The impact of male burials on the construction of Corded Ware identity: Reconstructing networks of information in the 3rd millennium BC

PLoS One. 2017 Oct 12;12(10):e0185971. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185971. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

The emergence of Corded Ware Groups throughout Europe in the 3rd millennium BC is one of the most defining events in European history. From the Wolga to the Rhine communities start to speak Indo-European languages and bury their dead in an extremely similar fashion. Recent ancient DNA-analyses identify a massive migration from the Eurasian steppe as the prime cause for this event. However, there is a fundamental difference between expressing a Corded Ware identity-the sharing of world views and ideas-and having a specific DNA-profile. Therefore, we argue that investigating the exchange of cultural information on burial rites between these communities serves as a crucial complement to the exchange of biological information. By adopting a practice perspective to 1161 Corded Ware burials throughout north-western Europe, combined with similarity indexes and network representations, we demonstrate a high degree of information sharing on the burial ritual between different regions. Moreover, we show that male burials are much more international in character than female burials and as such can be considered as the vector along which cultural information and Corded Ware identity was transmitted. This finding highlights an underlying complex societal organization of Corded Ware burial rites in which gender roles had a significant impact on the composition and transmission of cultural information. Our findings corroborate recent studies that suggest the Corded Ware was a male focused society.

Publication types

  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Burial / history*
  • Culture
  • Europe
  • History, Ancient
  • Humans
  • Information Dissemination / history*
  • Male

Grants and funding

This research was made possible with a grant from the Innovational Research Incentives Scheme VENI by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) www.nwo.nl; Grant number 275-60-008). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.