Mapping human mobility during the third and second millennia BC in present-day Denmark

Karin Margarita Frei, Sophie Bergerbrant, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Marie Louise Jørkov, Niels Lynnerup, Lise Harvig, Morten E Allentoft, Martin Sikora, T Douglas Price, Robert Frei, Kristian Kristiansen

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Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0219850
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume14
Issue number8
ISSN1932-6203
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

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