Isotopic Evidence for Mobility in the Copper and Bronze Age Cemetery of Humanejos (Parla, Madrid): a Diachronic Approach Using Biological and Archaeological Variables

Vol.:(0123456789) Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-023-09633-6 1 3 RESEARCH Isotopic Evidence forMobility intheCopper andBronze Age Cemetery ofHumanejos (Parla, Madrid): aDiachronic Approach Using Biological andArchaeological Variables MartaCintas‑Peña1· RafaelGarridoPena2· AnaM.Herrero‑Corral3· RaúlFloresFernández4· AnnaJ.Waterman5· MartaDíaz‑ZoritaBonilla6· PedroDíaz‑del‑Río7· DavidW.Peate8 Accepted: 16 November 2023 © The Author(s) 2023 Abstract Over the last several decades, the application of aDNA and strontium isotope analyses on archaeologically recovered human remains has provided new avenues for the investigation of mobility in past societies. Data on human mobility can be valuable in the reconstruction of prehistoric residential patterns and kinship systems, which are at the center of human social organization and vary across time and space. In this paper, we aim to contribute to our understanding of mobility, residence, and kinship patterns in late Prehistoric Iberia (c. 3300–1400BC) by providing new strontium data on 44 individuals from the site of Humanejos (Parla, Madrid). The study presented here is multi-proxy and looks at these new data by interweaving biological, chronological, and archaeological information. This analysis found that 7/44 individuals buried at Humanejos could be identified as non-local to the necropolis. Although more men (n = 5) than women (n = 2) were found in the non-local category, and more non-local individuals were identified in the pre-Bell Beaker (n = 5) than in Bell Beaker (n = 1) or Bronze Age (n = 1), we find no statistically significant differences concerning sex or time period. This contrasts with other archaeological datasets for late prehistoric Europe which suggest higher female mobility, female exogamy, and male-centered residential patterns were common. At Humanejos, we have also identified one non-local female whose exceptional Beaker grave goods suggest she was an individual of special status, leading to additional questions about the relationships between gender, mobility, and social position in this region and time period. Keywords Mobility· Strontium isotopes· Iberia· Late Prehistory· Residential patterns· Sex Extended author information available on the last page of the article M.Cintas-Peña et al. 1 3 Introduction Over the past several decades, the application of aDNA and strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) analyses on archaeologically recovered human remains has provided new avenues of investigations into prehistoric societies. Although aDNA and strontium isotopic analyses work at two different scales, the results obtained through both techniques allow researchers to investigate mobility in the past, and, in some cases, make inferences about residential patterns and/or kinship (for Sr see for example Price etal., 1994; for aDNA see Haak etal., 2008; for a discussion on the interpretation of mobility see Reiter & Frei, 2019). In some regions of Europe, statistically significant findings of greater female mobility during the Neolithic, Copper, and/or Bronze Ages have been interpreted as a consequence of patrilocal residential patterns — whether these findings are from 87Sr/86Sr analyses (cf. Bentley etal., 2002, 2012; Knipper etal., 2017), from aDNA analyses (cf. Schroeder etal., 2019; Dulias etal., 2022; Villalba-Mouco etal., 2022), or from a combination the two (Sjögren etal., 2020). At times these interpretations of female migration as evidence of patrilocality (residence) are linked to patrilineality (descent) and may even be seen as indications of patriarchy (power) (Mittnik etal., 2019; Sjögren etal., 2020). Such interpretative leaps (from patrilocal residence to patrilineality descent to patriarchy) have been criticized by some researchers who argue that more data, and more caution, are needed before linking these three elements (cf. Furholt, 2018, 2019, 2021; Frieman & Hofmann, 2019; Frieman etal., 2019; Hrncir etal., 2020; Hofmann etal., 2021: 527–529; Brück, 2021; Ensor, 2021a, 2021b). For late prehistoric research in the Iberian Peninsula on human mobility (see Díaz-del-Río etal., 2021 for review), many