Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age: A case study from the Lech Valley south of Augsburg

Full text

APPROPRIATING INNOVATIONS
ENTANGLED KNOWLEDGE IN EURASIA, 5000–1500 BCE
Edited by
PHILIPP W. STOCKHAMMER AND JOSEPH MARAN
Oxford & Philadelphia

Published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by
OXBOW BOOKS
The Old Music Hall, 106–108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JE
and in the United States by
OXBOW BOOKS
1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
© Oxbow Books and the individual contributors 2017
Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78570-724-7
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78570-725-4 (epub)
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library and the Library of Congress
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission from the publisher in writing.
Printed in Malta by Melita Press Ltd
For a complete list of Oxbow titles, please contact:
UNITED KINGDOM
Oxbow Books
Telephone (01865) 241249, Fax (01865) 794449
Email: oxbow@oxbowbooks.com
www.oxbowbooks.com
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Oxbow Books
Telephone (800) 791-9354, Fax (610) 853-9146
Email: queries@casemateacademic.com
www.casemateacademic.com/oxbow
Oxbow Books is part of the Casemate Group
Front cover: “Wheels of Innovation”, Jelena Radosavljević

Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction
Joseph Maran and Philipp W. Stockhammer ....................................................................................................1
Chapter 2. Innovation Minus Modernity? Revisiting Some Relations of Technical and Social Change
Cornelius Schubert ............................................................................................................................................4
Chapter 3. From Counting to Writing: The Innovative Potential of Bookkeeping in Uruk Period Mesopotamia
Kristina Sauer .................................................................................................................................................12
Chapter 4. Uruk, Pastoralism and Secondary Products: Was it a Revolution? A View from the
Anatolian Highland s
Maria Bianca D’Anna and Giulio Palumbi....................................................................................................29
Chapter 5. The ‘Green Revolution’ in Prehistory: Late Neolithic Agricultural Innovations
as a Technological System
Maria Ivanova .................................................................................................................................................40
Chapter 6. The Spread of Productive and Technological Innovations in Europe and the Near East:
An Integrated Zooarchaeological Perspective on Secondary Animal Products and Bronze
Utilitarian Metallurgy
Haskel J. Greenfi eld ........................................................................................................................................50
Chapter 7. Early Wagons in Eurasia: Disentangling an Enigmatic Innovation
Stefan Burmeister ............................................................................................................................................69
Chapter 8. Contextualising Innovation: Cattle Owners and Wagon Drivers in the North Caucasus and Beyond
Sabine Reinhold, Julia Gresky, Natalia Berezina, Anatoly R. Kantorovich, Corina Knipper,
Vladimir E. Maslov, Vladimira G. Petrenko, Kurt W. Alt and Andrey B. Belinsky .......................................78
Chapter 9. Innovation, Interaction and Society in Europe in the 4th Millennium BCE:
The ‘Traction Complex’ as Innovation and ‘Technology Cluster’
Maleen Leppek ................................................................................................................................................98
Chapter 10. Wheels of Change: The Polysemous Nature of Early Wheeled Vehicles in 3rd Millennium BCE
Central and Northwest European Societies
Joseph Maran ................................................................................................................................................109

iv
Chapter 11. Appropriating Draught Cattle Technology in Southern Scandinavia: Roles, Context
and Consequences
Niels N. Johannsen ........................................................................................................................................ 122
Chapter 12. Key Techniques in the Production of Metals in the 6th and 5th Millennia BCE:
Prerequisites, Preconditions and Consequences
Svend Hansen ................................................................................................................................................ 136
Chapter 13. The Diffusion of Know-How within Spheres of Interaction: Modelling Prehistoric Innovation
Processes between South-West Asia and Central Europe in the 5th and 4th Millennia BC
Florian Klimscha ...........................................................................................................................................149
Chapter 14. A Comparative View on Metallurgical Innovations in South-Western Asia: What Came First?
Barbara Helwing ........................................................................................................................................... 161
Chapter 15. The Role of Metallurgy in Different Types of Early Hierarchical Society in Mesopotamia
and Eastern Anatolia
Marcella Frangipane.....................................................................................................................................171
Chapter 16. The Use of Bronze Objects in the 3rd Millennium BC: A Survey between Atlantic and Indus
Lorenz Rahmstorf ..........................................................................................................................................184
Chapter 17. Appropriation of Tin-Bronze Technology: A Regional Study of the History of Metallurgy
in Early Bronze Age Southern Mesopotamia
Ulrike Wischnewski .......................................................................................................................................211
Chapter 18. Gonur Depe (Turkmenistan) and its Role in the Middle Asian Interaction Sphere
Federica Lume Pereira .................................................................................................................................220
Chapter 19. The Appropriation of Early Bronze Technology in China
Jianjun Mei, Yongbin Yu, Kunlong Chen, Lu Wang .....................................................................................231
Chapter 20. Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age:
A Case Study from the Lech Valley South of Augsburg
Ken Massy, Corina Knipper, Alissa Mittnik, Steffen Kraus, Ernst Pernicka, Fabian Wittenborn,
Johannes Krause, Philipp W. Stockhammer .................................................................................................241
Chapter 21. Yet Another Revolution? Weapon Technology and Use Wear in Late Neolithic
and Early Bronze Age Southern Scandinavia
Christian Horn ..............................................................................................................................................262
Contents

regions to Central Europe, thus importing entirely new
genetic components (Allentoft et al. 2015; Haak et al.
2015). Moreover, it has been shown that the migrants from
the east brought bacteria (Yersinia pestis) with them that
were likely to cause plague, and we have only just started
exploring the potential impact diseases may have had in
the 3rd millennium BC (Rasmussen et al. 2015; Andrades
Valtueña et al. 2017). Furthermore, stable isotope analyses
have contributed to our understanding of human dietary
habits and mobility from the Final Neolithic to the Early
Bronze Age. The BBC has been the subject of one of the
earliest large-scale strontium-isotope studies, which have
done much to elucidate the role of residential changes during
the spread of this supra-regional archaeological phenomenon
(Grupe et al. 1997; Price et al. 2004). Following earlier
investigations on BBC (Heyd et al. 2002–2003; Bertemes
and Heyd 2015), the CWC (Sjögren et al. 2016) and Únětice
contexts (Knipper et al. 2016a) have now begun to yield
up complex and regionally diverse residential patterns and
dietary habits.
Despite such completely new insights, the supra-regional
narratives are still not able to adequately explain local or
regional patterns of transformation taking place in the 3rd
and early 2nd millennia BC. The large-scale scientifi c
studies have captured individuals from an extensive area
but only a very small number of individuals per region. We
pursue a micro-historical approach and focus on a micro-
region with a unique density of archaeological sources for
the period in question: the Lech Valley south of Augsburg.
Introduction
The transition from the Final Neolithic2 to the Early Bronze
Age in Central Europe has long been a matter of major
interest. Archaeologists have published comprehensively on
the Corded Ware Complex (CWC), the Bell Beaker Complex
(BBC), and the Early Bronze Age and compiled large
corpora of material (e.g. Buchvaldek 1967; Hájek 1968;
Matthias 1974; Geber 1978; Ruckdeschel 1978; Zich
1996; Bartelheim 1998; Heyd 2000; Furholt 2003; Dresely
2004). They have been the basis both for sophisticated
typo-chronological sorting activity and for approaches
to social and economic systems in the 3rd and early
2nd millennia BC. The major concern of archaeologists,
however, has been to understand the dynamics involved by
exploring the cultural similarities and differences of CWC,
BBC, and the Early Bronze Age with a view to shedding
light on the continuities and discontinuities manifesting
themselves in that period.
Scientific analyses have repeatedly modified
archaeological assumptions about this period, beginning
with radiocarbon datings for the Early Bronze Age that
indicated that it started earlier than formerly assumed,
i.e. in the late 3rd millennium BC already (Becker et al.
1989). Especially in the last few years, scientifi c data
have helped to understand the 3rd millennium BC as a
crucial period of transformation for European societies.
Palaeogenetic analyses have demonstrated that the ancestors
of those individuals identifi ed as representatives of the
CWC may have migrated from the eastern Pontic Steppe
Chapter 20
Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic
to the Early Bronze Age: A Case Study from the Lech Valley
South of Augsburg1
Ken Massy, Corina Knipper, Alissa Mittnik, Steffen Kraus, Ernst Pernicka,
Fabian Wittenborn, Johannes Krause, Philipp W. Stockhammer

Ken Massy et al.
242
placed below the posts ran east from the burials for up to 30
metres. The burial rites in the Lech Valley followed general
trends in southern Germany from the Final Neolithic to the
Middle Bronze Age. Typical of the CWC are inhumations in a
crouched position oriented west-east with the deceased facing
south. They were differentiated by sex, with men lying to the
west and women to the east. Inhumation, body positioning
and sex-specifi c segregation persisted during the BBC, but
the orientation changed to north–south with the deceased now
facing east and the position of the sexes reversed, so that the
men now lay to the north and the women to the south. This
practice remained unchanged until the end of the Early Bronze
Age. In the Middle Bronze Age, by contrast, people started
placing their deceased in a fully extended position without
any sex-specifi c distinctions.
When we collate the information on the geological
conditions of the Lech Valley with the archaeological
evidence from the settlements and the burial sites, the results
are astonishing. In the central part of the valley (i.e. to the
west of the settlements), plants were most likely grown
on the fertile loess ridge in order to guarantee permanent
supplies for the inhabitants of the hamlets and communities
strung out like pearls along the eastern edge of the loess
terrace. The space allotted to the dead was situated to the
east of each hamlet, and each hamlet had its own burial
site. Like the post alignments, the faces of the deceased
looked towards the east. Although settlement evidence and
alignments have yet to be documented for the BBC, the
orientation and other burial practices appear to be so similar
to the subsequent Early Bronze Age that one can assume
a degree of continuity in the respective practices, related
ideas, and possibly also in the local population interred there.
The research issue
While the global perspective on the 3rd and early 2nd
millennia BC suggests that this was a highly dynamic and
transformative period, the archaeological evidence in the
micro-region of the Lech Valley provides evidence rather
for long-term continuity (in the sense of continuous change;
cf. Stockhammer 2008, 1) among the local inhabitants, their
practices and ideas. We are fully aware that to a signifi cant
extent the selection of a specifi c scale already predetermines
the results of the subsequent study (Jiménez 2005). To
integrate global and local perspectives and to understand
the local impact of global transformations – especially the
introduction of the new bronze-casting technology – we will
fi rst take a closer look at the Lech Valley itself.
Since 2012, we have pursued an interdisciplinary
research approach for our studies on Final Neolithic and
Early and Middle Bronze Age burials in this region. We
have dovetailed sophisticated archaeological analysis based
on a practically-oriented approach (cf. Stockhammer 2012)
with a broad range of scientifi c analyses.
Regional and archaeological background
The south-north-oriented Lech Valley is situated in southern
Bavaria, some 50 km west of Munich. Two rivers run
through it, the Wertach in the west and the Lech in the
east. They converge in what is today the city of Augsburg
(Fig. 20.1). A fertile loess ridge lies in the center of the
valley, extending 45 km from north to south and at its widest
point 4 km from west to east. On the eastern side of the
loess ridge lies a large gravel plain, the lower part of which
(close to the Lech) has frequently been fl ooded. The upper
part is perfectly suited for building settlements and placing
graveyards because it is protected from the river and at the
same time the buildings do not cover the fertile loess terrace
with its favourable arable conditions. Until now, we have
had no evidence of settlements or burial grounds on the loess
despite the large-scale excavations that have taken place
there (Gairhos 2007, 86). The geographical situation suffi ces
to explain the density of the archaeological evidence, as on
the gravel part of the landscape there was only very limited
space for building hamlets and burying the dead.
Recent large-scale excavations have revealed an
astonishing number of graveyards from the 3rd and 2nd
millennia BC and sometimes also associated hamlets
(Fig. 20.2). We assume that a cemetery accompanied every
hamlet and that the individuals buried there represent at least
in part the inhabitants of each hamlet. The best evidence
for this relation between hamlet and burial-site is found in
Haunstetten ‘Unterer Talweg 85’ (Dumler and Wirth 2001)3.
This Early Bronze Age hamlet consisted of a long-house
(Langhaus) and a few smaller buildings around it and was
built right next to the edge of the loess terrace. Five BBC
graves were discovered to the north-east of the hamlet and
two more to the south-west. Directly to the east of the hamlet
three burials from the Early Bronze Age were found that
were probably part of a larger cemetery. Similar patterns
have been found at various intervals along the gravel plain,
indicating that hamlet-based communities lived and died
next to one another along the riverbanks.
Over the last thirty years, all these burials have been
excavated in accordance with the latest archaeological
standards. Bone preservation is very good, furnishing
excellent preconditions for bio-archaeometric analyses. While
only a few CWC burials exist, the number of graves from
the BBC and EBA exceeds 400, with 341 of them belonging
to the Early Bronze Age or the early Middle Bronze Age
(Tabs 20.1–20.3). Up to the 1970s, only 15 Early Bronze Age
burials were known and none from the BBC.4 According to
the archaeological evidence we have, the Lech Valley was
one of the most densely populated areas in Central Europe
during these periods. CWC burials were mostly found in small
groups of only two or three inhumations, whereas in the Early
Bronze Age the burial sites were larger, with anything up to
63 graves, as exemplifi ed by the cemetery in Kleinaitingen.
At several sites, post alignments with single cattle-teeth

20. Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age 243
Figure 20.1: Map of cemeteries and single burial sites south of the city of Augsburg. The labelled sites provide samples included in this study.

Ken Massy et al.
244
Figure 20.2: Map of Final Neolithic and Early Bronze Age as well
as Middle Bronze Age settlements and cemeteries at the ‘Unterer
Talweg’ in Haunstetten, Augsburg.
Table 20.1: Results of the radiocarbon dating of the individuals from H-UT 58–62
Grave
no.
Grave no.
after
Feat. no. Lab. no. C14 age Cal BC 1
sigma
Cal BC 2
sigma
N% C% C/N
atom
δ13C
(‰ VPBD)
δ15N
(‰ AIR)
Haunstetten, Unterer Talweg 89 (H-UT 89)
CWC
FK 231 MAMS 23729 4155 ± 23 2867−2678 2875−2635
Haunstetten, Unterer Talweg 58-62 (H-UT 58-62)
BBC
7 Kociumaka 67 MAMS 18934 3840 ± 20 2340−2211 2455−2204 15.1 41.5 3.2 -20.71 8.61
8 Kociumaka 68 SK 1,
Fznr. 33
MAMS 29074 3909 ± 29 2466−2346 2471−2300 15.2 42.3 3.3 -20.87 8.99
8 Kociumaka 68 SK 2,
Fznr. 34
MAMS 29075 3870 ± 30 2453−2294 2464−2212 10.8 29.4 3.2 -20.17 9.52
EBA
10 Massy 146 MAMS 18933 3570 ± 19 1940−1894 2009−1881 12.4 34.2 3.2 -20.66 9.46
9 Massy 147 MAMS 18937 3612 ± 25 2020−1938 2031−1900 16.4 45.0 3.2 -20.68 9.48
7 Massy 149 MAMS 18938 3597 ± 24 2011−1917 2023−1892 14.5 39.9 3.2 -20.76 9.19
6 Massy 150 MAMS 18939 3559 ± 24 1939−1885 2009−1780 16.5 45.2 3.2 -20.81 9.59
5 Massy 151 MAMS 18940(2) +
18941(2) Combined
3566 ± 11 1930−1894 1946−1886 13.7 37.7 3.2 -20.87 8.90
4 Massy 152 MAMS 18942 3558 ± 23 1939−1885 2007−1779 16.6 45.8 3.2 -21.26 8.79
3 Massy 153 MAMS 18943 3553 ± 24 1941−1836 1971−1776 16.7 45.9 3.2 -21.06 9.10
The overall research project investigates the following
questions: Was there a temporal sequence or a degree of
overlap between the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age
as well as between the different archaeologically defi ned
complexes?5 What can the use times of the burial grounds
tell us about the time in which the different hamlets existed?
Did the hamlets fi gure in a temporal sequence with a pattern
of shifting farmsteads, or were they contemporaneous? What
can we say about interaction between the different hamlets
at a local level? Can we trace changes or persistence in
marital patterns, subsistence strategies, and food practices –
bearing in mind that the hamlets lay close to each other
and the inhabitants could communicate by shouting to
each other without even leaving their hamlets? Can we
trace the local impact of the mass migrations from eastern
to central Europe in the 3rd millennium BC (cf. Allentoft
et al. 2015; Haak et al. 2015)? Do we identify continuity in
large-scale mobility after the CWC as well, and how is this
mirrored by individual mobility during childhood? How did
networks of interaction – relevant for the acquisition of raw
materials (especially copper and tin) and objects – change
over time and who was involved? Can we identify hamlet-
specifi c networks? And how and to what extent can these
continuities and changes be related to the introduction of
the new bronze technology the introduction of which has
always been regarded as an impetus for societal change?
How can we understand the development of metalworking
technology now that it has become increasingly obvious that

20. Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age 245
Table 20.2: MtDNA analyses from the sampled individuals from H-UT 58-62
Grave
no.
Grave no.
after
Feat.
no.
Sex
(archaeological
determination)
Sex
(aDNA
analysis)
Age
(anthropological
determination)
Shotgun
sequencing:
% endogenous
Shotgun
sequencing:
average
frag. length
mtDNA capture:
average
coverage of
mtDNA
mtDNA
capture:
5’-deamination
(%)
mtDNA
capture: fi nal
contamination
estimate
Haplogroup
Haunstetten, Unterer Talweg 58-62 (H-UT 58-62)
BBC
7 Kociumaka 67 male XY 20−35 0.27 52.4 1521.5 0.42 1−3% K1a
8 Kociumaka 68 SK 1 male XY > 21 yrs Middle
adult
40.61 48.5 691.0 0.43 2−4% J1c
8 Kociumaka 68 SK 2 female XX > 21 yrs Middle
adult
4.36 49.1 641.4 0.42 1−3% K1a
EBA
10 Massy 146 female n/a 15−25 0.46 57.8 852.2 0.41 1−3% H1c
9 Massy 147 female XX 35−55 0.91 59.0 372.4 0.43 ~2% H2a1
8 Massy 148 female ±
7 Massy 149 male n/a 12 yrs ± 36 mths 0.15 68.0 767.1 0.43 1−3% K1a1b1g
6 Massy 150 male n/a 5 yrs ± 16 mths 0.16 59.4 1225.1 0.39 1−3% U5b1c2
5 Massy 151 male n/a 10 yrs ± 30 mths 0.21 59.3 64.2 0.38 1−3% U5b1c2
4 Massy 152 female n/a 9 yrs ± 30 mths 0.23 66.4 774.5 0.41 1−3% U5b1c2
3 Massy 153 male XY 12−21 yrs 0.37 60.6 267.6 0.43 2−4% R1a1a

Ken Massy et al.
246
Table 20.3: Oxygen and strontium isotope data analyses from the sampled individuals from H-UT 58-62
Grave
no.
Grave no.
after
Feat.
no.
Tooth δ18Op
(‰ VSMOW)
1 sd 87Sr/86Sr 2 SD
Haunstetten, Unterer Talweg 89 (H-UT 89)
CWC
FK 231 M 47 16.65 0.32 0.71279 0.00006
FK 231 M 28 0.71200 0.00001
Haunstetten, Unterer Talweg 58-62 (H-UT 58-62)
BBC
7 Kociumaka 67 M 27 16.29 0.15 0.70820 0.00001
8 Kociumaka 68 SK 1 M 48 0.71505 0.00001
8 Kociumaka 68 SK 1 M 18 0.71384 0.00001
8 Kociumaka 68 SK 2 M 37 16.53 0.15 0.70898 0.00001
8 Kociumaka 68 SK 2 M 17 16.62 0.08 0.70899 0.00001
EBA
10 Massy 146 M 48 15.92 0.02 0.71027 0.00001
9 Massy 147 M 17 16.04 0.10 0.71361 0.00002
9 Massy 147 M 28 0.71389 0.00002
8 Massy 148 M 46 18.15 0.29 0.71301 0.00001
7 Massy 149 M 17 15.92 0.02 0.70993 0.00001
6 Massy 150 M 26 16.85 0.09 0.70935 0.00001
5 Massy 151 M 16 15.87 0.15 0.70950 0.00001
4 Massy 152 M 16 16.56 0.03 0.70955 0.00001
3 Massy 153 M 26 0.70937 0.00001
3 Massy 153 M 48 15.49 0.06 0.71162 0.00001
linear perspectives need to be replaced by complex, non-
linear alternatives and well-established insights from science
and technology studies (cf. Schubert this volume) have now
found their way into archaeology (e.g. Maran 2004a; 2004b;
Kienlin 2008; 2010; Bernbeck et al. 2011; Burmeister 2011;
Hofmann and Patzke 2012; Burmeister and Müller-Scheeßel
2013; Kienlin 2014; Stockhammer 2015)? Technological
innovations have the potential for triggering social change,
but they do not invariably do so (Braun-Thürmann 2005,
30–64; Hofmann 2012; Hofmann and Patzke 2012). So what
is the relation between technological and social change in
our micro-region?
To fi nd an answer to all these questions, we sampled
over 170 individuals from the CWC up to the beginning of
the MBA.6 All of these individuals were radiocarbon-dated
and mostly determined by stable isotope ratios (C, N, O, Sr)
in order to obtain insights on individual diet and mobility.
Also, we extracted aDNA from the dentine of 87 individuals,
sequenced their mitochondrial DNA, and produced genome-
wide data for 60 of these individuals.7 More than 500
copper and bronze artefacts from all the burials within our
research area were analysed with X-ray fl uorescent (XRF)
scanning – including burials where the human remains were
not selected for further scientifi c analyses. Based on the
results of the XRF measurements, we chose 12 metal objects
for subsequent lead-isotope and trace element analyses.
With all these results available, the Lech Valley is now the
micro-region with the highest incidence of interdisciplinary
archaeological and scientifi c analysis worldwide. Due to
these enormous amounts of data, we will not be able to
present all our fi ndings here but will concentrate on a small
area within the Lech Valley excavated in 2007, 2008, and
2011 by private excavation companies operating under the
name of ‘Augsburg-Haunstetten, Unterer Talweg 58–62 and
89’ (H-UT 58–62 and H-UT 89 for short).
Chronology in the Lech Valley
Until recently, there has been hardly any radiocarbon dating
of features from the Final Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in
southern Bavaria. This has hindered adequate understanding
of the sequence of cultural changes that took place in this
region. It was unclear whether and to what extent Final
Neolithic groups and Early Bronze Age communities
coexisted and hence perhaps interacted. In response to this
challenge, we fi rst conducted a comprehensive radiocarbon
dating of burials in the Augsburg region and arrived at
some highly pertinent insights (Stockhammer et al. 2015a;
2015b). The CWC burials (n = 2) date back to the centuries
between 2900 and 2600 BC (2-sigma ranges), whereas the
2-sigma ranges of the earliest BBC burials only start around
2560 BC (Fig. 20.3). Due to the very much larger number
of radiocarbon-dated BBC (n = 28) and Early Bronze Age
burials (n = 106), we can say with a degree of certainty
that there was neither any signifi cant overlap nor a hiatus
between the two phases. The end of the Final Neolithic
can be placed around 2150/2140 BC. The onset of the
Bronze Age in the Augsburg valley around 2150/2140 BC
corresponds well with the (slightly later) new radiocarbon
dates for the Early Bronze Age cemetery of Singen8.

20. Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age 247
Accordingly, we can understand the Early Bronze
Age as a continuation of the BBC – especially with
regard to unchanged burial practices – with some slight
transformations in the material culture (this at least is what
the burial gifts suggest). Major changes can be assumed to
have taken place in house construction, given that we so
far have no traces of wooden-post structures in the Final
Neolithic, whereas during the Early Bronze Age large
buildings with wooden posts are known to have existed
(Nadler 2001; Schefzik 2001; Bartelheim 2010).
The total of 106 radiocarbon-dated Early Bronze Age
burials from the entire Lech Valley south of the city of
Augsburg has also enabled us to contradict the still widely
held assumption of a linear development of bronze-working
technology from the simple hammering of objects (mostly
on the basis of bronze sheets) to complex casting techniques
(Stockhammer et al. 2015a; Stockhammer et al. 2015b).
The validity of this traditionally assumed progression from
the simple to the more complex (cf. already Reinecke 1902;
1924) has already been queried in the recent past (Kienlin
2006a, 115; 2006b, 528–529; 2008; 2010; 2014, 453–454;
Burmeister and Müller-Scheeßel 2013; Brumlich 2014) and
can now be dismissed altogether and replaced with narratives
based on new data (Stockhammer 2015). This is due to the
large number of metal objects in the graves, which enable us
to better understand the time span involved in the deposition
(and hence probably also the use) of particular types of bronze
objects. This new understanding was important mainly for the
different types of pin, as the shapes of these pins have always
played a major role in the chronological subdivision of the
Early Bronze Age (Ruckdeschel 1978; David 1998). We were
able to show that the rather simple ‘Bz A1’ pins were in use
from the very beginning of the Early Bronze Age until c. 1700
BC, whereas the Early Bronze Age continues until the 16th
century BC – albeit without any indicative Bz A1 pin types.
Únětice-related ‘Bz A2’ pins appeared on top of the ‘Bz A1’
Figure 20.3: Sum calibrations of the radiocarbon dates of human skeletal remains from the Final Neolithic and Bronze Age sites conducted
within the research project.

Ken Massy et al.
248
Figure 20.4: Chronological sketch of the Final Neolithic and Early
and Middle Bronze Age based upon data from the project.
inventory from c. 1900 BC and continued until 1700 BC and
disappeared together with the Bz A1 pin type (Stockhammer
et al. 2015a; 2015b). None of the Early Bronze Age burials
with respective pins has a 2-sigma range of the radiocarbon
date that reaches the 17th century BC. If we correlate the
end of the Early Bronze Age with the end of the relevant
pin types, its end could already be placed around 1700 BC
(Fig. 20.4) Therefore we can conclude that the traditional
phases Bz A1 and Bz A2 do not represent a chronological
sequence but refl ect regional differences in the willingness
to appropriate the new technology. Whereas the inhabitants
of Central Germany (in the so-called Únětice culture) quickly
appropriated and mastered complex casting techniques, the
inhabitants of Southern Germany continued with the simple
hammering of objects until the end of the Early Bronze Age.
Case study: Haunstetten ‘Unterer Talweg
58–62 and 89’
Archaeological evidence and chronology
To demonstrate the complexity of the transformations taking
place from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age, we now narrow
our perspective within the Lech Valley further to a small area
of a few hundred square metres, i.e. the area of Haunstetten
‘Unterer Talweg 58–62’ and ‘Unterer Talweg 89’ (H-UT
58–62 and H-UT 89 for short) (Fig. 20.5). This area is of
Figure 20.5: Close up of the case study site of H-UT 58-62 and H-UT 89. Features from other periods are not shown on the map.

20. Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age 249
special interest due to the existence of CWC, BBC, Early,
and Middle Bronze Age burials in the direct vicinity. The
westernmost evidence is a single CWC burial (H-UT 89
feat. 231) near the edge of the loess terrace with a small ring
ditch. The burial pit was west–east oriented and contained an
inhumation in a crouched position with the head to the west
plus a stone axe. Only 200 metres to the east, two BBC graves
(H-UT 58–62 feat. 67 and 68) were placed in a north–south
orientation and again accompanied by ring ditches (Fig.
20.6). The southern one (feat. 67) contained a single male
individual in a crouched position on the left side with the head
to the north and furnished with a tanged dagger and a wrist
guard made of sandstone. A few metres to the north, a BBC
double burial (feat. 68) of a male (SK 1) and a female (SK
2) individual was excavated. The male individual was again
equipped with a wrist guard. The two accompanying vessels
could not be attributed to one or the other of the individuals.
A group of ten Early Bronze Age burials was situated
45 metres to the southwest (Fig. 20.7). Metal artefacts
have been found in six of these graves. Grave 5 (feat. 151)
contained a sub-adult male and is the richest burial with a
hilted dagger, a small hammered pin (‘Ruderkopfnadel’), a
bracelet, and small spiral rolls (Fig. 20.8). The orientation of
these Early Bronze Age burials is shifted slightly clockwise,
most of them being aligned NNE–SSW. This orientation
was preserved for the burials to the southwest of this group,
which date to the beginning of the MBA. The bodies were
placed in an extended position. One of the burials contained
two pins of the ‘Paarstadl’ type, another a pin of the
‘Wetzleinsdorf’ type, both characteristic of the earliest stage
of the Middle Bronze Age (Innerhofer 2000, 36, 40, 45).
In the following, our analysis of these burials is designed
to shed light on the continuities and changes taking place
between 2900 and 1500 BC. The places inhabited by the
living have yet to be excavated, but we conclude from
neighbouring excavations that each of the small cemeteries
was associated with a single hamlet to its west. Only burial-
pit orientation and body placement changed continuously
over time, as described above. The same is true of the
selection of burial goods. During the CWC, the axe was
the typical attribute of the male burial (Ruckdeschel 1978,
219), replaced in the BBC by dagger and archery equipment
(Bosch 2009, 135). BBC body placement traditions persisted
during the Early Bronze Age. While pottery vessels were
no longer selected as burial gifts during the Early Bronze
Age, the selection criteria for other grave goods (daggers,
archery equipment etc.) continued. Marked discontinuity
is discernible at the transition to the Middle Bronze Age.
Sex-specifi c differentiation and the crouched body posture
of the deceased were relinquished, which raises important
questions about novel or modifi ed perspectives on gender
roles in the communities both of the living and the dead.
While the archaeological evidence indicates the
continuous existence of hamlets in the H-UT area, the
radiocarbon dates suggest a shifting of the hamlets over the
years. This cannot be explained by a lack of fertile farmland,
as the neighbouring loess terrace provided extensive scope
for cultivation. The CWC burial dates to 2875–2635 BC, the
2-sigma ranges and the BBC burials to 2471–2204 BC. If we
can assume that the people of the CWC built stable hamlets,
this indicates a gap of at least 150 years without a hamlet
in the H-UT area. The same is true of the transition from
the BBC to the Early Bronze Age. Again, a span of at least
170 years separates the latest BBC from the earliest EBA
datings (2031–1776 BC). The placement of the deceased
nevertheless suggests an awareness of older burials. We
interpret both the positioning of the burials and the spaces
between the burial groups as an expression of allegiance
to the past combined at the same time with a desire to set
oneself off from that past.
Metal analysis
The established use of the terms ‘Stone Age’ and ‘Bronze
Age’ suggests in itself that an important shift in material
culture took place in the transition between the two eras.
However, it became clear several decades ago that the
‘Bronze Age’ in Southern Germany did not begin with ‘real’
bronzes (i.e. alloys of copper and tin) but with copper objects
that contained hardly any tin at all. Back in the 1980s,
Christian Strahm proposed a new term, the ‘Metallikum’,
as a replacement for this misleading terminology (Strahm
1982). Even before that it was noted that bronzes with
relatively high concentrations of tin already appeared during
the Final Neolithic (Schickler 1981). Nevertheless, it was
still often taken for granted that Final Neolithic metal objects
basically consisted of copper only.
In the course of our research, we have scanned all the
metal objects from the H-UT area with the help of a portable
XRF spectrometer. In addition, the metal dagger from
the BBC burial feat. 67 was further analysed at the Curt-
Engelhorn-Centre for Archaeometry in Mannheim for lead
isotope ratios using multi-collector ICP mass spectrometry,
while trace element analyses were accomplished with energy-
dispersive X-ray fl uorescence. These additional analyses
not only revealed the true bulk composition of the alloy
but also yielded information on the possible provenance of
the copper. When corrosion sets in, tin tends to concentrate
at the surface of alloyed metal objects. Since with portable
XRF only the surface can be analysed, the values for tin are
generally overestimated. But in most metal objects, the tin
content was below the detection limit of about 0.1%.
The CWC burial contained no metal objects. The only
BBC metal object is the dagger referred to earlier. Portable
XRF already suggested that this object contained 19% tin
at the surface of the object. Subsequent analysis of a drill
sample from the interior came up with a value of 4.6%,
which nevertheless suggests that the tin was intentionally
added and the alloy can thus be classifi ed as bronze.9 Against

Ken Massy et al.
250
Figure 20.6: The two graves from H-UT 58-62 dating to the BBC. The two vessels from feat. 68 are not depicted.

20. Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age 251
Figure 20.7: Map of the Early Bronze Age cemetery of H-UT 58-62.
all expectations, most of the 28 metal objects from the Early
Bronze Age burials contained no tin at all (Fig. 20.9). While
in the Final Neolithic the BBC inhabitants of H-UT were
obviously able to obtain tin, this supply network seems to
have collapsed at the onset of the Bronze Age. The evidence
for this is supported by the 540 analyses with portable XRF
and the 12 lead-isotope analyses plus trace-element analyses
conducted on metal objects from the Lech Valley. ‘Real’
tin bronzes repeatedly occur in the BBC, while hardly any
tin bronzes fi gure in the fi rst centuries of the Early Bronze
Age up to c. 1900 BC. This raises serious doubts about the
pertinence of our material-based terminologies, as the Lech
Valley seems to have shifted from a Neolithic CWC to a
Bronze-Age BBC, then back to a Copper Age (also known
as ‘Early Bronze Age’) and fi nally to an Early Bronze Age
with real bronzes.
DNA analysis
The purpose of studying the genetic makeup of the
individuals buried in the Lech Valley was to address the
possibility of (dis-)continuity in the population at the
transition between Final Neolithic and Early Bronze Age.
This can be identifi ed, for example, in a frequency change in
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages, which are inherited
maternally. A stark shift in frequencies would normally be
interpreted as a sign of a population replacement, e.g. as
observed in Europe at the onset of the Neolithic Revolution
(e.g. Bramanti et al. 2009; Brandt et al. 2013). On the other
hand, haplotype sharing (i.e. several individuals featuring
an identical mtDNA genome) across different epochs would
indicate close kinship and local continuity. The detection
of direct kinship between individuals is interesting for the
reconstruction both of marital/inheritance patterns and of
burial customs.
All in all, 87 individuals from the Lech Valley were
sampled for aDNA studies, among them the three individuals
attributed to the BBC and seven Early Bronze Age individuals
from H-UT 58–62 plus the CWC individual from H-UT 89.
Where possible, second molars were chosen for sampling,
as they were the primary target for subsequent isotope
analyses. Complete mitochondrial genomes were sequenced
for all the individuals from H-UT 58–62 by enriching the
DNA libraries for mtDNA (Maricic et al. 2010). In addition,
nuclear DNA was targeted by enriching for around 1.2
million informative single-nucleotide positions (Fu et al.
2013; Mathieson et al. 2015) in the three BBC and four
EBA individuals at H-UT 58–-62 and the CWC individual
at H-UT 89.
Overall, a high diversity of maternal lineages could be
detected, consistent with exogamous marriage practices
(Haak et al. 2008). Several haplogroups appear only in
the later EBA, but population continuity over the periods
cannot be rejected and is strengthened by one case of
haplotype sharing – an indication of direct kinship in the
maternal lineage – that bridges the epochs (Knipper et al.
forthcoming).
MtDNA haplotype sharing was observed in several other
burials and will now be discussed in further detail here for
the H-UT 58–62 site chosen for our case study. The BBC
male from the single burial (feat. 67) and the female of the
double burial (feat. 68 SK 2) carry the same haplotype,
meaning they could be related as (grand)mother and (grand)
child, as siblings, cousins, or other constellations via the
female line. It seems fair to assume that the three burials
represent a nuclear family: father, mother, and son.
In the small EBA cemetery we fi nd similar structures
based on family connections. The three children buried
next to each other, a girl and two boys, share the same
mtDNA haplotype. What makes these two male burials
unusual is the fact that both of them have a copper bangle
around the right wrist. It seems to be a grave good of some
social signifi cance, possibly an object of distinction in their
lifetime and linked to family bonds. Furthermore, one of
the two young males was given a dagger, a copper pin,
and a necklace, a signifi cant amount of material wealth
that he cannot have amassed for himself during his short
lifetime. We can safely assume that this wealth is the result
of particular burial practices. The proximity of the graves
also stands for close relation in death.

Ken Massy et al.
252
All individuals amenable to genetic sexing – the CWC
individual of H-UT 89, the three BBC individuals, and two of
the EBA individuals from H-UT 58–62 – were found to conform
with their gender-specifi c burial positions, again emphasising
the continuity of this tradition throughout the epochs.
Isotope analysis (87Sr/86Sr, δ18O, δ13C, δ15N)
Methodological background and sampling strategy
To further explore continuity and change with regard to
diet and mobility between the Final Neolithic and the Early
Bronze Age, we performed a series of radiogenic and stable
isotope analyses on the skeletal remains that also underwent
radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA analysis. While the
mtDNA data not only indicate direct kinship between several
individuals but also large-scale population changes, isotope
data provide information on residential moves by single
individuals and help in deciphering predominant residential
customs or shedding light on long-distance mobility.
Strontium (87Sr/86Sr) and oxygen (δ18O) isotope analyses are
key methods for exploring human mobility (Knipper 2004;
Bentley 2006; Evans et al. 2012). While strontium isotope
ratios refl ect geological conditions, oxygen isotope ratios
vary with climate, elevation, and distance from the sea. Both
elements are incorporated during tooth enamel formation
in childhood and adolescence and later remain unchanged.
To ensure comparability in the results obtained from these
individuals, we opted for the sampling of second molars,
whose crowns form between about three and seven years
of age (Schroeder 2000; AlQahtani et al. 2010). Wherever
these molars were not available, either because they had
not yet formed in young children or were missing due
to unfavourable preservation conditions, alternative teeth
were sampled. If possible, deciduous and permanent front
teeth and fi rst molars were avoided, because their δ18O
values may be elevated as a result of breastfeeding (Wright
and Schwarcz 1998; Britton et al. 2015). For individuals
identifi ed as non-local in the fi rst place, an additional sample
of a tooth forming later or earlier was taken to identify
whether the residential change already occurred in childhood
or later, after enamel formation was complete.
The dense accumulation of sites in the Lech Valley
provides very favourable conditions for strontium and
oxygen isotope analyses. The potential arable land and the
Figure 20.8: Detail of the three EBA graves from H-UT 58-62 with haplotype sharing.

20. Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age 253
habitation areas of all the sites are dominated by loess and
gravel and also shaped by the same climatic conditions.
Accordingly, comparability between the analytic data from
the different locations is high. Moreover, southern Bavaria
and especially BBC burials have been the subject of earlier
Sr isotope studies providing valuable comparative data on
regional baseline values and mobility patterns (Price et al.
1998; Schweissing and Grupe 2003; Price et al. 2004;
Bentley and Knipper 2005; Bickle et al. 2011; Bertemes
and Heyd 2015).
In addition to Sr and O isotope analyses focusing on
mobility, we also determined the stable isotope compositions
of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in bone collagen to
explore dietary habits. Carbon isotopes primarily refl ect
the photosynthetic path of the plants at the bottom of the
food webs or the part played by marine diet components
(Katzenberg 2000), but they also indicate smaller variations
in the environmental conditions of arable land, including leaf
coverage and humidity (Drucker et al. 2008; Kohn 2010;
Mörseburg et al. 2015). Nitrogen isotope data primarily
vary with trophic levels and can therefore indicate the
importance of animal-based foods in a human diet (Hedges
and Reynard 2007). They also react to the manuring of
arable land (Bogaard et al. 2013), which makes them highly
informative on farming practice (Styring et al. 2016) but
may also interfere with data interpretation in connection
with human diet composition.
The specifi c research issues at stake in connection with
the stable isotope analyses in the Lech Valley project focused
on the investigation of sex, age, site, and status-specifi c
patterns in dietary habits and mobility, including residential
customs and long-distance contacts and continuity and
change in these factors from the Final Neolithic to the Early
Bronze Age.
Haunstetten – Unterer Talweg 58–62 and 89:
Implications from a case study
The small burial communities of H-UT 58–62 and H-UT 89
are presented here as case examples illustrating the nature and
scope of the information that can be gleaned from the complete
dataset produced by the project (Knipper et al., forthcoming).
Sample preparation and analysis of the strontium and oxygen
isotope composition of the phosphate component of the
enamel were undertaken in line with the methods described
elsewhere (Knipper et al. 2012; 2014; cf. Knipper et al.
forthcoming), while carbon and nitrogen isotope composition
was determined on the basis of bone collagen remains after
extraction for radiocarbon dating (Stockhammer et al. 2015a).
Based on archaeological faunal enamel, data compilation
from the literature, and modern precipitation data, 87Sr/86Sr
ratios lower than 0.7080 and higher then 0.7105 and δ18O
values beyond the range of about 14.7 to 17.4‰ VSMOW
are indicators of non-local individuals from outside the Lech
Figure 20.10: Scatter plot of strontium and oxygen isotope ratios of
enamel samples from H-UT 58-62 and H-UT 89. The box indicates
the baseline ranges for both isotope systems.
Figure 20.9: Sn contents in the analysed metal objects from H-UT
58-62 according to their chronological assignment.

Ken Massy et al.
254
Valley (Knipper et al. forthcoming). Isotope ratios within
these ranges are consistent with local origins but may also
occur in non-local individuals from localities with similar
geological and climatic conditions (i.e. most of southern
Germany south of the Danube, excluding the Black Forest
and the Bavarian Forest).
The 87Sr/86Sr ratios in the enamel of the individuals
investigated varied widely from 0.70820 to 0.71505, while
the δ18O values ranged from 15.49 to 18.15‰ VSMOW
(Fig. 20.10). The co-existing strontium and oxygen isotope
signals of the BBC male (H-UT 58–62 feat. 67) and the
female (H-UT 58–62 feat. 68 SK 2) were consistent with the
local ranges for the stable isotope ratios of both elements.
The same also applied to four EBA sub-adult individuals
(feat. 149, 150, 151, and 152) and the EBA female from
feature 146. More radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr ratios than were to
be expected for individuals growing up in the Lech Valley
were found in the teeth of fi ve individuals. Among them
were the CWC male (H-UT 89 feat. 231), the BBC male (H-
UT 58–62 feat. 68 SK 1), and three individuals from of the
EBA graves of H-UT 58–62, including the sub-adult (feat.
148), the adult female (feat. 147), and the adult male (feat.
153). The fi rst molar (tooth 46) of the approx. fi ve-year-old
individual (feat. 148) also yielded an elevated δ18O value of
18.15‰. However, because crown formation in fi rst molars
starts around birth and proceeds over the fi rst three years,
this measurement may refl ect breast-feeding as breastmilk
has higher δ18O values than directly imbibed water (Wright
and Schwarcz 1998; Britton et al. 2015). Accordingly, this
δ18O score does not necessarily point to origins in a region
that was warmer or situated closer to the sea, i.e. to a long-
distance change of residence.
To establish when residential changes took place, we
conducted strontium-isotope analysis of a second tooth
with a different mineralisation period in three of the non-
local individuals. In the cases of the CWC male (H-UT 89
feat. 231) and the EBA female (H-UT 58–62 feat. 147),
both the second and third molars yielded similar 87Sr/86Sr
ratios above the local range (Fig. 20.11). This suggests that
relocation to the Lech Valley took place after adolescence,
when the crown formation of the wisdom teeth analysed
was already complete. By contrast, the 87Sr/86Sr ratios
of the male (H-UT 58–62 feat. 153) indicate a move to
Figure 20.11: Strontium isotope ratios of enamel samples from
H-UT 58-62 and H-UT 89. The data of subsequently formed teeth
from the same individuals are plotted on top of each other and are
connected with a line.
Figure 20.12: Scatter plot of carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of
bone collagen of human individuals from H-UT 58-62 and H-UT
89 as well as site averages with one standard deviation of other
BBC and EBA sites from the Lech valley.

20. Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age 255
a new residence in childhood already. While the first
molar yielded an 87Sr/86Sr ratio within the local range,
the isotope ratio of the third molar was more radiogenic.
These data imply that the male originated from the Lech
Valley or a location with similar baseline values, moved
away in late childhood or adolescence, and then returned
in early adulthood or later to the Lech valley, where he
was buried. The nearest geographic area with radiogenic,
biologically available strontium as detected in the enamel
of these non-local individuals is the Nördlinger Ries, some
60 km NNW. Parts of Bohemia (Scheeres et al. 2014) and
glacially infl uenced areas of central Germany (Knipper
et al. 2016a) are also possible areas of origin, because they
boast geological conditions that produce both radiogenic,
biologically available strontium and a rich archaeological
record of the Final Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age.
From a geochemical perspective, low mountain ranges,
such as the Bavarian or Black Forests (Bentley and Knipper
2005) and parts of the Alpine region (Grupe et al. 2015)
are also possible candidates, but the archaeological record
of the relevant periods in these areas is anything but rich.
This small dataset already gives some indications of
sex- and time-specifi c similarities and differences that are
confi rmed or differentiated in the complete dataset of the
project (Knipper et al. forthcoming). Non-local individuals
appeared in all three cultural complexes investigated, the
CWC, the BBC, and the EBA, implying that human mobility
played a crucial role not only in the EBA but also in the Final
Neolithic. There were also non-local individuals of both
sexes, adult and sub-adult, and residential changes by the
specifi c individuals took place at different ages. This indicates
fairly complex mobility patterns and individual reasons for
resettlement. However, the dataset of the case study is also too
small to reveal overarching trends. These are naturally easier
to see in the study as a whole (Knipper et al. forthcoming).
The individuals from H-UT 58–62 were also subjected
to carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. The δ13C scores
for their bone collagen varied between -21.3 and -20.2‰
V-PDB (average: -20.8 ± 0.3‰), and the δ15N values ranged
from 8.6 to 9.6‰ AIR (average: 9.2 ± 0.3‰) (Fig. 20.12).
Females appear to have slightly higher δ15N values than
males, a result that has however to be regarded with caution
due to the very small sample size of only three males and
females each. No obviously different δ13C or δ15N values
were found between age categories (sub-adults vs. adults),
cultural complexes (BBC vs. EBA), or personal origins
(local vs. non-local individuals). The average stable isotope
data were also very similar to those at the nearby sites of
Augsburg – Hugo-Eckener-Strasse (BBC), Haunstetten –
Postillionstrasse (EBA), and Haunstetten – Unterer Talweg
85 (BBC, EBA), while the EBA burials of Königsbrunn –
Obere Kreuzstrasse and Wehringen – Hochfeld (the only site
studied that is situated on the other side of the loess ridge)
appear to have higher average δ15N values.
Overall, the collagen stable isotope data are consistent
with a mixed diet from plant and animal sources with C3
plants at the base of the food chain. There is no evidence
of C4 plant consumption. This agrees with previous studies
indicating that millet, the most important dietary C4 plant
in prehistoric Europe, became important as a staple crop
in the Late Bronze Age and is clearly visible isotopically
from the Hallstatt period onwards (Oelze et al. 2012;
Moghaddam et al. 2016, Knipper and Maus 2016; Knipper
et al. 2016b). As for δ15N, it generally tends to increase
from Early Neolithic Linearbandkeramik contexts to the
Early Bronze Age. This is well seen in Central Germany
(Siebert et al. 2016) but is also identifi able in southern
Bavaria (Asam et al. 2006). It can best be explained by
the increasing importance of meat and dairy products in
the human diet. Changes in manuring practices for arable
land may also have played a role. The EBA datasets from
southern Bavaria are more heterogeneous than those from
Central Germany (Asam et al. 2006; Koch and Kupke
2012; Knipper et al. 2016a), and this diversity is also
visible on a very local scale among the sites in the Lech
Valley.
Integration and interpretation of the data
Combining multiple bio-archaeometric and archaeological
data enables us to decipher very specifi c and detailed
histories, right down to the individual or family level.
With regard to the single CWC individual, all we can
do is establish that his origins were elsewhere and that
he arrived at the Lech Valley in his adulthood. We do not
know whether he was involved in large-scale population
movements from the east or whether he came to the valley
with his family or as an individual migrant.
The three BBC burials of H-UT 58–62 seem likely
to represent a single family – possibly a couple with
their son (buried at a later point in time) or the woman’s
brother (buried before or after the couple). The biological
relationship between the two individuals is expressed in
the close position of the burials and the construction of
a tumulus on top of each of them. The similar equipment
given to the two men in the graves could also be interpreted
as the material expression of their close relationship.
While the ‘mother’ (or sister) and the ‘son’ (or brother)
lived in the Lech Valley (or a geologically similar area) in
their early childhood, the putative father spent some time
elsewhere. His third molar – mineralised approx. between
his 7th and 17th year of life – has a high strontium isotope
value that does not match to the soil of the Lech Valley
or adjacent southern Germany (Fig. 20.10 and 20.11).
Together with what we know about the distribution of
fertile radiogenic soils and densities of settlement during
the 3rd millennium BC, the strontium isotope ratio points
to the Mittelelbe-Saale region or Bohemia as possible places
where he spent at least his late childhood and his teenage

Ken Massy et al.
256
years. More isotope analyses of different molars will clarify
whether this man was indeed born outside the Lech Valley
and whether the woman and the ‘son’ also moved during
their childhoods. Possibly due to his mobility, the ‘father’
was able to acquire a dagger with a surprisingly high tin
content, a much more common feature of Bell Beaker metal
objects in the Mittelelbe-Saale region than in southern
Germany (Junghans et al. 1960; 1968; Krause 2003). We
are unable to say whether the three BBC individuals were
also infected by the plague (Yersinia pestis) that raged in
the Lech Valley during this period (Andrades Valtueña
et al. 2017). The absence of the bacterium in the dentine
of the three individuals can easily be explained by the very
selective preservation of pathogens in human individuals
from the past (Schuenemann et al. 2011).
The neighboring EBA cemetery indicates continuous
settlement at H-UT 58–62 in the transition from the BBC
to the EBA. Continuous settlement activity at this time (i.e.
around 2150 BC) is clearly evidenced by radiocarbon dating
(Stockhammer et al. 2015a; 2015b). However, settlement
continuity within the valley went hand in hand with the
relocation of single farmsteads in the course of time. The
gap of at least 150 years between the different burial places
might also indicate a settlement hiatus at H-UT 58–62.
These relocations were probably not due to an absence of
fertile ground, as the adjacent loess terrace offered enough
space to shift fi elds. Other reasons, such as the extinction
of the family or unknown societal or ritual issues, need to
be taken into consideration.
After the gap between the BBC and the Early Bronze Age,
a new farmstead was established at the very same place or at
least very close to its Final Neolithic predecessor. The people
now buried at H-UT 58–62 were probably not biologically
related to the BBC individuals, as neither the mtDNA nor the
Y chromosomes nor the full genomic evidence point to any
closer relationship between the two groups of individuals.
Within the EBA cemetery, four children were buried
close to each other and three of them (with suffi cient bone
preservation) have been identifi ed as siblings (they shared
the same mtDNA). Again, the close vicinity of graves
mirrors a close biological relationship during their lifetimes
as well as in their burial equipment. All metal objects of the
EBA individuals were made of copper; none were identifi ed
as tin-bronze. The inhabitants of the EBA farmstead had
a different exchange and barter network from their BBC
forerunners and either no desire or no opportunity to
obtain tin from faraway places. Nevertheless, the EBA
individuals also had far-reaching networks, as several of
the individuals on this site were non-local. One woman
only arrived at the Lech Valley after she had turned 17 and
thus probably after (and because of) reaching fertility. Her
place of origin had similar radiogenic soils to those where
the BBC ‘father’ originated or at least spent part of his
youth. One man was probably born in the Lech Valley but
left his home at the age of at least seven and spent several
years at a place with radiogenic soil. Was he sent by his
parents to the Mittelelbe-Saale region or Bohemia – i.e.
the region of the Únětice culture – to learn some particular
craft and then return with his wife? If so, either she did
not have children after her arrival in the Lech Valley or
her children were sent back to her place of origin at some
point in time or were buried outside the H-UT 58–62 site
in a cemetery where we have not sampled all individuals
and have thus missed the children. So far, her mtDNA
has not been found in any other individual studied by us
in the Lech Valley.
Zooming out
Combining the archaeological and scientific evidence
has provided completely new insights into biological
relationships, individual mobility, and the relation of
mobility to the archaeological evidence. We are confronted
with a society that combined individual long-distance
mobility (already or at least or especially during childhood)
with continuous settlement in the Lech Valley. Settlements
in the valley took the form of single farmsteads whose
positions changed continuously over time. A burial place
was always located to the east of each farmstead. The
relevance of the eastern location for the deceased was also
expressed in their positioning within the grave and the
alignment of posts extending from several graves to the
east. The plague hit the Lech Valley once or several times,
and generations of inhabitants suffered from it. The societal
changes all around Europe during the 22nd century BC,
especially the establishment of the Únětice culture and El
Argar (Meller et al. 2015) may have been responsible for
the transformations in the networks of barter and exchange.
Tin was not used for alloying copper any more and gold,
silver, and amber did not arrive in the Lech Valley during
the EBA, although they were obtainable for BBC individuals
before that time (Mahnkopf and Nitsch 2002). In the Lech
Valley, a Final Neolithic ‘Bronze Age’ was succeeded by
an Early Bronze ‘Copper Age’.
Acknowledgements
We want to thank Michaela Hermann (Stadtarchäologie
Augsburg), Sebastian Gairhos (Stadtarchäologie Augsburg),
Hanns Dietrich (Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpfl ege),
Catharina Kociumaka, Rainer Linke (Arbeitskreis für
Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Gruppe Augsburg Süd), Jürgen
Hald (Kreisarchäologie Konstanz) and Joachim Wahl
(Landesamt für Denkmalpfl ege, Baden-Württemberg) for
their permissions to study and sample the burials as well
as their great support of our work. Anja Staskiewicz and
Elizabeth Nelson carried out anthropological age and sex
determinations of the human skeletal remains.

20. Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age 257
We are indebted to Gerlinde Borngässer, Melanie
Gottschalk, Bernd Höppner, Sigrid Klaus, and Sandra Pagacs
and for help with sample preparation and strontium isotope
analysis at the Curt-Engelhorn-Centre for Archaeometry
Mannheim, Germany. Willi Dindorf and Michael Maus
analysed the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope samples
at the Institute for Organic Chemistry and the Institute
of Geosciences, Department of Applied Geochemistry at
the University of Mainz. Susanne Lindauer, Robin von
Gysegheim, Ronny Friedrich, and Ute Blach conducted
radiocarbon dating at the Curt-Engelhorn-Centre for
Archaeometry Mannheim, Germany. Isil Kucukkalipci
provided support in the lab and Franziska Göhringer
documented the samples for the DNA analysis.
Notes
1 This article presents the results of the collaborative research
project ‘Times of Upheaval: Transformations of Societies
and Landscapes at the Onset of the Bronze Age’ under the
direction of Philipp W. Stockhammer and (fi rst) Johannes
Krause (2012−2016) and (later) Alissa Mittnik (as of 2016).
The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
has kindly fi nanced the project in the funding line of its
WIN projects.
2 In the following, Final Neolithic (German: Endneolithikum)
will be used synonymously for the Beaker Complexes, i.e.
for CWC and BBC.
3 So far, all excavated hamlets seem to date to the Early Bronze
Age. In line with the general lack of BBC settlement evidence
in Central Europe (Nadler 2001), BBC hamlets have not been
found yet.
4 Ruckdeschel 1978, 286. Archaeological analysis of the EBA
burials we know of is part of Ken Massy’s dissertation (Massy
forthcoming); Catharina Kociumaka is investigating their
BBC counterparts.
5 Müller (2000, 71–74) proposes such an overlap between the
CWC, BBC, and the Early Bronze Age for the Mittelelbe-
Saale region.
6 For the sampling strategy, see Stockhammer et al. 2015a. The
number of samples has grown since this publication.
7 For a description of the respective methodologies and
analytical protocols, cf. Stockhammer et al. 2015a (for
radiocarbon dating) and Knipper et al. forthcoming
(for Sr and O isotope ratio analyses and mtDNA). The
comprehensive evaluation of the full genomic data has yet
to be completed.
8 For the traditional dating of Singen, cf. Becker et al. 1989.
Volker Heyd (2000) has already argued in favor of a slightly
later transition between the two phases around 2150 BC.
9 With a concentration of 4.6% tin the dagger belongs to a
small group of BBC metal objects with high tin contents
in Central Europe, the others being a fl ange-hilted dagger
from Altenmarkt (Bavaria) with 3.6% tin and a dagger from
Mörigen (Switzerland) with 2.9% tin. Most BBC tin bronzes
have been found in Thuringia and Saxony, i.e. regions where
the Únětice culture was soon to appear (Junghans et al. 1960;
Junghans et al. 1968; Krause 2003).
References
Allentoft, M. E et al. (2015) Population Genomics of Bronze Age
Eurasia. Nature 522, 167–172.
Alqahtani, S. J., Hector, M. P. and Liversidge, H. M. (2010)
Brief Communication: The London Atlas of Human Tooth
Development and Eruption. American Journal of Physical
Anthropology 142, 481–490.
Andrades Valtueña, A., Mittnik, A., Massy, K., Allmae, R.,
Daubaras, M., Jankauskas, R., Torv, M., Pfrengle, S., Spyrou,
M. A., Feldman, M., Haak, W., Bos, K. I., Stockhammer, P. W.,
Herbig, A. and Krause, J. (2017) The Stone Age Plague: 1000
Years of Persistence in Eurasia. bioRxiv 094243. DOI: https://
doi.org/10.1101/094243.
Asam, T., Grupe, G. and Peters, J. (2006) Menschliche
Subsistenzstrategien im Neolithikum: Eine Isotopenanalyse
bayerischer Skelettfunde. Anthropologischer Anzeiger 64, 1–23.
Bartelheim, M. (1998) Studien zur böhmischen Aunjetitzer
Kultur. Chronologische und chorologische Untersuchungen.
Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie 46.
Bonn, Habelt.
Bartelheim, M. (2010) Schmiedefürsten oder Großbauern? Eliten
und Metalle in der Frühbronzezeit Mitteleuropas. In H. Meller
and F. Bertemes (eds), Der Griff nach den Sternen. Wie
Europas Eliten zu Macht und Reichtum kamen. Internationales
Symposium in Halle (Saale) vom 16.–21. Februar 2005.
Tagungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle
5/2, 865–880. Halle (Saale), Landesamt für Denkmalpfl ege
und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt and Landesmuseum für
Vorgeschichte.
Becker, B., Krause, R., and Kromer, B. (1989) Zur absoluten
Chronologie der Frühen Bronzezeit. Germania 67, 421–442.
Bentley, R. A. and Knipper, C. (2005) Geographical Patterns in
Biologically Available Strontium, Carbon and Oxygen Isotope
Signatures in Prehistoric SW Germany. Archaeometry 47,
629–644.
Bentley, R. A. (2006) Strontium Isotopes from the Earth to the
Archaeological Skeleton: A Review. Journal of Archaeological
Method and Theory 13, 135–187.
Bernbeck, R., Kaiser, E., Parzinger, H., Pollock, S. and Schier,
W. (2011) Spatial Effects of Technological Innovations and
Changing Ways of Life. eTopoi. Journal for Ancient Studies
1, 1–16.
Bertemes, F. and Heyd, V. (2015) 2200 BC – Innovation or
Evolution? The Genesis of the Danubian Early Bronze Age.
In H. Meller, R. Risch, R. Jung and H.-W. Arz (eds), 2200
BC – A Climatic Breakdown as a Cause for the Collapse of
the Old World? 7th Archaeological Conference of Central
Germany October 23–26, 2014 in Halle (Saale). Tagungen
des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle 12/2, 561–578.
Halle (Saale), Landesamt für Denkmalpfl ege und Archäologie
Sachsen-Anhalt and Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte.
Bickle, P., Hofmann, D., Bentley, R. A., Hedges, R. E. M.,
Hamilton, J., Laiginhas, F., Nowell, G., Pearson, D. G.,
Grupe, G. and Whittle, A. (2011) Roots of Diversity in a
Linearbandkeramik Community: Isotope Evidence at Aiterhofen
(Bavaria, Germany). Antiquity 85, 1243–1253.
Bogaard, A., Fraser, R., Heaton, T. H. E., Wallace, M., Vaiglova,
P., Charles, M., Jones, G., Evershed, R., Styring, A. K.,
Anderson, N. H., Arbogast, R.-M., Bartosiewicz, L., Gardeisen,

Ken Massy et al.
258
A., Kanstrup, M., Maier, U., Marinova, E., Ninov, L., Schäfer,
M. and Stephan, E. (2013) Crop Manuring and Intensive Land
Management by Europe’s First Farmers. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences 110, 12589–12594.
Bosch, T. L. (2009) Archäologische Untersuchungen zur Frage von
Sozialstrukturen in der Ostgruppe des Glockenbecherphänomens
anhand des Fundgutes. Unpublished thesis, Universität
Regensburg, Regensburg. Latest update 21.04.2014,
<urn:nbn:de:bvb:355-opus-12922> (24.01.2017).
Bramanti, B., Thomas, M. G., Haak, W., Unterlaender, M., Jores, P.,
Tambets, K., Antanaitis-Jacobs, I., Haidle, M. N., Jankauskas,
R., Kind, C.-J., Lueth, F.,Terberger, T., Hiller, J., Matsumura, S.,
Forster, P. and Burger, J. (2009) Genetic Discontinuity between
Local Hunter-Gatherers and Central Europe‘s First Farmers.
Science 326, 137–140. DOI: 10.1126/science.1176869.
Brandt, G., Haak, W., Adler, C. J., Roth, C., Szécsényi-Nagy,
A., Karimnia, S., Möller-Rieker, S., Meller, H., Ganslmeier,
R., Friederich, S., Dresely, V., Nicklisch, N., Pickrell, J. K.,
Sirocko, F., Reich, D., Cooper, A. and Alt, K. W. (2013) Ancient
DNA Reveals Key Stages in the Formation of Central European
Mitochondrial Genetic Diversity. Science 342, 257–261.
DOI: 10.1126/science.1241844.
Braun-Thürmann, H. (2005) Innovation. Bielefeld, transcript.
Britton, K., Fuller, B. T., Tütken, T., Mays, S. and Richards, M.
P. (2015) Oxygen Isotope Analysis of Human Bone Phosphate
Evidences Weaning Age in Archaeological Populations.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 157, 226–241.
Brumlich, M. (2014) Alte Thesen und neue Forschungen zur
Eisenproduktion in der Jastorfkultur. In J. Brandt and B. Rauchfuß
(eds), Das Jastorf-Konzept und die vorrömische Eisenzeit im
nördlichen Mitteleuropa. Beiträge der Internationalen Tagung
zum einhundertjährigen Jubiläum der Veröffentlichung der
Ältesten Urnenfriedhöfe bei Uelzen und Lüneburg durch
Gustav Schwantes 18.–22. Mai 2011 in Bad Bevensen.
Veröffentlichungen des Archäologischen Museums Hamburg
105, 155–168. Hamburg, Archäologisches Museum Hamburg.
Buchvaldek, M. (1967) Die Schnurkeramik in Böhmen. Prague,
Universita Karlova.
Burmeister, S. (2011) Innovationswege – Wege der Kommunikation.
Erkenntnisprobleme am Beispiel des Wagens im 4. Jt. v. Chr.
In S. Hansen and J. Müller (eds), Sozialarchäologische
Perspektiven. Gesellschaftlicher Wandel 5000–1500 v. Chr.
zwischen Atlantik und Kaukasus, Internationale Tagung 15.–18.
Oktober 2007, Kiel, 211–240. Mainz, Philipp von Zabern.
Burmeister, S. and Müller-Scheeßel, N. (2013) Innovation as a
Multi-Faceted Social Process: An Outline. In S. Burmeister,
S. Hansen, M. Kunst and N. Müller-Scheeßel (eds), Metal
Matters. Innovative Technologies and Social Change in
Prehistory and Antiquity. Mensch – Kulturen – Traditionen.
Studentisches Forschungscluster DAI 12, 1–12. Rahden/Westf.,
Marie Leidorf.
David, W. (1998) Zu früh- und ältermittelbronzezeitlichen
Grabfunden in Ostbayern. In J. Michálek, K. Schmotz and
M. Zápotocká (eds), Archäologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft
Ostbayern/West- und Südböhmen. 7. Treffen in Landau
(Isar) 11.–14. Juni 1997, 108–129. Rahden/Westf., Marie
Leidorf.
Dresely, V. (2004) Schnurkeramik und Schnurkeramiker im
Taubertal. Stuttgart, Theiss.
Drucker, D. G., Bridault, A., Hobson, K. A., Szuma, E. and
Bocherens, H. (2008) Can Carbon-13 in Large Herbivores
Reflect the Canopy Effect in Temperate and Boreal
Ecosystems? Evidence from Modern and Ancient Ungulates.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 266,
69–82.
Dumler, M. and Wirth, S. (2001) Gräber und Siedlungen aus
vier Jahrtausenden – Neue Ausgrabungen am Unteren Talweg
in Haunstetten. Das archäologische Jahr in Bayern 2001,
47–50.
Evans, J. A., Chenery, C. A. and Montgomery, J. (2012) A
Summary of Strontium and Oxygen Isotope Variation in
Archaeological Human Tooth Enamel Excavated from Britain.
Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry 27, 754–764.
Fu, Q., Meyer, M., Gao, X., Stenzel, U., Burbano, H. A., Kelso, J.
and Pääbo, S. (2013) DNA Analysis of an Early Modern Human
from Tianyuan Cave, China. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 110,
2223–2227. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1221359110.
Furholt, M. (2003) Die absolutchronologische Datierung der
Schnurkeramik in Mitteleuropa und Südskandinavien. Bonn,
Habelt.
Gairhos, S. (2007) Von der Schlitzgrube zur Abseitsfalle –
Archäologie unter dem neuen Fußballstadion in Göggingen.
Stadt Augsburg, Schwaben. Das archäologische Jahr in Bayern
2007, 86–88.
Gebers, W. (1978) Endneolithikum und Frühbronzezeit im
Mittelrheingebiet. Katalog. Bonn, Habelt.
Grupe, G., Price, T. D., Schröter, P., Söllner, F., Johnson, C. M. and
Beard, B. L. (1997) Mobility of Bell Beaker People Revealed
by Strontium Isotope Ratios of Tooth and Bone: A Study of
Southern Bavarian Skeletal Remains. Applied Geochemistry
12, 517–525.
Grupe, G., Grünewald, M., Gschwind, M., Hölzl, S., Kocsis,
B., Kröger, P., Lang, A., Mauder, M., Mayr, C., McGlynn,
G., Metzner-Nebelsick, C., Ntoutsi, E., Peters, J., Renz, M.,
Reuß, S., Schmahl, W. W., Söllner, F., Sommer, C. S., Steidl,
B., Toncala, A., Trixl, S. and Wycisk, D. (2015) Networking
in Bioarchaeology: The Example of the DFG Research Group
FOR 1670 ‘Transalpine Mobility and Culture Transfer’. In G.
Grupe, G. McGlynn and J. Peters (eds), Bioarchaeology Beyond
Osteology. Documenta Archaeobiologiae 12, 13–51. Rahden/
Westf., Marie Leidorf.
Haak, W., Brandt, G., de Jong, H. N.,Meyer, C., Ganslmeier,
R., Heyd, V., Hawkesworth, C., Pike, A. W. G., Meller, H.,
and Alt, K. W. (2008) Ancient DNA, Strontium Isotopes,
and Osteological Analyses Shed Light on Social and Kinship
Organization of the Later Stone Age. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
105, 18226–18231. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0807592105.
Haak, W., Lazaridis, I., Patterson, N., Rohland, N., Mallick, S.,
Llamas, B., Brandt, G., Nordenfelt, S., Harney, E.,
Stewardson, K., Fu, Q., Mittnik, A., Bánffy, E., Economou,
C., Francken, M., Friederich, S., Garrido Pena, R., Hallgren,
F., Khartanovich, V., Khokhlov, A., Kunst, M., Kuznetsov, P.,
Meller, H., Mochalov, O., Moiseyev, V., Nicklisch, N., Pichler,
S. L., Risch, R., Rojo Guerra, M. A., Roth, C., Szécsényi-Nagy,
A., Wahl, J., Meyer, M., Krause, J., Brown, D., Anthony, D.,
Cooper, A., Alt, K. W. and Reich, D. (2015) Massive Migration

20. Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age 259
from the Steppe Was a Source for Indo-European Languages
in Europe. Nature 522/7555, 207–211.
Hájek, L. (1968) Die Glockenbecherkultur in Böhmen. Prag,
Archeologický Ústav Čsav.
Hedges, R. E. M. and Reynard, L. M. (2007) Nitrogen Isotopes
and the Trophic Level of Humans in Archaeology. Journal of
Archaeological Science 34, 1240–1251.
Heyd, V. (2000) Die Spätkupferzeit in Süddeutschland. Untersuchungen
zur Chronologie von der ausgehenden Mittelkupferzeit bis zum
Beginn der Frühbronzezeit im süddeutschen Donaueinzugsgebiet
und den benachbarten Regionen bei besonderer Berücksichtigung
der keramischen Funde. Saarbrücker Beiträge zur Altertumskunde
73. Bonn, Habelt.
Heyd, V., Winterholler, B., Böhm, K. and Pernicka, E. (2002–
2003) Mobilität, Strontiumisotopie und Subsistenz in der
süddeutschen Glockenbecherkultur. Bericht der Bayerischen
Bodendenkmalpfl ege 43–44, 109–135.
Hofmann, K. P. (2012) Kontinuität trotz Diskontinuität? Der
Wechsel von der Körper- zur Brandbestattung im Elbe-Weser-
Dreieck und die semiotische Bedeutungsebene ‘Raum’. In
D. Bérenger, J. Bourgeois, M. Talon and S. Wirth (eds),
Gräberlandschaften der Bronzezeit. Paysages funéraires de
l’âge du Bronze. Internationales Kolloquium zur Bronzezeit,
Herne, 15.–18. Oktober 2008. Bodenaltertümer Westfalens 51,
355–373. Darmstadt, Philipp von Zabern.
Hofmann, K. P. and Patzke, S. (2012) Von Athen nach Etrurien.
Zum Diffusionsprozess der entlehnten Innovation ‘ceramica
sovraddipinta’. In A. Kern, J. K. Koch, I. Balzer, J. Fries-
Knoblach, K. Kowarik, C. Later, P. C. Ramsl, P. Trebsche and
J. Wiethold (eds), Technologieentwicklung und -transfer in der
Hallstatt- und Latènezeit. Beiträge zur Ur- und Frühgeschichte
Mitteleuropas 65, 83–101. Langenweißbach, Beier & Beran.
Innerhofer, F. (2000) Die mittelbronzezeitlichen Nadeln zwischen
Vogesen und Karpaten. Studien zur Chronologie, Typologie
und regionalen Gliederung der Hügelgräberkultur. UPA 71.
Bonn, Habelt.
Jiménez, A. C. (2005) Changing Scales and the Scales of Change:
Ethnography and Political Economy in Antofagasta, Chile.
Critique of Anthropology 25/2, 157–176.
Junghans, S., Sangmeister, E. and Schröder, M. (1960)
Metallanalysen kupferzeitlicher und frühbronzezeitlicher
Bodenfunde aus Europa. Berlin, Mann.
Junghans, S., Sangmeister, E. and Schröder, M. (1968) Kupfer
und Bronze in der frühen Metallzeit Europas. Band 1: Die
Materialgruppen beim Stand von 12000 Analysen. Berlin,
Mann.
Katzenberg, M. A. (2000) Stable Isotope Analysis: A Tool for
Studying Past Diet, Demography, and Life History. In A. M.
Katzenberg and S. R. Saunders (eds), Biological Anthropology
of the Human Skeleton. New York and Chichester, Wiley-Liss.
Kienlin, T. L. (2006a), Frühbronzezeitliche Randleistenbeile von
Böhringen-Rickelshausen und Hindelwangen. Ergebnisse einer
metallographischen Untersuchung. Prähistorische Zeitschrift
81, 97–120.
Kienlin, T. L. (2006b) Waffe, Werkzeug, Barren. Zur Deutung
frühbronzezeitlicher Randleistenbeile in Depotfunden des
nordalpinen Raums. In H.-P. Wotzka (ed.), Grundlegungen.
Beiträge zur europäischen und afrikanischen Archäologie für
Manfred K. H. Eggert, 461–476. Tübingen, Francke.
Kienlin, T. L. (2008) Frühes Metall im nordalpinen Raum: Eine
Untersuchung zu technologischen und kognitiven Aspekten
früher Metallurgie anhand der Gefüge frühbronzezeitlicher
Beile. UPA 162. Bonn, Habelt.
Kienlin, T. L. (2010) Traditions and Transformations. Approaches
to Eneolithic (Copper Age) and Bronze Age Metalworking and
Society in Eastern Central Europe and the Carpathian Basin.
British Archaeological Reports, International Series 2184.
Oxford, Archaeopress.
Kienlin, T. L. (2014) Aspects of Metalworking and Society from
the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea from the fi fth to the second
Millennium BC. In B. W. Roberts and C. P. Thornton (eds),
Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective. Methods and
Syntheses, 447–472. New York, Springer.
Knipper, C. (2004) Die Strontiumisotopenanalyse: Eine
naturwissenschaftliche Methode zur Erfassung von Mobilität
in der Ur- und Frühgeschichte. Jahrbuch des Römisch-
Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 51, 589–685.
Knipper, C., Maurer, A.-F., Peters, D., Meyer, C., Brauns, M.,
Galer, S. G., von Freeden, U., Schöne, B., Meller H. and Alt,
K. W. (2012) Mobility in Thuringia or Mobile Thuringians: A
Strontium Isotope Study from Early Medieval Central Germany.
In E. Kaiser, J. Burger and W. Schier (eds), Population Dynamics
in Prehistory and Early History. New Approaches Using Stable
Isotopes and Genetics, 287–310. Berlin, de Gruyter.
Knipper, C., Meyer, C., Jacobi, F., Roth, C., Fecher, M., Schatz,
K., Stephan, E., Hansen, L., Posluschny, A. G., Pare, C. F. E.
and Alt, K. W. (2014) Social Differentiation and Land Use at an
Early Iron Age ‘Princely Seat’: Bioarchaeological Investigations
at the Glauberg (Germany). Journal of Archaeological Science
41, 818–835.
Knipper, C., Fragata, M., Nicklisch, N., Siebert, A., Szécsényi-
Nagy, A., Hubernsack, V., Metzner-Nebelsick, C., Meller,
H. and Alt, K. W. (2016a) A Distinct Section of the Early
Bronze Age Society? Stable Isotope Investigations of Burials
in Settlement Pits and Multiple Inhumations of the Únětice
Culture in Central Germany. American Journal of Physical
Anthropology 159, 496–516.
Knipper, C., Pichler, S., Rissanen, H., Stopp, B., Kühn, M.,
Spichtig, N., Röder, B., Schibler, J., Lassau, G. and Alt, K. W.
(2016b) What is on the Menu in a Celtic Town? Iron Age Diet
Reconstructed in Remains from Settlement Features and two
Celsies at Basel-Gasfabrik, Switzerland. Archaeological and
Anthropological Sciences. DOI: 10.1007/s12520-016-0362-8.
Knipper, C. and Maus, M. (2016) Isotopenanalysen zur
Rekonstruktion von Mobilität und Ernährungsweise der
Bestatteten der hallstattzeitlichen Nekropole von Mauenheim.
In L. Wamser (ed.), Mauenheim und Bargen. Zwei
Grabhügelfelder der Hallstatt- und Frühlatènezeit aus dem
nördlichen Hegau. Forschungen und Berichte zur Archäologie
in Baden-Württemberg 2, 461–486. Wiesbaden, Dr. Ludwig
Reichert Verlag.
Knipper, C., Mittnik, A., Massy, K., Kociumaka, C., Kucukkalipci,
I., Maus, M., Metz, S., Wittenborn, F., Krause, J. and
Stockhammer, P. W. (forthcoming) Female Exogamy and Gene
Pool Diversifi cation at the Transition from the Final Neolithic
to the Early Bronze Age in Southern Germany.
Koch, J. K. and Kupke, K. (2012) Life-Course Reconstruction
for Mobile Individuals in an Early Bronze Age Society in

