“Celts” up and down the Alps. Insights on mobility patterns in the pre‐Roman/Celtic population from Verona (NE Italy, 3rd–1st c. BCE): A multi‐isotopic approach

Abstract

Objectives: The Late Iron Age in continental Europe featured complex demographic processes including, among others, the establishment of transalpine "Celtic" communities on the Italian peninsula between the 4th and 1st centuries BCE. To date, only few data are available about mobility and migration in these populations. Here we explore these topics among the Cenomani of Seminario Vescovile (SV-Verona, Italy, 3rd-1st c. BCE) through a multi-isotopic approach and test the possible associations with sex, age and funerary treatment. Materials and methods:We analyzed isotopic ratios of oxygen (δ 18 O) and carbon (δ 13 C) from bone phosphate and collagen, respectively, of 49 individuals (23 males, 17 females, and 9 nonadults). In addition, we explored possible intraindividual lifetime changes by comparing collagen δ 13 C from bone and dentine of 26 individuals. We assessed nonlocality based on individual deviation of isotopic values from the population mean plus three times the median absolute deviation from the median (±3MAD).We then checked for isotopic differences between sexes and type of funerary treatment using Mann-Whitney tests. Results: One individual shows isotopic values consistent with a nonlocal origin. Five more individuals may have originated from a different locality. No statistical differences separate sexes and types of funerary treatment. Discussion: Results suggest a local origin of most of the individuals of SV with the few exceptions pointing especially to an Alpine origin. The low frequency of nonlocals at SV suggest a reduced mobility in this population, or the preeminence of short distance movements undetected by our analyses.

Geographic origin, ancestry, and death circumstances at the Cornaux/Les Sauges Iron Age bridge, Switzerland

“…The combination of strontium, oxygen, and sulfur data results in a range of outliers between five and eight out of 20 (25-40% of the sample). These frequencies are not dissimilar to those observed in culturally and chronologically similar contexts, and may reflect a generalized pattern of high territorial mobility during the European Late Iron Age 34,35,[76][77][78][79][80][81] . While isotopic data are informative about one individual's mobility during life, the variability of the mtDNA haplogroups indicates, on a deeper chronological scale, a possible different genetic origin of the analyzed individuals.…”

"Until death do us part". A multidisciplinary study on human- Animal co- burials from the Late Iron Age necropolis of Seminario Vescovile in Verona (Northern Italy, 3rd-1st c. BCE)

“…While the anthropological, funerary, isotopic, and paleogenetic data do not imply a simple explanation for animal depositions and food offerings at SV, the cultural basis of these practices may reside in the interplay between diverse variables. These factors encompass the various components of individual status (e.g., social, economic, and acquired), affective factors (e.g., pets accompanying their owner), subtle changes in rituals over time, the influence of exotic customs, and the presence of nonlocals within this community [ 41 , 96 ]. Furthermore, it is important to stress two well-known issues affecting any funerary archaeological study like ours.…”

“…First, they expand our still fragmentary knowledge about the funerary and cultural variability of this group. Second, the availability of detailed archaeological documentation together with an extensive anthropological and isotopic dataset [38][39][40][41][42][43] and preliminary human ancient DNA (aDNA) data [44] provide the basis for a solid contextualization of the funerary zooarchaeological evidence.…”

New insights on Celtic migration in Hungary and Italy through the analysis of non-metric dental traits

“…The richness and complexity of the archaeological information regarding the movements of Celts towards Eastern Europe have never been explored biologically, whereas the biological outputs of Celtic flows on the southern route have received relatively more attention in the last years [ 3 , 4 , 12 ].…”

“…Moreover, thanks to its crucial placing between Prehistory and History, the Iron Age offers an advantageous point of view to investigate mobility patterns in the past [2]. Therefore, the lifestyle, funerary practices and mobility of Late Iron Age communities identified as Celtic and unified by originally speaking a common Celtic language, nevertheless displaying regional differences [1], have always aroused much interest, bringing archaeologists and anthropologists to build a wide research path in the last years (e.g [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]). Particularly, focusing on Celtic mobility patterns, old assumptions of unidirectional large-scale migrations as the cause of the spreading of Celts through Europe have been revised and theories about flows of single individuals or short-distance movements of isolated groups of people are receiving more attention [6,12,[15][16][17].…”