The Gallery Graves of Hesse and Westphalia: Expressions of different Identity (ies)?

The concept of identity, in many aspects, has been intensively discussed for several years for its applicability in prehistoric archaeology. In this paper, I would like to try to take up some of these aspects with reference to the late Neolithic gallery graves of Hesse and Westphalia. Some selected facets are examined to enlighten distinct scales of identity: a structural analysis of building techniques, deposition of grave goods and burial rites together with their spatial distribution offers comparisons to coexistent neighbouring communities with collective burials. These comparisons finally may point out identity-forming features

Mobilität und Datierung - sieben neolithische Warburger neu untersucht

This paper presents new AMS dates and the results of strontium and oxygen isotope anal­yses carried out an seven individuals from three gallery graves at the Late Neolithic cem­etery of Warburg. A first set of samples point to interesting new research approaches to the study of mobility pattems and different life­styles and economic systems of the individual funerary communities; the insight gained will be enhanced by DNA analyses that are cur­rently underway

Light for the - Dead Strike-a-Lights in the Late Neolithic Megalithic Tombs from Erwitte-Schmerlecke (Kr. Soest)

In this article a larger series of Neolithic strike-a-lights from a verified closed find is presented for the first time. 206 strike-a-lights were discovered in two late Neolithic gallery tombs from Erwitte-Schmerlecke in the Westphalian Hellweg zone which were completely examined between 2009 and 2013. The series mainly consist of little-worked Baltic flint fragments; however, tools of Western European flint were used as well. Particularly noteworthy are the fragments of two types of axe blades of Lousberg flint as well as two flint strike-a-lights with inherent spherical remains of the associated marcasite nodule. Comparable archaeological finds and the number of individuals buried in the graves from Schmerlecke indicate that only men were provided with such percussion strike-a-lights perhaps as a part of their day-to-day equipment/costume

Parallel paleogenomic transects reveal complex genetic history of early European farmers

Ancient DNA studies have established that Neolithic European populations were descended from Anatolian migrants1–8 who received a limited amount of admixture from resident hunter-gatherers3–5,9. Many open questions remain, however, about the spatial and temporal dynamics of population interactions and admixture during the Neolithic period. Using the highest-resolution genome-wide ancient DNA data set assembled to date—a total of 180 samples, 130 newly reported here, from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic of Hungary (6000–2900 BCE, n = 100), Germany (5500–3000 BCE, n = 42), and Spain (5500–2200 BCE, n = 38)—we investigate the population dynamics of Neolithization across Europe. We find that genetic diversity was shaped predominantly by local processes, with varied sources and proportions of hunter-gatherer ancestry among the three regions and through time. Admixture between groups with different ancestry profiles was pervasive and resulted in observable population transformation across almost all cultural transitions. Our results shed new light on the ways that gene flow reshaped European populations throughout the Neolithic period and demonstrate the potential of time-series-based sampling and modeling approaches to elucidate multiple dimensions of historical population interactions