Present-day people from England and Wales have more ancestry derived from early European farmers (EEF) than did people of the Early Bronze Age(1). To understand this, here we generated genome-wide... Show morePresent-day people from England and Wales have more ancestry derived from early European farmers (EEF) than did people of the Early Bronze Age(1). To understand this, here we generated genome-wide data from 793 individuals, increasing data from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age in Britain by 12-fold, and western and central Europe by 3.5-fold. Between 1000 and 875 bc, EEF ancestry increased in southern Britain (England and Wales) but not northern Britain (Scotland) due to incorporation of migrants who arrived at this time and over previous centuries, and who were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from France. These migrants contributed about half the ancestry of people of England and Wales from the Iron Age, thereby creating a plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain. These patterns are part of a broader trend of EEF ancestry becoming more similar across central and western Europe in the Middle to the Late Bronze Age, coincident with archaeological evidence of intensified cultural exchange(2-6). There was comparatively less gene flow from continental Europe during the Iron Age, and the independent genetic trajectory in Britain is also reflected in the rise of the allele conferring lactase persistence to approximately 50% by this time compared to approximately 7% in central Europe where it rose rapidly in frequency only a millennium later. This suggests that dairy products were used in qualitatively different ways in Britain and in central Europe over this period. Show less
Patterson, N.; Isakov, M.; Booth, T.; Büster, L.; Fischer, C.; Olalde, I.; ... ; Reich, D. 2021
Present-day people from England and Wales harbour more ancestry derived from Early European Farmers (EEF) than people of the Early Bronze Age1. To understand this, we generated genome-wide data... Show morePresent-day people from England and Wales harbour more ancestry derived from Early European Farmers (EEF) than people of the Early Bronze Age1. To understand this, we generated genome-wide data from 793 individuals, increasing data from the Middle to Late Bronze and Iron Age in Britain by 12-fold, and Western and Central Europe by 3.5-fold. Between 1000 and 875 BC, EEF ancestry increased in southern Britain (England and Wales) but not northern Britain (Scotland) due to incorporation of migrants who arrived at this time and over previous centuries, and who were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from France. These migrants contributed about half the ancestry of Iron Age people of England and Wales, thereby creating a plausible vector for the spread of early Celtic languages into Britain. These patterns are part of a broader trend of EEF ancestry becoming more similar across central and western Europe in the Middle to Late Bronze Age, coincident with archaeological evidence of intensified cultural exchange2-6. There was comparatively less gene flow from continental Europe during the Iron Age, and Britain's independent genetic trajectory is also reflected in the rise of the allele conferring lactase persistence to ~50% by this time compared to ~7% in central Europe where it rose rapidly in frequency only a millennium later. This suggests that dairy products were used in qualitatively different ways in Britain and in central Europe over this period. Show less
In this chapter we demonstrate how 3D digital tools augment the archaeothanatological analysis, and by extension provide new ways of framing past experiences of death and burial. We illustrate our... Show moreIn this chapter we demonstrate how 3D digital tools augment the archaeothanatological analysis, and by extension provide new ways of framing past experiences of death and burial. We illustrate our findings with a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (2500–1700 BC) archaeological case study from the site of Oostwoud-Tuithoorn, West-Frisia, the Netherlands, in which we integrate the outcomes of a traditional post-excavation archaeothanatological analysis with 3D digital reconstruction and simulation. Show less
The introduction of the Corded Ware Culture (3000–2500 BCE) is considered a formative event in Europe's past. Ancient DNA analyses demonstrate that migrations played a crucial role in this event.... Show moreThe introduction of the Corded Ware Culture (3000–2500 BCE) is considered a formative event in Europe's past. Ancient DNA analyses demonstrate that migrations played a crucial role in this event. However, these analyses approach the issue at a supra-regional scale, leaving questions about the regional and local impact of this event unresolved. This study pilots an approach to ceramics that brings this small-scale impact into focus by using the transmission of ceramic technology as a proxy for social change. It draws on ethno-archaeological studies of the effects of social changes on the transmission of ceramic production techniques to hypothesise the impact of three idealised scenarios that archaeologists have proposed for the introduction of Corded Ware Culture: migration, diffusion, and network interactions. Subsequently, it verifies these hypotheses by integrating geochemical (WDXRF), mineralogical (petrography), and macromorphological analysis of ceramics with network analysis. This method is applied to 30 Late Neolithic ceramic vessels from three sites in the western coastal area of the Netherlands (Hazerswoude-Rijndijk N11, Zandwerven, and Voorschoten-De Donk). This study concludes that the introduction of Corded Ware material culture is a process that varies from site to site in the western coastal area of the Netherlands. Moreover, the introduction of the Corded Ware Culture is characterised by continuity in technological traditions throughout the study area, indicating a degree of social continuity despite typological changes in ceramics. Show less
