Tracing social disruptions over time using radiocarbon datasets : Copper and Early Bronze Ages in Southeast Iberia
Micó Pérez, Rafael (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)
Celdrán Beltrán, Eva (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)
Lomba Maurandi, Joaquín (Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Prehistoria, Arqueología, Historia Antigua, Historia Medieval y Ciencias y Técnicas Historiográficas)
Oliart Caravatti, Camila (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)
Rihuete Herrada, Cristina (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)
Valério, Miguel (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria)

Date:	2024
Abstract:	The transition between the Late Copper and the Early Bronze Age in Central and Western Europe saw large-scale social disruptions ca. 2200 cal BCE ('4,2 ka event'). Their source is much debated, and scholars have addressed the problem from various disciplinary perspectives. One account points to the westward migration of populations with Pontic-Caspian 'Steppe' ancestry, possibly favoured by the spread of infectious diseases, but the question remains open. In southeast Iberia, the shift from communal burial practices in the Copper Age to single and double tombs in the Bronze Age offers a reliable diagnostic feature for the transition. To investigate social and demographic changes in this region during the late 3rd millennium BCE, we resorted to new C14 dates from human bone samples originating from both kinds of funerary contexts. Our statistical analysis indicates that most probably the changes in funerary rituals in southeast Iberia were fast. It also implies that the local populations had dropped in numbers before 2200 cal BCE, so that the presence of 'Steppe ancestry' ca. 2200-2000 cal BCE could be the result of their admixture with neighbouring peoples. Finally, we suggest that more high-precision C dates and archaeogenetic analyses from this transitional period are crucial for addressing the formation of Bronze Age societies.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-112909GB-I00 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-0525
Note:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Late Copper Age ; Bronze Age ; 4.2 ka event ; Radiocarbon dating ; Demographic changes ; Social disruptions ; Steppe ancestry
Published in:	Journal of archaeological science: reports, Vol. 58 (october 2024) , p. 104692, ISSN 2352-4103

DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104692

18 p, 12.2 MB

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