Reconstruction of migration patterns in the Bell Beaker period by stable strontium isotope analysis

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a pilot study concerning residential patterns in the Bell Beaker period in the Bavarian area. Under the assumption that stable strontium isotope ratios in mineralized tissue reflect the geology of the area where the investigated individual had lived, we analysed the 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios in human skeletal remains which had been formed at different ontogenetic periods (compact bone and tooth enamel). 87Sr/ 86Sr isotope ratios of compact bone from eight healthy adults from two archaeological sites average 0.708461 which is typical for the local geology. Enamel of the first permanent molar of three individuals differed significantly from their bone's isotopic ratio, the largest difference being as high as 0.008120 (52 analyses of NBS-987 Sr standard produced an 87Sr/ 86Sr of 0.719273 ± 0.000011). Since dental enamel is not remodeled after its formation in early childhood whereby the elemental composition of compact bone represents the last few years prior to death, those individuals apparently spent their childhood in a place different from their place of burial.