Young People Were on the Move in Bronze Age Greece

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN—Analysis of 199 skeletons uncovered at several archaeological sites in central and southern Greece indicates that young people were more likely to migrate between communities during the Bronze Age, according to a statement released by the University of Gothenburg. It had been previously suggested that young women were more likely to move out of the communities of their birth in order to marry into another patrilineal society. “Our study demonstrates that the numbers of nonlocal women and men are comparable, suggesting that several different factors might have been driving an individual’s mobility,” said Serena Sabatini of the University of Gothenburg. The study determined that between five and 10 percent of the individuals analyzed from each of the communities had grown up somewhere else. “Interestingly, nonlocal individuals were identified across different burial practices, featuring both unremarkable and richly furnished graves, revealing that individuals were mobile regardless of their wealth or status,” Sabatini said. Plus, no children were identified among the nonlocals. Sabatini and her colleagues concluded that single, young individuals, rather than entire families, were more likely to look for new homes. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS One. To read more about Bronze Age Greece, go to "The Unexpected World of the Odyssey."