Ken Massy et al.
260
Central Europe: Concept of the Project and fi rst Results for
the Cemetery of Singen (Germany). In E. Kaiser, J. Burger and
W. Schier (eds), Population Dynamics in Prehistory and Early
History. New Approaches Using Stable Isotopes and Genetics,
225–240. Berlin, de Gruyter.
Kohn, M. J. (2010) Carbon Isotope Compositions of Terrestrial
C3 Plants as Indicators of (Paleo)Ecology and (Paleo)Climate.
PNAS 107, 19691–19695.
Krause, R. (2003) Studien zur kupfer- und frühbronzezeitlichen
Metallurgie zwischen Karpatenbecken und Ostsee. Rahden/
Westf., Marie Leidorf.
Mahnkopf, G. and Nitsch, G. (2002) Bestattungsplatz der
Glockenbecherkultur, Lehmgrube Markt. Heimatverein
Landkreis Augsburg. 28. Jahresbericht 2001–2002, 14–23.
Maran, J. (2004a) Die Badener Kultur und ihre Räderfahrzeuge.
In M. Fansa and S. Burmeister (eds), Rad und Wagen. Der
Ursprung einer Innovation. Wagen im Vorderen Orient und
Europa. Wissenschaftliche Begleitschrift zur Sonderausstellung
‘Rad und Wagen. Der Ursprung einer Innovation. Wagen im
Vorderen Orient und Europa’, Landesmuseum Oldenburg
vom 28. März bis 11. Juli 2004. Archäologische Mitteilungen
Nordwestdeutschland Beiheft 40, 265–282. Mainz am Rhein,
Philipp von Zabern.
Maran, J. (2004b) Kulturkontakte und Wege der Ausbreitung
der Wagentechnologie im 4. Jahrtausend v. Chr. In M. Fansa
and S. Burmeister (eds), Rad und Wagen. Der Ursprung
einer Innovation. Wagen im Vorderen Orient und Europa.
Wissenschaftliche Begleitschrift zur Sonderausstellung ‘Rad
und Wagen. Der Ursprung einer Innovation. Wagen im Vorderen
Orient und Europa’, Landesmuseum Oldenburg vom 28. März bis
11. Juli 2004. Archäologische Mitteilungen Nordwestdeutschland
Beiheft 40, 429–442. Mainz, Philipp von Zabern.
Maricic, T., Whitten, M. and Pääbo, S. (2010) Multiplexed DNA
Sequence Capture of Mitochondrial Genomes Using PCR
Products. PLOS ONE 5. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0014004.
Massy, K. (forthcoming) Die frühbronzezeitlichen Gräber zwischen
Nördlinger Ries, Lech und Alpen.
Mathieson, I. et al. (2015) Genome-Wide Patterns of Selection in
230 Ancient Eurasians. Nature 528, 499–503. DOI: 10.1038/
nature16152 (2015).
Matthias, W. (1974) Kataloge zur mitteldeutschen Schnurkeramik
IV: Südharz-Unstrut-Gebiet. Berlin, Deutscher Verlag der
Wissenschaften.
Meller, H., Arz, H. W., Jung, R. and Risch, R. (eds) (2015) 2200
BC – Ein Klimasturz als Ursache für den Zerfall der Alten Welt?
7. Mitteldeutscher Archäologentag, 23.–26. Oktober 2014,
Halle (Saale). Halle (Saale), Landesamt für Denkmalpfl ege.
Moghaddam, N., Müller, F., Hafner, A. and Lösch, S. (2016) Social
Stratigraphy in Late Iron Age Switzerland: Stable Carbon,
Nitrogen and Sulphur Isotope Analysis of Human Remains
from Münsingen. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
8, 149–160.
Mörseburg, A., Alt, K. W. and Knipper, C. (2015) Same Old
in Middle Neolithic Diets? A Stable Isotope Study of Bone
Collagen from the Burial Community of Jechtingen, Southwest
Germany. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 39, 210–221.
Müller, J. (2000) Radiokarbonchronologie, Keramiktechnologie,
Osteologie, Anthropologie, Raumanalysen. Beiträge zum
Neolithikum und zur Frühbronzezeit im Mittelelbe-Saale-
Gebiet (eds). Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission
80, 1999 (2000) 25–211.
Nadler, M. (2001) Einzelhof oder Häuptlingshaus? – Gedanken
zu den Langhäusern der Frühbronzezeit. In B. Eberschweiler,
J. Köninger, H. Schlichtherle and C. Strahm (eds), Aktuelles
zur Frühbronzezeit und frühen Mittelbronzezeit im nördlichen
Alpenvorland. Rundgespräch in Hemmenhofen vom 6. Mai
2000. Hemmenhofener Skripte 2, 39–46. Freiburg, Janus.
Oelze, V. M., Koch, J. K., Kupke, K., Nehlich, O., Zäuner, S.,
Wahl, J., Weise, S. M., Rieckhoff, S. and Richards, M. P. (2012)
Multi-Isotopic Analysis Reveals Individual Mobility and Diet at
the Early Iron Age Monumental Tumulus of Magdalenenberg,
Germany. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 148,
406–421.
Price, T. D., Grupe, G. and Schröter, P. (1998) Migration in the
Bell Beaker Period of Central Europe. Antiquity 72, 405–411.
Price, T. D., Knipper, C., Grupe, G. and Smrcka, V. (2004) Strontium
Isotopes and Prehistoric Human Migration: The Bell Beaker Period
in Central Europe. European Journal of Archaeology 7, 9–40.
Rasmussen, S. et al. (2015) Early Divergent Strains of Yersinia
pestis in Eurasia 5.000 Years Ago. Cell 163/3, 571–582.
Reinecke, P. (1902) Beiträge zur Kenntnis der frühen Bronzezeit
Mitteleuropas. Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft
Wien 32, 104–154.
Reinecke, P. (1924) Zur chronologischen Gliederung der
süddeutschen Bronzezeit. Germania 8/2, 43–44.
Ruckdeschel, W. (1978) Die frühbronzezeitlichen Gräber
Südbayerns. Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Straubinger Kultur.
Antiquitas II. Bonn, Habelt.
Scheeres, M., Knipper, C., Hauschild, M., Schönfelder, M., Siebel,
W., Pare, C. and Alt, K. W. (2014) ‘Celtic Migrations’ – Fact
or Fiction? Strontium and Oxygen Isotope Analysis of the
Czech Cemeteries of Radovesice and Kutná Hora in Bohemia.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 155, 496–512.
Schefzik, M. (2001) Die bronze- und eisenzeitliche
Besiedlungsgeschichte der Münchner Ebene. Eine Untersuchung
zu Gebäude- und Siedlungsformen im süddeutschen Raum.
Internationale Archäologie 68. Rahden/Westf., Marie Leidorf.
Schickler, H. (1981) ‘Neolithische’ Zinnbronzen. In H. Lorenz
(ed.), Studien zur Bronzezeit. Festschrift für Wilhelm Albert v.
Brunn, 419–445. Mainz am Rhein, Philipp von Zabern.
Schroeder, H. E. (2000) Orale Strukturbiologie:
Entwicklungsgeschichte, Struktur und Funktion normaler
Hart- und Weichgewebe der Mundhöhle und des Kiefergelenks.
Stuttgart and New York, Thieme.
Schuenemann, V. J., Bos, K., DeWitte, S., Schmedes, S., Jamieson,
J., Mittnik, A., Forrest, S., Coombes, B. K., Wood, J. W., Earn,
D. J. D., White, W., Krause, J., Poinar, H. N. (2011). Targeted
Enrichment of Ancient Pathogens Yielding the pPCP1 Plasmid
of Yersinia Pestis from Victims of the Black Death. PNAS 108,
746–752. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1105107108.
Schweissing, M. M. and Grupe, G. (2003) Stable Strontium
Isotopes in Human Teeth and Bone: A Key to Migration Events
of the Late Roman Period in Bavaria. Journal of Archaeological
Science 30, 1373–1383.
Siebert, A., Knipper, C., Nicklisch, N., Friedrich, S. and Alt, K.
W. (2016) Wandel der Ernährungsweise in Mitteldeutschland
zwischen 5500 und 1600 v. Chr. Archäologie in Deutschland
2016/4, 24–25.

20. Patterns of Transformation from the Final Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age 261
Sjögren, K.-G., Price, T. D. and Kristiansen, K. (2016) Diet and
Mobility in the Corded Ware of Central Europe. PLOS ONE
11. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155083.
Stockhammer, P. W. (2008) Kontinuität und Wandel – Die Keramik
der Nachpalastzeit aus der Unterstadt von Tiryns. Heidelberg,
Universität Heidelberg.
Stockhammer, P. W. (2012) Performing the Practice Turn in
Archaeology. Transcultural Studies 1, 7–42.
Stockhammer, P. W. (2015) Die Wirkungsmacht des Identischen:
Zur Wahrnehmung von Metallobjekten am Beginn der
Bronzezeit. Germania 93, 77–96.
Stockhammer, P. W., Massy, K., Knippe, C., Friedrich, R.,
Kromer, B., Lindauer, S., Radosavljević, J., Wittenborn,
F. and Krause, J. (2015a) Rewriting the Central European
Early Bronze Age Chronology: Evidence from Large-Scale
Radiocarbon Dating. PLOS ONE 10. DOI: 10.1371/journal.
pone.0139705.
Stockhammer, P. W., Massy, K., Knipper, C., Friedrich, R., Kromer,
B., Lindauer, S., Radosavljević, J., Pernicka, E. and Krause,
J. (2015b) Kontinuität und Wandel vom Endneolithikum zur
frühen Bronzezeit in der Region Augsburg. In H. Meller, H.
W. Arz, R. Jung and R. Risch (eds), 2200 BC – Ein Klimasturz
als Ursache für den Zerfall der Alten Welt? 7. Mitteldeutscher
Archäologentag in Halle (Saale), vom 23.–26. Oktober 2014.
Tagungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle 12,2,
617–641. Halle (Saale), Landesamt für Denkmalpfl ege und
Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt.
Strahm, C. (1982) Zu den Begriffen Chalkolithikum und
Metallikum. In Atti X Simposio internazionale sulla fi ne del
Neolitico e gli inizi dell`Etá del Bronzo in Europa, 13–26.
Verona, Museo Civico di Storia Naturale.
Styring, A. K., Maier, U., Stephan, E., Schlichtherle, H. and
Bogaard, A. (2016) Cultivation of Choice: New Insights into
Farming Practices at Neolithic Lakeshore Sites. Antiquity 90,
95–110.
Wright, L. E. and Schwarcz, H. P. (1998) Stable Carbon and Oxygen
Isotopes in Human Tooth Enamel: Identifying Breastfeeding
and Weaning in Prehistory. American Journal of Physical
Anthropology 106, 1–18.
Zich, B. (1996) Studien zur regionalen und chronologischen
Gliederung der nördlichen Aunjetitzer Kultur. Vorgeschichtliche
Forschungen 20. Berlin, de Gruyter.