than 8° of inclination. Mounds appear within linear and group-linear arrangements and were rarely observed as clusters, while more specific adjustments to their location were dependant on local terrain morphology. Barrow alignments run along the elevated ridges, while clustered groups were situated in places where erosive indentations or denudation cavities prevented barrows from stretching in a linear pattern. It can be noted that during the spatial development of barrow alignments, more attention was paid to the intervisibility between the mounds, than to their visibility from other places in the landscape. The potential of observing at least one of the following groups of tumuli from every embankment indicates the direction of movement within the framework of the barrow landscape, perhaps augmented in the past by the presence of paths or “roads”. Examples of analogous or similar, in a certain sense even universal, practices in shaping barrow landscapes were documented also from various parts of Eurasia. Therefore, it is argued these traits were shared by all “barrow societies” and their origins can be traced to the steppe zone. Specific and repeatable patterns of barrow arrangements are a manifestation of certain knowledge and skills, transmitted over generations and immortalized in the landscape that symbolized the incorporation of territory by “barrow societies”. Characteristic mound alignments became a cultural code or institution, as it were – an instrument of familiarising previously unknown landscapes, facilitating movement and simultaneously expressing continuity of kin-lineages.

Connecting Fragments: a Sensorial Approach to the Materialization of Religious Beliefs in Rural Mesopotamia at the Beginning of the Second Millennium BC

2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Laneri
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Tigris River ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Economic Domain ◽  
Contextual Association

The materialization of religious beliefs is a complex process involving an active dialectic between ideas and practices that are physically engraved in the artefactual remains of ritual activities. However, this process is relevant only if it is based on a contextual association of elements (e.g. the performance of ceremonial activities, the creation of symbolic objects, the construction of ceremonial spaces) that validates the meaning of each component as part of a whole. Thus, archaeologists should try to connect these elements to form a network of meanings that stimulated the senses of ancient individuals in framing their cognitive perception of the divine. The study here presented will thus tackle such general theoretical tenets focusing particularly on the importance of the materialization of religious beliefs in constructing the ideological and economic domain of small-scale societies in rural contexts. In so doing, these topics will be confronted and developed through the analysis and interpretation of the archaeological data obtained from the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000-1600 BC) architectural complex at the northern Mesopotamian site of Hirbemerdon Tepe, located along the upper Tigris river valley region in modern southeastern Turkey.

scholarly journals Novos dados sobre os hipogeus do Bronze Pleno de Torre Velha 3 (Serpa): contextos sepulcrais e estudo do espólio osteológico humano

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Daniel Ferreira Fidalgo ◽  
Eduardo Porfírio ◽  
Ana Maria Silva
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Male Adult ◽  
Genetic Changes ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Masticatory System

O presente trabalho incide sobre a análise antropológica do espólio ósseo humano recuperado de 21 hipogeus do arqueossítio de Torre Velha 3 (TV3; São Salvador, Serpa), datados entre os meados e a segunda metade do II milénio a.C.. Dezasseis hipogeus são individuais, três duplos (uma inumação in situ com uma redução associada) e um triplo (enterramento duplo com uma redução associada) e dois contextos funerários inconclusivos. Todos os restos ósseos humanos foram recuperados da câmara funerária. Para além destes, um hipogeu continha um enterramento com uma redução associada na câmara e uma inumação primária na antecâmara. Destes sepulcros foram exumados 28 indivíduos, 22 adultos (11 do sexo feminino, nove do masculino e dois casos indeterminados), cinco não adultos e um em que não foi possível atribuir uma faixa etária. Nas inumações primárias e individuais, as oferendas cárneas encontram-se associadas a adultos de ambos os sexos. Por sua vez as cerâmicas e punções surgem somente em enterramentos do sexo feminino, com a excepção de um punção associado ao adulto do sexo masculino [2007]. Recorrendo à análise estatística de componentes principais, foi possível observar que as diferenças na morfologia dentária de TV3 em comparação com outras amostras da Pré-História recente Peninsular são mínimas, e podem ser explicadas por mudanças genéticas associadas a possíveis contactos e interações interregionais. Foram ainda identificados padrões de desgaste dentário atípico que sugerem o uso parafuncional do sistema mastigatório de adultos do sexo feminino. Relativamente à patologia oral, a incidência de lesões cariogénicas na amostra é de 5,85% (29/495), e afecta cerca de 57% dos indivíduos analisados (n=21). Estes valores são superiores à maioria das amostras comparadas do Neolítico Final/Calcolítico do actual território Português, mas semelhantes aos registados para outras comunidades da Idade do Bronze. New data on the Middle Bronze Age hypogea of Torre Velha 3 (Serpa): burial contexts and the study of the human osteological remains - The present work focuses on the anthropological analysis of the human remains exhumed from 21 hypogea of the archaeological site of Torre Velha 3 (TV3; São Salvador, Serpa), which is dated between the middle and second half of the II millennium B.C. Sixteen hypogea were individual, three double (one in situ burial with an associated reduction) and one triple (double burial with associated reduction) and two inconclusive funerary contexts. The human remains were collected unearthed from the chambers of the tombs. Besides these, one hypogeum displayed an in situ burial with an associated reduction in the chamber and other in situ burial in theantechamber. From these tombs were exhumed 28 individuals, 22 adults (11 females, nine males and 2 inconclusive), five non adults and one unknown. In primary and individual burials, meat offering were found in association with adults from both sexes. Ceramic vessels and awls are found only in female burials, with the exception of one awl found in association with the male adult [2007]. Using a principal component analyses, it was possible to observe that the differences in dental morphological traits found in TV3, in comparison with other samples from the Iberian Peninsula’s recent pre-history, are minimal and can be explained by genetic changes derived from possible inter-regional contacts and interactions. Some atypical dental wear patterns were also identified, mostly in adult females, and these suggest the parafunctional use of the masticatory system. Finally, the incidence of cariogenic lesions found is 5.85% (29/495), affecting around 57% of the individuals analysed (n=21). These values are higher than Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic samples from nowadays Portugal, but similar to the values found in Bronze Age samples.