researchers do not interpret evidence of non-local individuals in terms of marriage, residence, and/or kinship patterns, either at the site, regional, or extra-regional level (Fernández-Crespo etal., 2020: 7; Cintas-Peña and García-Sanjuán, 2022). The lack of these interpretive frameworks may be primary due to the commingled and fragmentary nature of many late prehistoric burials in the Iberian Peninsula which leads to a scarcity of information about the sex and age of many interred individuals (i.e. Waterman etal., 2014; Díaz-Zorita Bonilla etal., 2018; Valera etal., 2020). However, this may be changing as more genomic data is obtained and combined with other evidence. For example, recently Villalba-Mouco etal. (2022) conclude that the Bronze Age El Argar society practiced female exogamy and was patrilineally and virilocally organized based upon genetic data and funerary practices. Information on mobility alone can only offer a compartmentalized reconstruction of the lives of prehistoric peoples. A more complete and more complex picture needs to also include other datasets and contextual information related to the funerary record. Rubin (1975) defines the sex-gender system as “the set of arrangements by which a society transform biological sexuality into products of human activity, and in which these transformed sexual needs are satisfied” (Rubin, 1975: 159). Thus, the sex-gender system is one of the basic principles that structures society and, as such, is a worthy topic of investigation into prehistoric social 1 3 Isotopic Evidence forMobility intheCopper andBronze Age… organization. With the proper datasets, these investigations could lead to insights into marriage and residency systems as well as gender-based power dynamics. However, without multiple lines of evidence, caution must be exercised when inferring that any particular residence pattern existed based upon, for example, a simple distinction between individuals whose strontium ratio lie within, or outside of, the calculated local range. Additionally, kinship is a dynamic social institution which changes over time. Therefore, research into these patterns in prehistoric communities must include a diachronic perspective which can only be achieved with careful radiocarbon chronology, or other detailed dating strategies. Thus, in this paper, we aim to contribute to the analysis of prehistoric mobility and, by extension, kinship, by interweaving three types of data: (i) biological data obtained via skeletal analysis (age-at-death, biological sex, isotopic evidence of life history), (ii) diachronic perspective as evidenced from radiocarbon dates, and (iii) archaeological contextual information. The focus of these analyses will be the archaeological site of Humanejos (Madrid) (Fig.1), a Chalcolithic and Bronze Age site located in central Iberia. The rich datasets from Humanejos provide us with the possibility of a more nuanced understanding of mobility at a local scale, as well as contributing to the construction of a more detailed and much needed regional isoscape (Díaz-del-Río etal. 2021). Additionally, these data can improve our understanding of prehistoric mobility in Iberia as a whole. The fact that Humanejos is one of the few sites with a substantial sample for both Copper and Early Bronze Age individuals in Iberia makes it ideal for period-based comparisons. This is important because the transition from the Copper to the Bronze Age is known to have had key, Fig. 1 Location of Humanejos in Iberia M.Cintas-Peña et al. 1 3 and sometimes radical changes, in locational, subsistence and material patterns in a time period in which aDNA analyses have suggested sweeping transformations in the genetic makeup of human populations. The Site ofHumanejos Humanejos (Parla, Madrid) spans an estimated area of 20 ha, although the full original extension of the site is not known. During the course of excavations which took place between 2008 and 2012, a total of 2405 features were identified, consisting mainly of pits, postholes, dwellings, and burials. At the site, there are two different types of structures: funerary and domestic, and both of them present a chronological range of c. 3300 to 1400cal BC, which spans the pre-Beaker Copper Age into the Middle Bronze Age (Garrido-Pena etal., 2019; Garrido-Pena etal., 2020).The