Exploring Mobility Patterns and Biological Affinities in the Southern Aegean: First Insights From Early Bronze Age Eastern Crete

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a pilot project which combines, for the first time, biodistance and strontium isotope analyses in the study of human skeletal remains from Early Bronze Age Crete (third millennium bc). Information from these analyses offers, in a direct way, insights into the biological distance, and consequently the gene flow and mobility patterns, among human populations in eastern Crete. The results are synthesised with the evidence of funerary practices in order to explore the nature of interaction among communities in eastern Crete. The biodistance analysis supports a strong genetic affinity between the populations represented at the two Kephala Petras skeletal assemblages, while the results of the available strontium isotope analysis favour their local origin; thus the combined results suggest the lack of significant population influx. The biological distance of the two chronologically contemporary populations at Livari-Skiadi, also manifesting completely different patterns of mortuary disposal, is of particular interest since it contrasts with the Petras situation and raises issues of intra-community distinctions, cultural and biological.

Establishing the Middle Sea: The Late Bronze Age of Mediterranean Europe (1700–900 BC)

“…In contrast to the rest of the Mediterranean, publication of the first map of systematic bioavailable strontium isotope signatures in the Aegean (Nafplioti 2011), and later contributions of relevant data, have set the scene for further advances in the field. Nearly ten years after the first ever publication or dissemination of strontium isotope data on mobility in the Aegean (Nafplioti 2007(Nafplioti , 2008Richards et al 2008), and the LBA in particular (Nafplioti 2009(Nafplioti , 2018, more human strontium studies also from teams new to this context have started to appear (e.g., Panagiotopoulou et al, 2018;Triantaphyllou et al 2015;Whelton et al 2018) Although the potential of strontium analysis to track mobility in the Aegean has been adequately described in relation to the geographical patterning of strontium isotopic signatures (Nafplioti 2011), a common pitfall in research of this kind, not only in the Aegean but also generally, concerns the interpretation of what appear to be "local" strontium values as evidence of the absence of mobility. Nevertheless, unless there is a clearly defined question in which the specific individuals tested are thought to be nonlocals, based, for instance, on material culture, mortuary architecture, etc., and the regions involved in the study also are known to separate clearly in terms of bioavailable strontium isotope ratio variation, showing that the human signatures are compatible with a local origin does not say anything conclusive about the origins and/or the lack of mobility of the group(s) these people represent.…”

The geographic distribution of bioavailable strontium isotopes in Greece – A base for provenance studies in archaeology

“…snail shells or pig teeth) and archaeological human bone and recorded for 26 sampling sites a total range in bioavailable 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios from 0.78154 to 0.71187. Additionally, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data of archaeological human bone and dentine is available for two Bronze Age archaeological sites in western Crete (Kephala Petras and Livari-Skiadi), which suggest a narrow bioavailable range with 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values from 0.70878 to 0.70907 (Triantaphyllou et al, 2015). On the Peloponnese, a study on Neanderthal humanoid mobility returned 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values between 0.7086 and 0.7094 for animal dentine found in Lakonis Cave (Richards et al, 2008) and the range in bioavailable 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values around the ancient city of Stymphalos was constrained as 0.7075 to 0.71012 using the teeth of archaeological sheep/goats and pigs (Leslie, 2012).…”

“…2. Map of published 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data for the different regions of Greece (Barton et al, 1983;Bishop et al, 2020;Brilli et al, 2005;Frank et al, 2021;Gale et al, 1988;Gärtner et al, 2011;Hoogewerff et al, 2019;Leslie, 2012;Nafplioti, 2008Nafplioti, , 2011Panagiotopoulou et al, 2018;Prevedorou, 2015;Tremba et al, 1975;Triantaphyllou et al, 2015;Vaiglova et al, 2018;Valsami-Jones and Cann, 1994;Voerkelius et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2019;Whelton et al, 2018). Bioavailable 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data (circles and triangles) was determined using animal remains (AR), human remains (HR), plants (P), soils (S), snail shells (SS) and water (W).…”

“…Nafplioti, 2011;Whelton et al, 2018) and human archaeological bones (e.g. Nafplioti, 2011;Triantaphyllou et al, 2015). The choice of proxy is usually tailored to the aim of the study, and is often limited by the availability of respective proxy materials.…”

Rites of Passage: Mortuary Practice, Population Dynamics, and Chronology at the Carrowkeel Passage Tomb Complex, Co. Sligo, Ireland

“…Fifteen human dental enamel samples (from 14 individuals) and one from a canid (see above) were analysed for strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotopes, following published protocols (Kador et al 2015a; Chenery et al 2012 for oxygen and Triantaphyllou et al 2015 for strontium). To establish a better idea of the (strontium) isotopic background signature in the local biosphere, two samples of crown dentine (Montgomery et al 2007; Montgomery 2010; Ditchfield 2014), and four vegetation samples – comprising clippings of twigs – from the Carrowkeel region were analysed for strontium (Fig.…”