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

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

Soil micromorphological observations of construction techniques at Százhalombatta- Földvár Bronze Age tell settlement, Hungary

Geoarchaeological research captures dimensions of the past at an unprecedented level of detail and multiple spatial and temporal scales. The record of the past held by soils and sediments is an archive for past environments, climate change, resource use, settlement lifeways, and societal development and resilience over time. When the McDonald Institute was established at Cambridge, geoarchaeology was one of the priority fields for a new research and teaching environment. An opportunity to develop the legacy of Charles McBurney was bestowed upon Charles French, whose ‘geoarchaeology in action’ approach has had an enormous impact in advancing knowledge, principles and practices across academic, teaching and professional sectors. Many journeys that began at Cambridge have since proliferated into dozens of inspired geoarchaeologies worldwide. This volume presents research and reflection from across the globe by colleagues in tribute to Charly, under whose leadership the Charles McBurney Laboratory became a beacon of geoarchaeology

Creative practice and the limits of evidence in journey to the beginnings

Interventions by creative practitioners play an increasingly important part within museum education. This produces a series of questions and tensions around the relationship between creativity and authenticity in terms of the role and limits of evidence, where room for creativity lies, and what it looks like. We explore these questions in the context of prehistoric archaeology by reflecting on the challenges and opportunities of working with creative practitioners during the process of developing a performance-based live game in the Creative Europe project, Journey to the Beginnings

Fires of a House—Burning Events in a Middle Bronze Age Vatya House as Evidenced by Soil Micromorphological Analysis of Anthropogenic Sediments

The investigation of fires and burning within the archaeological record has a long history, and the applied methods are diverse. There have been several investigations of prehistoric archaeological sites, but Middle Bronze Age contexts (2000–1450 BC) of the Carpathian Basin have not been widely studied beyond studies of ritual burning or warfare. In this paper, we aimed to add further details to this topic in the household context via thin-section soil micromorphology and related phytolith and charred plant matter analysis. The combination of these techniques has been proven to be advantageous due to their high-resolution quality, but phytolith analysis of soil/sediment via thin sections (i.e., in fixed environment) has not been largely explored yet. In this study, these methods were used to investigate various burning events that affected a Middle Bronze Age Vatya house within the tell site of Százhalombatta-Földvár, Hungary. Three types of fire/burning events were investigated. One was related to hearth activity, another one to a presumed ‘cleaning’ of the house, and the last one to the termination of the building. In the first two cases, everyday life was under the microscope; the latter was more enigmatic, and probable intentional destruction was demonstrated

Human mobility in a Bronze Age Vatya \u2018urnfield\u2019 and the life history of a high-status woman

In this study, we present osteological and strontium isotope data of 29 individuals (26 cremations and 3 inhumations) from Szigetszentmikl\uf3s- crgehegy, 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