necropolis comprises 106 burials, including 41 Pre-Beaker Copper Age (c. 3300–2500cal BC) tombs, 14 Beaker and Non-Beaker Copper Age tombs (c. 2500–2000cal BC), and 36 Bronze Age tombs (c. 2000–1400cal BC) (Fig.2). The minimum number of individuals for the complete necropolis is 160. The analyses presented in this paper come from burials of different typology and chronology within the funerary sequences defined in the prehistoric necropolis of Humanejos (3300–1400cal BC). Of the adult individuals, we have sampled 38% of the pre-Beakers (65% of those suitable for sampling), 70% of the Beaker and Non- Beaker Copper Age (82% of those suitable for sampling), and 44% of the Bronze Fig. 2 Plan of the necropolis. This image can be expanded in the online version 1 3 Isotopic Evidence forMobility intheCopper andBronze Age… Age (78% of those suitable for sampling). As aforementioned, the main chronological phases of this cemetery start with the pre-Beaker Copper Age at the end of the 4th millennium BC. This time period is characterized by variability in funerary treatments. For example, there is variation in the number of individuals inhumed in each tomb and the associated grave goods. The 41 tombs include single (n = 24, 58%), double (n = 8, 19%), and multiple (n = 9, 22%) interments, which may contain a large repertoire of grave goods, or be completely empty. The oldest burials exhibit secondary deposits, in which human bones are mixed with faunal remains (and sometimes complete specimens such as dogs). No less than 51% (n = 21) of the pre- Beaker tombs have grave goods, which are mainly composed of plain pottery, flint, and stone objects, such as arrowheads or flat axes, and adornments, specially made of variscite. From 2700–2600 BC, copper metallic objects are added to the funerary assemblages in certain tombs with unusual wealth –something unique in the pre- Beaker record (Garrido-Pena etal., 2020). Funerary structures for this period are however very limited, being restricted to simple pits of varying sizes and depths. By contrast, the nine Beaker tombs from Humanejos (Garrido-Pena etal., 2019; Garrido-Pena etal., 2022) show a great variety of structures that range from simple pits to complex structures with funerary chambers, antechamber, and post holes. In addition, two hypogea with large, stepped access shafts were uncovered. Without any doubt, the Beaker necropolis at Humanejos stands out as one of the richest and most spectacular funerary assemblages discovered in recent decades in Western Europe, with 56 vessels, 34 metallic objects (including a copper halberd, Palmela points, tanged daggers, awls, a flat axe, and gold adornments, four wrist-guards), eight V-perforated buttons, and 62 bone and ivory beads. As for the funerary treatment, eight of the nine tombs contained primary deposits, while in one of them, only a small fragment of bone was recovered, together with several complete Beaker vessels. Of the eight tombs with primary deposits, four of them are individual, three double, and one has a multiple interment. Due to a detailed series of radiocarbon dates from the necropolis (82 samples), it has been possible to distinguish five burials which are contemporaries to the Beaker graves but lack Beaker objects. These are mainly individual tombs lacking any grave goods — although a double and a multiple grave were also recovered. Finally, 36 tombs were dated in the first half of the second millennium BC. The Bronze Age tombs are mostly individual graves (n = 26, 72%), and only on very rare occasions do they have some type of grave goods. Funerary structures for this period are simple pits, although some burials in pithoi were also found. Material andMethods Biological Selection Criteria Human individuals were selected for analysis based on four criteria: (i) individuals which have clear chronological affiliations, (ii) individuals who were skeletally identified as adults, (iii) individuals whose biological sex had been determined, and (iv) individuals who had intact second molars, as this specific tooth is formed between M.Cintas-Peña et al. 1 3 the third and seventh year (Al-Qahtani etal., 2010) and can be used to identify migration after childhood using strontium isotopes. In the sample, we also included two infant individuals that had been sampled in previous research, and