The Bronze Age is increasinglycharacterised as a period in which the search for and trade in metals dominatesmobility and exchange in Europe. Chiefs travelled the lands and seas anddominated the... Show moreThe Bronze Age is increasinglycharacterised as a period in which the search for and trade in metals dominatesmobility and exchange in Europe. Chiefs travelled the lands and seas anddominated the acquisition and possession of critical resources. Most researchfocuses on the provenance and distribution of metals and on the mobility ofpeople. Yet, the mobility of one the most obvious sources of social andeconomic wealth in the Bronze Age has got little attention: livestock. Thisstudy explores the possible social role of livestock of cattle and sheep, bothin the household sphere and in the sphere of exchange as a means of ‘connectingpeople’. Here, strontium isotope data is presented from 58 cattle and sheepfrom settlement contexts from Bronze Age West-Frisia (2000-800 BC), theNetherlands, with the aim to gain an isotopic perspective on the socio-economicsignificance of livestock. The data provide evidence for long-distance trade orexchange of livestock. Besides their monetary value, we suggest that livestock,and in particular cattle, may have been perceived as equal to people in termsof labour and production and as members of the household. Their mobility andexchange therefore signal more than just economic trade, it signals a socialpractice. By changing our perspective towards the social ideology of farminglife, we will move closer to understanding Bronze Age societies in more diverseand inclusive ways. Research into livestock mobility is therefore consideredfundamental for a more diverse understanding of Bronze Age farming life. Show less
From around 2750 to 2500 bc, Bell Beaker pottery became widespread across western and central Europe, before it disappeared between 2200 and 1800 bc. The forces that propelled its expansion are a... Show moreFrom around 2750 to 2500 bc, Bell Beaker pottery became widespread across western and central Europe, before it disappeared between 2200 and 1800 bc. The forces that propelled its expansion are a matter of long-standing debate, and there is support for both cultural diffusion and migration having a role in this process. Here we present genome-wide data from 400 Neolithic, Copper Age and Bronze Age Europeans, including 226 individuals associated with Beaker-complex artefacts. We detected limited genetic affinity between Beaker-complex-associated individuals from Iberia and central Europe, and thus exclude migration as an important mechanism of spread between these two regions. However, migration had a key role in the further dissemination of the Beaker complex. We document this phenomenon most clearly in Britain, where the spread of the Beaker complex introduced high levels of steppe-related ancestry and was associated with the replacement of approximately 90% of Britain’s gene pool within a few hundred years, continuing the east-to-west expansion that had brought steppe-related ancestry into central and northern Europe over the previous centuries. Show less
In 1956 and 1957 prof. A.E. van Giffen, the nestor of Dutch Archaeology, excavated two burial mounds near Oostwoud, on a parcel named ‘Tuithoorn’ in de province of Noord-Holland. These mounds... Show moreIn 1956 and 1957 prof. A.E. van Giffen, the nestor of Dutch Archaeology, excavated two burial mounds near Oostwoud, on a parcel named ‘Tuithoorn’ in de province of Noord-Holland. These mounds appeared to have been erected in the Late Neolithic between 2500 and 1900 cal BC. They contained at least 12 well preserved skeletons dating to the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age. Until today these are the only burial mounds from that period in West-Frisia, moreover, they contained the only skeletons from that period in the area. Yet, apart from a few brief overviews the data have not been published. The present article is an attempt to re-analyse the data of the investigations by Van Giffen, but also of later research by M. de Weerd in 1963 and 1966, and by J.D. Van der Waals in 1977 and J.N. Lanting in 1978 in the same mounds. In the framework of the NWO-project Farmers of the Coast, the first author undertook the task to collect the dispersed data and to try to unravel the sequences of burial. Aided by the Leiden University Bakels fund, and a fund of the Province of Noord-Halland, we also had the opportunity to sample the bones for DNA and isotopes, and to study the pathology of the skeletons. Some of the analyses are not yet finished, but here we publish the excavation data using the original field drawings and day notes, and much of the original photography. We have done this in some detail because the site is one of the most important in its kind in the Netherlands and because it will play an important role in the discussion about Bell Beaker mobility and genetics in the near future. We used already some of the skeletal and DNA data in this article, but more detailed studies are following. Show less
Graven en bronsdepots uit de periode van het late neolithicum tot en met het begin van de midden-bronstijd (2850-1500 voor Christus) kennen we goed. De vraag die in dit artikel centraal staat, is... Show moreGraven en bronsdepots uit de periode van het late neolithicum tot en met het begin van de midden-bronstijd (2850-1500 voor Christus) kennen we goed. De vraag die in dit artikel centraal staat, is of de contractarcheologie dit beeld heeft bevestigd, of dat grootschalige opgravingen in ‘Malta-context’ andere soorten bewijs hebben opgeleverd. Zijn we in staat geweest huizen uit deze perioden te ontdekken, of nederzettingen? Zijn deze vergelijkbaar voor alle regio’s of zijn er regionale verschillen? Hebben we indicaties voor sociale gelaagdheid, voor migraties? Uit een recent verschenen synthese blijkt dat vooral nederzettingsgegevens onze perceptie van de periode hebben veranderd. Het traditionele beeld gebaseerd op grafgegevens moet volledig worden aangepast. Show less
The study of iron production during the Iron Age in Northwestern Europe has attracted a great deal of research, especially in Germany, Great Britain, and Scandinavia. Yet little is known about the... Show moreThe study of iron production during the Iron Age in Northwestern Europe has attracted a great deal of research, especially in Germany, Great Britain, and Scandinavia. Yet little is known about the Iron Age production of iron in the Netherlands, because of the scarcity of known production. This article attempts to rectify this through an in-depth study of an assemblage of nearly 200 iron slags found at the Late Iron Age settlement of Oss-Schalkskamp, just south of the river Meuse. The study aims to determine the nature of the iron activity that took place at this site, placing the results in a micro-regional and macro-regional context. The investigation of the find context shows that the slags were discovered in and around a hearth that had been used for iron forging. The results of this site and nearby settlements point to the existence of small-scale domestic iron production in places difficult to find, probably at the fringe of settlements. Show less
Meurkens, L.; Beek, R. van; Doorenbosch, M.; Fokkens, H.; Heunks, E.; Debono Spiteri, C.; ... ; Verbaas, A. 2015
