Tracing the dynamic life story of a Bronze Age Female

Abstract

Ancient human mobility at the individual level is conventionally studied by the diverse application of suitable techniques (e.g. aDNA, radiogenic strontium isotopes, as well as oxygen and lead isotopes) to either hard and/or soft tissues. However, the limited preservation of coexisting hard and soft human tissues hampers the possibilities of investigating high-resolution diachronic mobility periods in the life of a single individual. Here, we present the results of a multidisciplinary study of an exceptionally well preserved circa 3.400-year old Danish Bronze Age female find, known as the Egtved Girl. We applied biomolecular, biochemical and geochemical analyses to reconstruct her mobility and diet. We demonstrate that she originated from a place outside present day Denmark (the island of Bornholm excluded), and that she travelled back and forth over large distances during the final months of her life, while consuming a terrestrial diet with intervals of reduced protein intake. We also provide evidence that all her garments were made of non-locally produced wool. Our study advocates the huge potential of combining biomolecular and biogeochemical provenance tracer analyses to hard and soft tissues of a single ancient individual for the reconstruction of high-resolution human mobility.

Figure 1

Map showing the location of the Egtved burial site (red dot). Borders of the nearest areas with bioavailable ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values that potentially fit the tooth enamel, the child’s bone, wool garments and oxhide belonging to the Egtved find are marked with green lines and arrows. Of these regions the Black Forest area (red ellipse) appears to be the most plausible place of origin as constrained by the multiple strontium isotope codes contained in materials from the Egtved find combined with the archaeological artefact record patterns. (Drawing by Marie Louise Andersson, with kind permission of the National Museum of Denmark).

Figure 2

A photo of the remains of a Bronze Age high status female found inside an oak-coffin in a monumental burial barrow at Egtved, Denmark. The Egtved Girl’s garments are extremely well preserved and her exceptional wool costume consists of several wool textile pieces as well as a disc-shaped bronze belt plate, symbolizing the sun. (Photo: Roberto Fortuna, with kind permission of the National Museum of Denmark).

Figure 3

Drawing depicting the sampling strategy to reconstruct a high-resolution life-mobility-timeline of the Egtved Girl. We sampled tooth enamel to reconstruct the first years of her life, segments of scalp hair to reconstruct, at least, the 23 final months of her life as well as segments of one of her fingernails to reconstruct the final approximately 6 month of her life. (Drawing by Marie Louise Andersson, with kind permission of the National Museum of Denmark).