TY - JOUR
T1 - Mapping human mobility during the third and second millennia BC in present-day Denmark
AU - Frei, Karin Margarita
AU - Bergerbrant, Sophie
AU - Sjögren, Karl-Göran
AU - Jørkov, Marie Louise
AU - Lynnerup, Niels
AU - Harvig, Lise
AU - Allentoft, Morten E
AU - Sikora, Martin
AU - Price, T Douglas
AU - Frei, Robert
AU - Kristiansen, Kristian
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - We present results of the largest multidisciplinary human mobility investigation to date of skeletal remains from present-day Denmark encompassing the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Through a multi-analytical approach based on 88 individuals from 37 different archaeological localities in which we combine strontium isotope and radiocarbon analyses together with anthropological investigations, we explore whether there are significant changes in human mobility patterns during this period. Overall, our data suggest that mobility of people seems to have been continuous throughout the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. However, our data also indicate a clear shift in mobility patterns from around 1600 BC onwards, with a larger variation in the geographical origin of the migrants, and potentially including more distant regions. This shift occurred during a transition period at the beginning of the Nordic Bronze Age at a time when society flourished, expanded and experienced an unprecedented economic growth, suggesting that these aspects were closely related.
AB - We present results of the largest multidisciplinary human mobility investigation to date of skeletal remains from present-day Denmark encompassing the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Through a multi-analytical approach based on 88 individuals from 37 different archaeological localities in which we combine strontium isotope and radiocarbon analyses together with anthropological investigations, we explore whether there are significant changes in human mobility patterns during this period. Overall, our data suggest that mobility of people seems to have been continuous throughout the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. However, our data also indicate a clear shift in mobility patterns from around 1600 BC onwards, with a larger variation in the geographical origin of the migrants, and potentially including more distant regions. This shift occurred during a transition period at the beginning of the Nordic Bronze Age at a time when society flourished, expanded and experienced an unprecedented economic growth, suggesting that these aspects were closely related.
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0219850
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0219850
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 31433798
VL - 14
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 8
M1 - e0219850
ER -