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Roots of diversity in a Linearbandkeramik community: isotope evidence at Aiterhofen (Bavaria, Germany)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2011

Penny Bickle ,
Daniela Hofmann ,
R. Alexander Bentley ,
Robert Hedges ,
Julie Hamilton ,
Fernando Laiginhas ,
Geoff Nowell ,
D. Graham Pearson ,
Gisela Grupe  and
Alasdair Whittle
Penny Bickle
Affiliation:
1Department of Archaeology and Conservation, Cardiff University, Humanities Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK (Email: [email protected]; [email protected])
Daniela Hofmann
Affiliation:
2Cardiff University Centre for Lifelong Learning, Senghennydd Road, Cardiff CF 24 4AG, UK (Email: [email protected])
R. Alexander Bentley
Affiliation:
3Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, 43 Woodland Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1UU, UK (Email: [email protected])
Robert Hedges
Affiliation:
4Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford University, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK (Email: [email protected]; [email protected])
Julie Hamilton
Affiliation:
4Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford University, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK (Email: [email protected]; [email protected])
Fernando Laiginhas
Affiliation:
5Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Science Labs, Durham DH1 3LE, UK (Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected])
Geoff Nowell
Affiliation:
5Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Science Labs, Durham DH1 3LE, UK (Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected])
D. Graham Pearson
Affiliation:
5Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Science Labs, Durham DH1 3LE, UK (Email: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected])
Gisela Grupe
Affiliation:
6Ludwig-Maximilians University, Biozentrum der LMU Biologie, Grosshaderner Str.2, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Munich, Germany (Email: [email protected])
Alasdair Whittle
Affiliation:
1Department of Archaeology and Conservation, Cardiff University, Humanities Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EU, UK (Email: [email protected]; [email protected])
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Extract

The early Neolithic in northern Central Europe ought to be the theatre in which incoming farmers meet local hunter-gatherers, with greater or lesser impact. By way of contrast, the authors use isotope analysis in a cemetery beside the Danube to describe a peaceful, well-integrated community with a common diet and largely indigenous inhabitants. Men and women may have had different mobility strategies, but the isotopes did not signal special origins or diverse food-producing roles. Other explanations attend the variations in the burial rites of individuals and their distribution into cemetery plots.

Keywords

GermanyNeolithicLBKisotope analysisdiversityfirst farmers
Type
Research article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 85 , Issue 330 , December 2011 , pp. 1243 - 1258
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2011

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