Late Bronze Age Foreign Elites Settled in Northern Germany

SEDDIN, GERMANY—Archaeologists knew that during the Late Bronze Age, northern Germany was well-connected to broad trade networks that linked communities across Europe. This was evident in the diverse artifacts that had been recovered in the region, especially at Seddin, a site that features a series of monumental burial mounds. According to a statement released by The University of Gothenburg, it was not only goods but also people that traveled along these routes. In a recent study, researchers conducted strontium analysis on skeletal remains found at five burial sites around Seddin to determine whether the individuals buried there between 900 and 700 b.c. were born locally or somewhere else. The results showed that the overwhelming majority of the people studied had immigrated from elsewhere, possibly southern Scandinavia, central Europe, or northern Italy. In fact, only two of the 22 individuals had grown up in Seddin's environs. While the study highlights human mobility during the Late Bronze Age, however, the researchers note that this might not represent the population in Seddin as a whole, but only the high-status elite, who were the only ones to be interred in such monumental tombs. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS One. To read more about Bronze Age Germany, go to "Letter from Woodhenge: Stonehenge's Continental Cousin."