ASSESSING MOBILITY AND CONNECTIVITY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE URNFIELD PERIOD
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2021-03-07

The advance of the Urnfield Phenomenon is generally attributed to increased connectivity and mobility. However, various studies have pointed out that the reasons for this change are hard to grasp: explanations range from long term or seasonal migration to residence change upon marriage, moving warrior bands, traveling craftsmen, travel and trade to social visits. Traditional archaeological techniques have reached their limits in exploring which reasons triggered the spread of cremation burials and the homogenisation of the material culture. Bio-chemical techniques provide the means of assessing individual mobility, but the outcomes are rarely sufficiently integrated. The cemetery of Inzersdorf ob der Traisen, Austria serves as a case study to show that mobility and connectivity should best be explored in an interdisciplinary manner. A combination of strontium isotope analysis, network analysis, analysis of the topographical features of the surrounding area and its connected sites as well as the archaeological assessment of the burials are used to asses to which degree specific kinds of mobility and connectivity can be differentiated, and how they influenced the community of Inzersdorf and its members in their social lives. We need to know more about which people were more mobile than others, why they were more mobile and how they were perceived within the society to assess the impact of mobility within a society. Furthermore, we need to deepen our understanding of how mobility and connectivity were shaped and shaped the communities, in order to understand the dynamics of cross-cultural communication and finally of cultural shifts.


Author(s): Fritzl, Michaela (Austrian Academy of Sciences)