whose sex had been previously determined by aDNA. In order to offer a diachronic perspective, we selected 19 individuals from Pre-Beaker Copper Age (PBCA, c. 3300–2500cal BC), 14 individuals from Beaker and Non-Beaker Copper Age (BCA-NBCA, c. 2500–2000cal BC), and 11 individuals from Early and Middle Bronze Age (EBAMBA, c. 2500–1400cal BC) (Table1). The chronological assignment of the individuals to these periods had previously been established through both radiocarbon dates and material culture (cf. Garrido-Pena etal., 2019; Garrido-Pena etal., 2020; Garrido-Pena etal., 2022) (Fig.3). In the only two cases for which the temporality of individuals — 193.1, burial 22, and 770.2, burial 61 — was not clear, we obtained additional radiocarbon dates on the skeletons. The obtained dates, published in this paper for the first time, are 3215 ± 24 BP and 3914 ± 22 BP (Table2), allowing us to include them in the EBA-MBA, and BBCA-NBCA periods, respectively. Biological sex was determined by the morphological characters of the pelvis (Bruzek, 2002) and the skull (Ferembach etal., 1980). For ten individuals, the biological sex was also determined by DNA. In all, 28 individuals were identified as males or likely males (M/M?) (63.6%) and 16 individuals were identified as females or likely females (F/F?) (36.4%). Across the sampled time periods, the number of M/M? is 11 in PBCA, eight in NBCA-BCA, and nine in EBA-MBA, while the number of F/F? is eight in PBCA, six in NBCA-BBCA, and two in EBA-MBA (Table3). The estimation of age for the non-adults was based on teeth calcification and eruption patterns (Ubelaker, 1978); our sample includes 42 adults and two non-adults (44 humans in all). Identifying Non‑locals Using Strontium Isotopes Humans and animals consuming water, plants, and animal products from the same geographic landscapes should present similar 87Sr/86Sr isotope values in their hard tissues. This is because strontium isotopes move from the lithosphere into plants via water and soil and the strontium isotope ratios found in plants will reflect aspects of the local geology (Faure and Powell 1972; Gilli etal. 2009). Unlike carbon, nitrogen, or oxygen isotopes, 87Sr and 86Sr isotopes undergo minimal fractionation when moving from consumed to consumer (Lewis etal. 2017), thus animals eating local plants, or consuming animals that consumed local plants will all exhibit the same 87Sr/86Sr ratios in their body tissues. These strontium isotopes are ultimately stored in teeth and bone during formation where strontium substitutes for calcium (Bentley 2006; Ericson 1985; Schroeder etal. 1972). The fact that these 87Sr/86Sr ratios are stored in hard tissues allows researchers to use these values to identify human and animal non-locals in prehistoric settings when these individuals exhibit non-local 87Sr/86Sr values (Beard and Johnson 2000; Bentley 2006; Price etal. 2002; Price etal. 2012). However, this method can only quantify a minimum estimate of mobility as it is not possible to detect animals or humans who come from distant landscapes that share similar bioavailable 1 3 Isotopic Evidence forMobility intheCopper andBronze Age… Table 1 Individuals sampled and information related to period, type of burial, MNI, sex, and age. PBCA: Pre Beaker Copper Age; BBCA and NBCA: Beaker Copper Age and Non Beaker Copper Age; EBA and MBE: Early Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age Period Burial MNI Type of burial UE/Individual Sex Age PBCA 20 3 Simple pit 194.1 (ind 1) M? Adult 20 3 Simple pit 194.1 (ind 2) M Adult 20 3 Simple pit 194.1(ind 3) M? Adult 68 1 Simple pit 1638.2 M Adult 53 1 Simple pit 1097.2 M Adult 49 4 Simple pit 1166.4 F? Adult 51 1 Simple pit 1169.2 M Adult 48 2 Simple pit 1309.2 M Adult 48 2 Simple pit 1309.4 F Adult 44 2 Simple pit 1355.4 F Adult 45 1 Simple pit 1356.2 F Adult 65 2 Simple pit 1701.2 F? Adult 21 1 Simple pit 1778.2 M Adult 60 1 Simple pit 2226.4 M Adult 66 2 Pit with post holes 1709.2 M Adult 66 2 Pit with post holes 1709.4 F Adult 33 2 Simple pit 2002.2 M Adult 34 2 Simple pit 422.4 F Adult 34 2 Simple pit 422.5 F Adult BBCA and NBCA 39 1 Simple pit 638.2 M Adult 76 1 Simple pit 537.2 F Adult 7 5 Pit with post holes and corridor 455.9 M YA 15yr 38 6 Simple pit 1461.4 F Adult 38 6 Simple pit 1461.8 F YA 15yr ± 3yr 38 6 Simple pit 1461.5 M Child 