Abstract
Strontium and oxygen isotopes of individuals from El Hundido and Valdescusa (north of Spain) sites, corresponding to the Bell Beaker culture, were analysed in order to determine mobility patterns and provenance areas. Strontium and oxygen isotope ratios in three teeth from two individuals at El Hundido and two teeth from the five individuals at Valdescusa were studied. The analyses were performed in both dentine and enamel fractions. 87Sr/86Sr ratios of El Hundido individuals indicate one was of foreign origin and the other was local whereas at Valdescusa were all of foreign provenance. Calculated δ18Ow values of El Hundido suggest a provenance from the geographical area close to the site while the Valdescusa would come from a warmer region. The comparison of oxygen and strontium isotope signatures indicate the west of the Iberian Peninsula (Zamora or the east of Leon regions) as the provenance area for the foreign individual at El Hundido and southwest France (Garonne basin) as the region of provenance for the Valdescusa.
Highlights
The appearance of Bell Beaker pottery is a very important and controversial topic in archaeological research
After the discovery of the first Bell Beaker vessels in the Iberian Peninsula in the nineteenth century[1] and the progressive appearance of similar ceramics and associated objects in most of Western Europe, during the twentieth century researchers searched for the Bell Beaker homeland and created models to explain the spread of the Bell Beaker culture. Schmidt[2] proposed an Iberian origin for the Beaker "people" which was quickly adopted by Bosch G impera[3]
The materials in the geological environment of the sites are similar in composition and age, the isotope baseline for bioavailable strontium is slightly different with values of 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7090 for El Hundido and 87Sr/86Sr = 0.7084 for Valdescusa (Fig. 3)
Summary
The appearance of Bell Beaker pottery is a very important and controversial topic in archaeological research. After the discovery of the first Bell Beaker vessels in the Iberian Peninsula in the nineteenth century[1] and the progressive appearance of similar ceramics and associated objects in most of Western Europe, during the twentieth century researchers searched for the Bell Beaker homeland and created models to explain the spread of the Bell Beaker culture. Del Castillo Yurrita proposed a "great Hispanic culture" that originated in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula and spread throughout Western and Central Europe, mainly motivated by the search for copper[4,5]. Most scholar consider the Bell Beaker culture was a phenomenon based on the long-distance and fast-spreading movement of people, objects and ideas[11]. Late Bell Beaker or ’Epicampaniform’ remains have been documented during the Middle Bronze Age in large regions of north-eastern Iberia[15], southern France[16,17] and in some regions of central E urope[18] and are characterised by burials according to regional Bronze Age patterns
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