Human mobility in a Bronze Age Vatya 'urnfield' and the life history of a high-status woman

Abstract

In this study, we present osteological and strontium isotope data of 29 individuals (26 cremations and 3 inhumations) from Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy, one of the largest Middle Bronze Age cemeteries in Hungary. The site is located in the northern part of the Csepel Island (a few kilometres south of Budapest) and was in use between c. 2150 and 1500 BC, a period that saw the rise, the apogee, and, ultimately, the collapse of the Vatya culture in the plains of Central Hungary. The main aim of our study was to identify variation in mobility patterns among individuals of different sex/age/social status and among individuals treated with different burial rites using strontium isotope analysis. Changes in funerary rituals in Hungary have traditionally been associated with the crises of the tell cultures and the introgression of newcomers from the area of the Tumulus Culture in Central Europe around 1500 BC. Our results show only slight discrepancies between inhumations and cremations, as well as differences between adult males and females. The case of the richly furnished grave n. 241 is of particular interest. The urn contains the cremated bones of an adult woman and two 7 to 8-month-old foetuses, as well as remarkably prestigious goods. Using 87Sr/86Sr analysis of different dental and skeletal remains, which form in different life stages, we were able to reconstruct the potential movements of this high-status woman over almost her entire lifetime, from birth to her final days. Our study confirms the informative potential of strontium isotopes analyses performed on different cremated tissues. From a more general, historical perspective, our results reinforce the idea that exogamic practices were common in Bronze Age Central Europe and that kinship ties among high-rank individuals were probably functional in establishing or strengthening interconnections, alliances, and economic partnerships.

Fig 1. Major Middle Bronze Age Vatya settlement sites along the Danube, in Central Hungary.

The map is constructed using “Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com” available at https://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-raster-data/ and the location of the sites is taken from [51].

Fig 2. Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy ‘urnfield’ during excavation and a typical Vatya burial.

Fig 3. Location of Szigetszentmiklós-Ürgehegy cemetery and of the biologically available strontium baselines reported in literature [–118].

The geological map is constructed by using public domain wms data downloadable from https://certmapper.cr.usgs.gov/data/apps/world-maps/, which are of Public Domain. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior/USGS, U.S. Geological Survey.

Fig 4

Left: Bone assemblage from burial n. 241a (adult female individual). Right: Bones attributable to both foetuses (n. 241b and 241c).

Fig 5. Grave goods from burial n. 241.

1. Bronze neck-ring (Ösenring); 2. Gold hair-ring (Noppenring); 3. Bone pins/needles (Knochennadeln).

Fig 6. Density and scatter plots.

Distribution of the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values in the human sample. Each red bar in the density plot on the x-axis is a human sample. Outliers (n. 241 and n. 243) are highlighted.

Fig 7. Violin plot.

Distribution of the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values of cremations and inhumations compared with local baselines at Szigetszentmiklós.

Fig 8. Violin plot.

Distribution of the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values of adult males (M), females (F), adults of undetermined sex (U Ad) and subadults compared with local baselines at Szigetszentmiklós.

Fig 9. Violin plot.

⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values of various elements of the 241 burial, compared with the median of the Szigetszentmiklós individuals, the mean of infants and the local baselines.