Tracing mobility patterns through the 6th-5th millennia BC in the Carpathian Basin with strontium and oxygen stable isotope analyses

Abstract

The complexity of Neolithic population movements and their interpretation through material culture have been the subject of archaeological research for decades. One of the dominant narratives proposes that groups from the Starčevo-Körös-Criş complex spread from the central towards the northern Balkans in the Early Neolithic and eventually brought the Neolithic lifestyle into present-day Hungary. Broad geographical migrations were considered to shape the continuous expansion of Neolithic groups and individuals. However, recent archaeological research, aDNA, and isotope analyses challenged the synchronous appearance of specific material culture distributions and human movement dynamics through emphasizing communication networks and socio-cultural transformation processes. This paper seeks to retrace the complexity of Neolithic mobility patterns across Hungary by means of strontium and oxygen stable isotope analyses, which were performed on a total of 718 human dental enamel samples from 55 Neolithic sites spanning the period from the Starčevo to the Balaton-Lasinja culture in Transdanubia and from the Körös to the Tiszapolgár cultural groups on the Great Hungarian Plain (Alföld). This study presents the largest strontium and oxygen isotope sample size for the Neolithic Carpathian Basin and discusses human mobility patterns on various geographical scales and throughout archaeological cultures, chronological periods, and sex and gender categories in a multiproxy analysis. Based on our results, we discuss the main stages of the Neolithisation processes and particularly trace individual movement behaviour such as exogamy patterns within extensive social networks. Furthermore, this paper presents an innovative differentiation between mobility patterns on small, micro-regional, and supra-regional scales, which provides new insights into the complex organisation of Neolithic communities.

On the road again—a review of pretreatment methods for the decontamination of skeletal materials for strontium isotopic and concentration analysis

“…In addition, Price and colleagues argued that the protocol removed the soluble diagenetic strontium from bones; however, they further argued that insoluble diagenetic strontium would reflect biologically available 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values (1994a). Following this assertion, the use of bones to determine biologically available strontium began to take hold (Bentley et al 2002;Depaermentier et al 2020;Grupe et al 1997). Other suggestions have been investigated, such as faunal remains (teeth, bone, and shells) (e.g., Bentley et al 2004;Haverkort et al 2008;Milella et al 2019), soils, stream water, and plants (e.g., Perry et al 2017;Snoeck et al 2016).…”

Take a seed! Revealing Neolithic landscape and agricultural development in the Carpathian Basin through multivariate statistics and environmental modelling

“…It seems reasonable to not assume extensive Chernozem soil patches and consider site location preferences along the hydromorphic meadow and alluvial soils of the wetlands and the floodplains of the meandering river systems-at least during the EN. This system constantly but not rapidly changed with the establishment of the subsequent Transdanubian Linearbandkeramik (TLBK), which marked the genuine transition to food production in the region [8,16,139]. In the counterpart, the Alfo ¨ld Linearbandkeramik (ALBK) emerged from the Late Ko ¨ro ¨s 'cultural complex' and together they formed the MN transition in the Carpathian Basin, which was influenced by regional 'cultural subgroups' that merged with the later ALBK [140,141].…”

“…At the onset of the 5 th millennium cal BC, 'cultural' and genetic impulses arrived again from the southeast towards Transdanubia that helped to shape the large Lengyel 'cultural' formation in Central Europe [11,12]. Migration and mobility played a key role in the Neolithic of the Carpathian Basin, stronger effecting its western part [4,9,[13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

How Much Is Enough? First Steps to a Social Ecology of the Pergamon Microregion

“…Based on isotopic data, a rather plant-based diet for the "average" Pergamean can be assumed [82]. According to this, and because we are able to quantify the required workforce for their harvest (see below), we focus solely on cereals and leguminosae (see Table 2; see (e.g., [83,84]) for problems regarding isotope data). They made up the majority of the diet and are important sources for calories and proteins.…”