scholarly journals Symbolic connotations of animals at early Middle Helladic Asine. A comparative study of the animal bones from the settlement and its graves

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 128-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella Macheridis
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Body Part ◽  
High Status ◽  
Wild Mammals ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Helladic

This paper is a contribution to the zooarchaeological research on animals or animal parts found in human graves during the Middle Bronze Age in Greece. The animal bones from the early Middle Helladic settlement (MH I-II, c. 2100–1800 BC) and contemporary burials at Asine are presented. The goal is to compare the animal bones from the settlement with those from the burials, in terms of species composition and body part distribution. Through this comparison, this paper aims to discuss any symbolic connotations of bone waste from everyday-life practices. The results show that the most common domesticates from settlement contexts, pig, sheep/goat and cattle, also appear to be the most abundant animals deposited in the early MH graves at Asine. This is consistent with mortuary data from other sites on the Peloponnese, especially Lerna. The pig was most abundant in both settlement and graves at Asine. The similarities between wild and domestic pigs might be important, and are discussed as a possible inspiration for the pig symbolism in MH I-II Asine. I also propose a regional change in the later Bronze Age of how animals were deposited in graves, in which period the presence of wild mammals, dogs, and horses in high status graves increases. Throughout, pig, sheep/goats and cattle remained the most important animals for ritually connoted events such as funerary meals or feasts.

scholarly journals The Arrival of Steppe and Iranian Related Ancestry in the Islands of the Western Mediterranean

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Fernandes ◽  
Alissa Mittnik ◽  
Iñigo Olalde ◽  
Iosif Lazaridis ◽  
Olivia Cheronet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
African Ancestry ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Balearic Islands ◽  
The People ◽  
Y Chromosomes ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Reported Data ◽  
Number Of Individuals

A series of studies have documented how Steppe pastoralist-related ancestry reached central Europe by at least 2500 BCE, while Iranian farmer-related ancestry was present in Aegean Europe by at least 1900 BCE. However, the spread of these ancestries into the western Mediterranean where they have contributed to many populations living today remains poorly understood. We generated genome-wide ancient DNA from the Balearic Islands, Sicily, and Sardinia, increasing the number of individuals with reported data from these islands from 3 to 52. We obtained data from the oldest skeleton excavated from the Balearic islands (dating to ∼2400 BCE), and show that this individual had substantial Steppe pastoralist-derived ancestry; however, later Balearic individuals had less Steppe heritage reflecting geographic heterogeneity or immigration from groups with more European first farmer-related ancestry. In Sicily, Steppe pastoralist ancestry arrived by ∼2200 BCE and likely came at least in part from Spain as it was associated with Iberian-specific Y chromosomes. In Sicily, Iranian-related ancestry also arrived by the Middle Bronze Age, thus revealing that this ancestry type, which was ubiquitous in the Aegean by this time, also spread further west prior to the classical period of Greek expansion. In Sardinia, we find no evidence of either eastern ancestry type in the Nuragic Bronze Age, but show that Iranian-related ancestry arrived by at least ∼300 BCE and Steppe ancestry arrived by ∼300 CE, joined at that time or later by North African ancestry. These results falsify the view that the people of Sardinia are isolated descendants of Europe’s first farmers. Instead, our results show that the island’s admixture history since the Bronze Age is as complex as that in many other parts of Europe.

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