Isotopic evidence for changing mobility and landscape use patterns between the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in western Ireland

Christophe Snoeck, Carleton Jones, John Pouncett, Steven Goderis, Philippe Claeys, Nadine Mattielli, Antoine Zazzo, Paula J. Reimer, Julia A. Lee-Thorp, Rick J. Schulting

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Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study using strontium, oxygen and carbon isotopes, strontium concentrations, infrared analyses and radiocarbon dating to investigate human mobility and landscape use as seen in individuals from the Neolithic court tomb of Parknabinnia, Co. Clare, Ireland. Taking advantage of the recent demonstration that it is possible to obtain reliable in vivo strontium isotope signals from calcined bone, we compare measurements on cremated bone (n = 4) and uncremated tooth enamel (n = 4). The results suggest that two out of four uncremated enamel samples can be considered ‘local’ while the other two, and all four cremated bone samples, represent ‘non-local’ individuals. New radiocarbon dates obtained on two of the cremated bone fragments place them in the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age, contrasting with the Neolithic dates previously obtained on the uncremated remains, demonstrating re-use of the monument. Assuming that our small sample is representative, it seems that the court tomb was used for burial by both ‘locals’ and ‘non-locals’ during the Neolithic and predominantly by ‘non-locals’ in the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age. This stands in contrast to the nearby Early Neolithic portal tomb of Poulnabrone where only one individual (of 17 analysed) appears to be an ‘outsider’. Our results suggest that, even within a small region, mobility and landscape use may have differed significantly within the Neolithic and also between the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age.
Original languageEnglish
Article number102214
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Archaeological Science: Reports
Volume30
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was made possible by the financial support of the British Academy (British Academy grant SG130690 ).‘Coming to Knowth’, the Quaternary Research Association, and the generous support of the Philippe Wiener-Maurice Anspach Foundation (http://fwa.ulb.ac.be) towards the DPhil of C.S. The VUB and VUB Strategic Research fund are thanked for their financial support for analyses; the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) is thanked for C.S.’s and S.G.’s postdoctoral fellowships. We thank D. Fiorillo and J. Ughetto (SSMIM) for their help with the isotope measurements at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. W. Debouge and J. de Jong from the G-Time Laboratory (Géochimie: Traçage isotopique, minéral et élémentaire) of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) are acknowledged for their help with the strontium isotope analyses by MC-ICP-MS. We are grateful to the National Museum of Ireland for permitting the analysis of the Parknabinnia material. We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their time and useful comments.

Funding Information:
This research was made possible by the financial support of the British Academy(British Academy grant SG130690).‘Coming to Knowth’, the Quaternary Research Association, and the generous support of the Philippe Wiener-Maurice Anspach Foundation (http://fwa.ulb.ac.be) towards the DPhil of C.S. The VUB and VUB Strategic Research fund are thanked for their financial support for analyses; the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) is thanked for C.S.’s and S.G.’s postdoctoral fellowships. We thank D. Fiorillo and J. Ughetto (SSMIM) for their help with the isotope measurements at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. W. Debouge and J. de Jong from the G-Time Laboratory (Géochimie: Traçage isotopique, minéral et élémentaire) of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) are acknowledged for their help with the strontium isotope analyses by MC-ICP-MS. We are grateful to the National Museum of Ireland for permitting the analysis of the Parknabinnia material. We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their time and useful comments.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Cremation
  • Isotopes
  • Mobility
  • Ireland

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