11 y ± 2.5yr 38 6 Simple pit 1461.7 M Child 12 y ± 2.5yr 38 6 Simple pit 1461.2 M Adult 61 2 Simple pit 770.2 F? adult 1 2 Stone structure 1853.4 M Adult 1 2 Stone structure 1853.5 F Adult 4 1 Pit with post holes 1964.3 F Adult 5 2 Hypogeum 2014.3 M Adult 5 2 Hypogeum 2014.4 M Adult M.Cintas-Peña et al. 1 3 87Sr/86Sr values. This method is best applied to landscapes with geological diversity across transversable areas, as we can assume that migration in was commonly over shorter distances (Waterman, 2023). The landscape around central Madrid, and throughout the Iberian Peninsula in general, provides geological diversity that makes this methodology profitable in prehistoric studies (Díaz-del-Río etal., 2022; James etal., 2022). In this project, 87Sr/86Sr values were obtained from 60 samples. Thus, Humanejos becomes the fourth most sampled prehistoric site in Iberia (after Camino del Molino, Perdigões and Marroquíes, see Merner, 2017; Valera etal., 2020; Díaz-Zorita Bonilla etal., 2018, respectively). Of these samples, 44 were from the aforementioned prehistoric humans. Additionally, we were able to sample ten prehistoric animals recovered from Humanejos as well as five plants and one soil sample from the site. A portion of these samples were processed at the University of Iowa Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences clean laboratory. First enamel surfaces were cleaned with acetone, and surface enamel was removed because of possible diagenetic contamination (Budd etal., 2000; Price etal., 2002). After cleaning, 3–5mg of powdered enamel was collected with a Dremel tool. Before further processing plants were ashed in a muffle furnace. The soil was leached in 1M NH4NO3 for 48h and then centrifuged. Supernatant was then pipetted into new centrifuged tubes and evaporated (Willmes etal. 2014). Strontium was isolated in all samples with Eichrom Sr-spec ion-exchange resins using standard procedures (see Waight etal., 2002). Next 87Sr/86Sr ratios were measured using a Nu Plasma HR multicollector inductively coupled-plasma mass-spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS) in the Department of Geology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign using a sample-standard-bracketing measurement protocol wherein standards were run every six samples (Rehkämper etal. 2004). Other samples were processed at the University of Tübingen. For these chemical processing, protocol/s established by Bocherens etal. (1996) was followed. Table 1 (continued) Period Burial MNI Type of burial UE/Individual Sex Age EBA and MBE 15 3 Simple pit 39.2 M Adult 15 3 Simple pit 39.3 F Adult 18 1 Simple pit 44.3 M Adult 17 1 Simple pit 187.2 M Adult 24 1 Complex pit 1816.2 M Adult 14 1 Simple pit 1750.2 F Adult 10 1 Simple pit 1725.5 M? Adult 30 1 Simple pit 1961.2 M Adult 82 1 Simple pit 129.2 M Adult 31 1 Simple pit 3274 M YA 15–18yr 22 1 Simple pit 193.1 M? Adult 1 3 Isotopic Evidence forMobility intheCopper andBronze Age… Fig. 3 Calibrated dates of the individuals included in this paper. Dates have been calibrated using IntCal 20, OxCal 4.4 Interface: version: 168 Table 2 Radiocarbon dates of individuals 193.1 and 770.2. Dates have been calibrated with IntCal 20. OxCal 4.4 Interface: version: 168 Burial Individual Lab ID BP Cal (2σ) 22 193.1 Suerc-104562 3215 ± 24 1516–1430 61 770.2 Suerc-104563 3914 ± 22 2470–2304 M.Cintas-Peña et al. 1 3 and one as non-local to Humanejos. In this case, the male in the burial is designated non-local, while the female is local. Thus, tomb placement, in principle, does not seem to relate to mobility patterns. Table 5 Strontium results for faunal, plants, and soil samples from Humanejos SR# UE Type of sample Taxon Sr HUF1 416.1 Tooth Bos sp 0.709728 HUF2 416.1 Bone Lagomorph 0.711006 HUF3 416.1 Mandible Lagomorph 0.711128 HUF4 416.1 Mandible Ovicaprid 0.710953 HUF5 416.1 Tooth Sus sp. 0.705073 HUF6 416.1 Tooth Ovicaprid 0.711396 HUF7 429.1 Tooth Und 0.709887 HUF8 435.3 Tooth Sus sp. 0.711509 HUF9 257.2 Mandible Canis sp. 0.710942 HUF10 298.1 Bone Und 0.710921 Hum P1 Plants 0.711076 Hum P2 Plants 0.710793 Hum P4 Plants 0.710669 Hum P4 Plants 0.710709 Hum P5 Plants 0.710619 Hum S1 Soil 0.710592 Fig. 5 Scatter plot of 87Sr/86Sr ratios of human individuals distinguishing among PBCA (blue circles, on the left), NBCA-BCA (yellow triangles, in the