Isotopic Map of the Inn-Eisack-Adige-Brenner Passage and its Application to Prehistoric Human Cremations
This chapter summarizes the results achieved in an attempt to contribute to bioarchaeological research aiming at the reconstruction of migration and culture transfer in a region of eminent archaeological importance in Europe, namely, the Inn-Eisack-Adige
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This chapter summarizes the results achieved in an attempt to contribute to bioarchaeological research aiming at the reconstruction of migration and culture transfer in a region of eminent archaeological importance in Europe, namely, the Inn-Eisack-Adige passage via the Brenner Pass in the European Alps. 219 archaeological animal bone samples of three residential species (Bos taurus, Sus scrofa, Cervus elaphus) from 30 archaeological sites covering the transalpine passage have been analysed in terms of δ18Ophosphate, 87Sr/86Sr, 208Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 206 Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/207Pb and 206Pb/207Pb, thus generating a multi-isotope fingerprint. All measurement data and the laboratory processing methods are reported in detail. The isotopic map based on the spatial distribution of isotopic signatures in the bone finds is augmented by modern reference samples (water, soil, vegetation) to verify whether the choice of animal skeletal samples was appropriate and to perform a pilot study leading to a predictive model for 87Sr/86Sr isotopic ratios in local bioarchaeological specimens. Univariate statistics for each single isotopic signature and the related maps with the respective spatial distribution are presented. A. Toncala (*) • D. Wycisk • G. Grupe Biozentrum, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universita¨t, Martinsried, Germany e-mail: [email protected] F. S€ ollner Department für Geo- und Umweltwissenschaften, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universita¨t, Munich, Germany C. Mayr Institut für Geographie, Friedrich-Alexander-Universita¨t, Erlangen, Germany GeoBio-Center & Pala¨ontologie und Geobiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universita¨t, Munich, Germany S. H€ olzl • K. Heck RieskraterMuseum N€ ordlingen, N€ordlingen, Germany # Springer International Publishing AG 2017 G. Grupe et al. (eds.), Across the Alps in Prehistory, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41550-5_6
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This isotopic map is a prerequisite for the quantification of human population movement in the reference region and for defining direction of migration. Information based on single isotopic ratios that is necessary for understanding whether migration took place in a north-to-south direction or vice versa is limited. In addition, cremating the dead was the major if not exclusive burial rite during several periods in European history. Since stable isotopic ratios of light elements such as oxygen are thermally less stable than the isotopic ratios of the heavy elements strontium and lead, migration research based on isotope analysis of fully cremated finds is restricted to the latter. In a pilot study, 184 human cremations from the Urnfield period and the Fritzens-Sanzeno culture recovered in the reference area were analysed for strontium and lead isotopic ratios, and the spatial distribution for each ratio was also mapped. Subsequent GMM clustering (see chapter “The Isotopic Fingerprint: New Methods of Data Mining and Similarity Search”) resulted in a clear definition of micro-regions to the north and south of the Alps.
Introduction To contribute to bioarchaeological re
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