Life-course reconstruction for mobile individuals in an Early Bronze Age society in Central Europe: Concept of the project and first results for the cemetery of Singen (Germany)

Abstract

The German Ministry of Education and Research sponsored project "Life course reconstruction of mobile individuals in sedentary societies", run by the Chair of Proto- and Prehistory, University of Leipzig, and by the Dept. of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology (MPIEVA), investigates mobility as part of the human life course in cultural groups during the beginnings of the Bronze and Iron Ages in Central Europe. Starting with the basic question 'What role do individual mobility and the integration of foreign persons play in the development of prehistoric sedentary societies?' the archaeological subproject investigates the links between the mobility of individuals and gender roles and between the former and the transfer of technologies in prehistoric sedentary societies. The results of isotope analyses now offer the chance to compare data on geographical provenance with cultural data. So the research of the MPI-EVA's component of the project focuses on the analysis of five stable isotopes - strontium, oxygen, sulphur, carbon, and nitrogen - to reconstruct dietary habits and provenance in different life stages. The project focuses on the Early Bronze Age cemetery of Singen (district of Constance) and the Early Iron Age burial mound the Magdalenenberg near Villingen-Schwenningen (Schwarzwald-Baar district), both in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.