middle), and EBA-MBE (red squares, on the right). Black rectangle represents the range of the local baseline. Those individuals who share a grave appear grouped within a red polygon, with the indication of the number of the burial 1 3 Isotopic Evidence forMobility intheCopper andBronze Age… Biological Sex andMobility If we consider the relationship between biological sex and mobility, we see that 5/28 individuals identified as males (or likely males) exhibit values that exceed the calculated 87Sr/86Sr local range, in comparison to two females (or likely females) nonlocals out of 16 (Fig.6). Thus, the percentage of outliers in each sex is quite similar: 17.9% of the males and 12.5% of the females. During PBCA, we find four males (36.4%) versus one likely female (12.5%) exhibiting non-local 87Sr/86Sr values, which could suggest a higher male mobility. For individuals whose values fit into the local baseline, both males or likely males and female or likely females’ ratios are dispersed across the local range, pointing to possibly more variability in the food and water sources (Fig.6, left; Table6, columns “PBCA”). Next, among individuals inhumed in NBCA-BCA, the only outlier is a female, with an 87Sr/86Sr value (0.7170) that clearly exceeds that of the rest of the group and marks her as on outlier in this analysis. If we exclude this female, the range of male’s values is much more variable than that of female values that are tightly clustered together (Fig.6, middle; Table6, columns “NBCA and BCA”). Something similar can be seen in the EBA-MBE values (Fig.6, right; Table6, columns “EBA and MBE”). Here, there is only one non-local, in this case a male, with a value that falls just outside the upper local range. Overall, the distribution of male or likely male values during this time is again more variable, while the only two females have very similar ratios (0.710348 and 0.710323). These results suggests that with the exception of female 19,643, in the three periods, males or likely males seem to have had a higher mobility than females or likely females, especially during NBCA-BCA and EBA-MBE, where 87Sr/86Sr values of the latter seem to be very homogeneous. In fact, if we consider the narrow local Fig. 6 Scatter plot of 87Sr/86Sr ratios of human individuals distinguishing between F/F? (yellow circles) and M/M? (black triangles) in each of the periods: on the left, PBCA, in the middle NBCA-BCA, on the right, EBA-MBE87Sr/86Sr values by sex. Black rectangle represents the range of the local baseline M.Cintas-Peña et al. 1 3 Table 6 Mean, standard deviation, range, and variance considering sex and period ALL PBCA NBCA and BCA EBA and MBE M/M? F/F? M/M? F/F? M/M? F/F? M/M? F/F? Mean 0.7106 0.7108 0.7105 0.7104 0.7101 0,7114 0,7112 0,7103 SD 0.0016 0.0020 0.0022 0.0015 0.0010 0,0028 0,0011 0,0000 Range 0.0062 0.0082 0.0062 0.0042 0.0027 0,0071 0,0035 0,0000 Variance 2.63904E − 06 3.83937E − 06 4.85002E − 06 2.15184E − 06 1.10239E − 06 7,65796E − 06 1,29113E − 06 3,125E − 10 Without individual 19,643 Mean 0.7101 0,7103 SD 0.0010 0,0002 Range 0.0027 0,0006 Variance 1.10239E − 06 5,22498E − 08 1 3 Isotopic Evidence forMobility intheCopper andBronze Age… baseline (0.7100–0.7200) calculated just using the plant, animal, and soil values from Humanejos, all females or likely females (with the exception of the extreme outlier) would still be considered local, even as many of the males would not. This implies that males more often consumed food produced in a more diverse geological region than females or that they migrated to Humanejos from geological distinct regions after their second molars were formed. Females, in the later time periods, conversely, consumed foods produced from very similar landscapes during the time their second molars were formed and the values from these foods closely matches that of Humanejos where they were later buried. Statistics Tests Despite the larger number of non-locals found in the PBCA burials, the results of the chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests which compared non-locals across time periods found no statistically significant differences in mobility (2.7245 and 0.32918; Supplementary Material, contingency TableS1). Similarly, the results of chi-squared test and Fisher’s exact test show no difference in the statistical distribution