Lombards on the move--an integrative study of the migration period cemetery at Szólád, Hungary

Abstract

In 2005 to 2007 45 skeletons of adults and subadults were excavated at the Lombard period cemetery at Szólád (6th century A.D.), Hungary. Embedded into the well-recorded historical context, the article presents the results obtained by an integrative investigation including anthropological, molecular genetic and isotopic (δ(15)N, δ(13)C, (87)Sr/(86)Sr) analyses. Skeletal stress markers as well as traces of interpersonal violence were found to occur frequently. The mitochondrial DNA profiles revealed a heterogeneous spectrum of lineages that belong to the haplogroups H, U, J, HV, T2, I, and K, which are common in present-day Europe and in the Near East, while N1a and N1b are today quite rare. Evidence of possible direct maternal kinship was identified in only three pairs of individuals. According to enamel strontium isotope ratios, at least 31% of the individuals died at a location other than their birthplace and/or had moved during childhood. Based on the peculiar 87 Sr/86 Sr ratio distribution between females, males, and subadults in comparison to local vegetation and soil samples, we propose a three-phase model of group movement. An initial patrilocal group with narrower male but wider female Sr isotope distribution settled at Szólád, whilst the majority of subadults represented in the cemetery yielded a distinct Sr isotope signature. Owing to the virtual absence of Szólád-born adults in the cemetery, we may conclude that the settlement was abandoned after approx. one generation. Population heterogeneity is furthermore supported by the carbon and nitrogen isotope data. They indicate that a group of high-ranking men had access to larger shares of animal-derived food whilst a few individuals consumed remarkable amounts of millet. The inferred dynamics of the burial community are in agreement with hypotheses of a highly mobile lifestyle during the Migration Period and a short-term occupation of Pannonia by Lombard settlers as conveyed by written sources.

Figure 1. Map showing the location of the Szólád cemetery on the southern shore of Lake Balaton and the sites of Balatonszárszó and Kestzthely-Fenékpuszta, which have yielded strontium isotope reference data.

The DEM is based on SRTM (90 m) data, edited by H.-J. Köhler, U. v. Freeden, D. Peters and C. Knipper.

Figure 2. Plan of the cemetery at Szólád with the locations of selected grave goods.

The colours of the graves symbolise the anthropological sex and age determinations (graphics: U. v. Freeden, D. Peters, C. Knipper).

Figure 3. Scatter plot of δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of human and faunal collagen from the cemetery at Szólád (graphics: C. Knipper).

Figure 4. ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of human tooth enamel and bone from the cemetery at Szólád in comparison to modern vegetation, water, and soil samples from localities within a 12 km radius and from major geological units in the hills north of Lake Balaton.

Ranges I and II are derived from the data distribution of the tooth enamel of the children, illustrated in the kernel density plot (Figure 5). The data from Kestzthely-Fenékpuszta and Balatonszárszó were taken from and respectively (graphics: C. Knipper).

Figure 5. Kernel density plot of the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of the enamel of male and female adults and subadult individuals from the Lombard cemetery at Szólád (graphics: C. Knipper).

Figure 6. Model of the Szólád community's residential changes and occupation of the cemetery.

The background colours symbolise the different Sr isotope baseline values of the settlement locations. The symbols for the females, males and subadults are marked with the colour of the locality of their childhood. The colours red and purple denote long-distance migrants. Individuals with shades that differ from the background are non-local to the locations they are mapped in. The model is a hypothetical explanation of the occupation of the Szólád cemetery with local and non-local individuals in line with the strontium isotope data distribution (graphics: D. Peters, C. Knipper).