Human mobility in a Bronze Age Vatya 'urnfield' and the life history of a high-status woman.

István Major,Alessandra Sperduti,Federico Lugli,László Palcsu,Claudio Cavazzuti,Aniko Horváth,Magdolna Vicze,Viktória Kiss,Mihály Molnár,Tamás Hajdu

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0254360

Abstract

In this study, we present osteological and strontium isotope data of 29 individuals (26 cremations and 3 inhumations) from Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy, one of the largest Middle Bronze Age cemeteries in Hungary. The site is located in the northern part of the Csepel Island (a few kilometres south of Budapest) and was in use between c. 2150 and 1500 BC, a period that saw the rise, the apogee, and, ultimately, the collapse of the Vatya culture in the plains of Central Hungary. The main aim of our study was to identify variation in mobility patterns among individuals of different sex/age/social status and among individuals treated with different burial rites using strontium isotope analysis. Changes in funerary rituals in Hungary have traditionally been associated with the crises of the tell cultures and the introgression of newcomers from the area of the Tumulus Culture in Central Europe around 1500 BC. Our results show only slight discrepancies between inhumations and cremations, as well as differences between adult males and females. The case of the richly furnished grave n. 241 is of particular interest. The urn contains the cremated bones of an adult woman and two 7 to 8-month-old foetuses, as well as remarkably prestigious goods. Using 87Sr/86Sr analysis of different dental and skeletal remains, which form in different life stages, we were able to reconstruct the potential movements of this high-status woman over almost her entire lifetime, from birth to her final days. Our study confirms the informative potential of strontium isotopes analyses performed on different cremated tissues. From a more general, historical perspective, our results reinforce the idea that exogamic practices were common in Bronze Age Central Europe and that kinship ties among high-rank individuals were probably functional in establishing or strengthening interconnections, alliances, and economic partnerships.

Highlights

The custom of cremation is a characteristic of the Bronze and Iron Ages in Europe
In the central regions of the DanubianCarpathian basin, following earlier Copper Age ‘experiments’, urn cremation becomes more formalized during the Hungarian Early and Middle Bronze Age (c. 2200-1500/1450 BC), largely coinciding with the historical development of the Vatya culture [23,24,25,26] (Fig 1)
Due to the fragmentary nature, and the minor informative potential, of cremated remains, Vatya cemeteries have traditionally been investigated from a purely archaeological perspective [20, 26], with less attention paid to the human remains, the analysis of which is essential for reconstructing funerary behaviours, demography, and social organisation [27]

Summary

Introduction

The custom of cremation is a characteristic of the Bronze and Iron Ages in Europe. There are earlier examples, which appear sporadically and unsystematically across the continent [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14], but in the second millennium BC there is a wide diffusion of large urnfields, often including hundreds—or even thousands—of burials [15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22]. Human mobility in a Bronze Age Vatya ‘urnfield’ and the life history of a high-status woman communities where cremation dominated, both in Hungary, and in other parts of Europe. Relevant to the present study, several new methodologies have been developed, which increase the accuracy of sex estimations [37,38,39,40,41], extend strontium isotope analyses to cremated materials, and verify the reliability of 87Sr/86Sr data on the petrous portion of the temporal bone [42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49]. We apply these new osteological methods and sampling strategies for the analysis of strontium isotopes to a sample of 29 burials from Szigetszentmiklos-Urgehegy, one of the most important and best-preserved cemeteries of the Late Nagyrev and Vatya culture. Located a few kilometres south of Budapest, in the northern part of the Csepel Island, the cemetery includes over 500 urn cremations and eight inhumations [50]

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Conclusion