Graduation Year

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Anthropology

Major Professor

Robert H. Tykot, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Jonathan Bethard, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Diane Wallman, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Davide Tanasi, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Enrico Greco, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Cătălin Lazăr, Ph.D.

Keywords

European prehistory, Geochemistry, Bioarchaeology, Romania

Abstract

This research investigates how individual mobility among ancient populations in Romania during the Eneolithic, between 5000 and 4000 BC, may be related to the spread of the material culture known as Kodjadermen-Gumelniţa-Karonovo VI (KGK VI) that extended over most of southern Romania and Bulgaria. This work seeks to combine results on individual mobility with other lines of archaeological evidence to provide a better understanding of the social context and kinship relationships that were in place when these events took place.

Strontium isotopic analyses were performed on 130 individuals from two sites located in the southern Romania: 49 from Sultana and 81 from Vărăşti. were analyzed. Furthermore, 60 plant samples from 20 different locations were analyzed to establish a biologically available strontium baseline for the region surrounding the sites. Finally, proteomic analyses of tooth enamel were performed on 9 individuals from Sultana to assess their sex.

At the Sultana-Malu Roşu necropolis, 4 females and 1 male were identified as non-local out of 44 inviduals analyzed, while at Sultana-Școala Veche, 2 out of the 3 males were non-local. At Vărăşti, out of 81 individuals analyzed, the data indicate that 11 males and 12 females were non-local. Such results suggest that bilocal post-marital residency was practiced in both communities; with the population buried at Sultana-Malu Roşu being predominantly patrilocal, and the one from Vărăşti being ambilocal, with non-local individuals of both sexes found in similar proportions.

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