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Multi-isotope proveniencing of human remains from a Bronze Age battlefield in the Tollense Valley in northeast Germany

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Abstract

Although the Bronze Age is best known for its remarkable metal weapons, there is little evidence of conflict. Traumatic wounds in human skeletal remains are rare, and there have been few recognized scenes of warfare such as those known from later periods. Recent discoveries, however, have revealed evidence of a major battle in a small valley in the northeast of Germany, some 3250 years ago. Both military equipment and human and animal remains have been encountered in surveys and excavations along almost 3 km of the Tollense Valley. More than 130 human individuals have been recovered in the investigations, for the most, part young men between 20 and 40 years of age. In addition, horse bones have been found among the human remains in the riverbed and banks. This study reports on the isotopic proveniencing of the excavated remains utilizing strontium, lead, oxygen, and carbon isotopes to learn about place of origin and past diet. Two major groups can be distinguished in the isotope data, along with evidence for different homelands for some of the individuals who died in the Tollense Valley.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank James Burton (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Paul Fullagar (University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill), and David Dettman (University of Arizona) for their care and attention to sample preparation, Sr and C/O isotope measurements, respectively. We also thank Cristina Nora Jensen and Toby Leeper (University of Copenhagen), respectively, for assistance with ion chromatographic separations of Pb and for keeping the three TIMS instruments in excellent running condition. We would also like to thank the DFG (German Research Foundation) for the financial support of the Tollense Valley project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Archaeological Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    T. Douglas Price

  2. Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, DK1350, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Robert Frei

  3. State Authority for Culture and Preservation of Monuments Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, State Archaeology, 19055, Schwerin, Germany

    Ute Brinker & Detlef Jantzen

  4. Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage, 30175, Hannover, Germany

    Gundula Lidke & Thomas Terberger

  5. National Museum of Denmark, Environmental Archaeology and Materials Science, 2700, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

    Karin Margarita Frei

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Price, T.D., Frei, R., Brinker, U. et al. Multi-isotope proveniencing of human remains from a Bronze Age battlefield in the Tollense Valley in northeast Germany. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 11, 33–49 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0529-y

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