of this data by sex (χ2: 0.21842, p = 0.64024.). This means that despite the appearance of higher mobility in the earlier time periods, the hypothesis that mobility was higher PBCA and declined in later periods is not supported. When the 87Sr/86Sr values were considered as a continuous dataset, rather than in a “local”/“non-local” dichotomy, statistical tests continued to find no significant differencesbetween the males and females for each time period, or for each time period when males and females were pooled together, or for males and females across the entire considered time span (Kruskal–Wallis one-way ANOVA (including Levene’s test) andMann Whitney U T-tests (Supplementary Material 2). Thus, it is not possible, based upon the data in this study, to suggest a male-centered residential pattern (patrilocality), or a female-centered one (matrilocality). Type ofGrave andGrave Goods There are no significant differences concerning type of burial structure across time periods (Tables7 and 8). Simple pit burials are the most common structure in all periods, containing both males (or likely males) and female (or likely females) individuals. Some people during PBCA, NBCA-BCA, and EBA-MBA were inhumed in other types of structures, such as stone structures or pit with post holes, but there are no associations between the type of burial and strontium values. Concerning grave goods, for which we have considered ten categories: (i) pottery, (ii) bell-beaker pottery, (iii) copper, (iv) gold, (v) ivory, (vi) cinnabar, (vii) lithics, (viii) variscite, (ix) bone, and (x) faunal deposits (Tables7, 8, and 9), there are some interesting associations between individuals, time period, and biological sex. During PBCA, the most common grave good element was pottery (n = 8), followed by lithics (n = 5), and copper, cinnabar, and faunal deposits (n = 4 in each case). All lithic artefacts were tied to males (or likely males), while copper and red pigments were more frequently deposited with females (or likely females) (3F/F? versus 1M/M? M.Cintas-Peña et al. 1 3 Table 7 Type of container and grave goods associated to each of the individuals sampled. In bold, the presence of grave goods and non-local individuals Period Burial MNI Type of burial UE/Individual Sex Age Pottery Beaker pottery Copper Gold Ivory Cinnabar Lithics Variscite Bone Faunal deposit PBCA 20 3 Simple pit 194.1 (ind 1) M? Adult x x 20 3 Simple pit 194.1 (ind 2) M Adult x 20 3 Simple pit 194.1(ind 3) M? Adult 68 1 Simple pit 1638.2 M Adult x 53 1 Simple pit 1097.2 M Adult x x 49 4 Simple pit 1166.4 F? Adult x x x 51 1 Simple pit 1169.2 M Adult x 48 2 Simple pit 1309.2 M Adult x 48 2 Simple pit 1309.4 F Adult x 44 2 Simple pit 1355.4 F Adult 45 1 Simple pit 1356.2 F Adult x 65 2 Simple pit 1701.2 F? Adult x x x 21 1 Simple pit 1778.2 M Adult x x 60 1 Simple pit 2226.4 M Adult x x 66 2 Pit with post holes 1709.2 M Adult x x x 66 2 Pit with post holes 1709.4 F Adult x x x x 33 2 Simple pit 2002.2 M Adult 34 2 Simple pit 422.4 F Adult 34 2 Simple pit 422.5 F Adult 1 3 Isotopic Evidence forMobility intheCopper andBronze Age… Table 7 (continued) Period Burial MNI Type of burial UE/Individual Sex Age Pottery Beaker pottery Copper Gold Ivory Cinnabar Lithics Variscite Bone Faunal deposit NBCA-BCA 39 1 Simple pit 638.2 M Adult 76 1 Simple pit 537.2 F Adult 7 5 Pit with post holes and corridor 455.9 M Adult x x 38 6 Simple pit 1461.4 F Adult 38 6 Simple pit 1461.8 F YA, 15 ± 36 38 6 Simple pit 1461.5 M Inf 11 ± 30 38 6 Simple pit 1461.6 M Inf 12 ± 30 38 6 Simple pit 1461.1 M Adult 61 2 Simple pit 770.2 F? adult x x 1 2 Stone structure 1853.4 M Adult x x x x x 1 2 Stone structure 1853.5 F Adult x x 4 1 Pit with post holes 1964.3 F Adult x x x x x 5 2 Hypogeum 2014.3 M Adult x x 5 2 Hypogeum 2014.4 M Adult x x x M.Cintas-Peña et al. 1 3 Table 7 (continued) Period Burial MNI Type of burial UE/Individual Sex Age Pottery Beaker pottery Copper Gold Ivory Cinnabar Lithics Variscite Bone Faunal deposit EBA-MBE 15 3 Simple pit 39.2 M Adult 15 3 Simple pit 39.3 F Adult 18 1 Simple pit 44.3 M Adult 17 1 Simple pit 187.2 M Adult 24 1 Complex pit 1816.2 M Adult 14 1 Simple pit 1750.2 F Adult 10 1 Simple pit 1725.5 M? Adult 30 1 Simple pit 1961.2 M Adult 82 1 Simple pit 129.2 M Adult 31 1 Simple pit 3274 M YA 15–18 y x 22 1 Simple pit 193.1 M? adult In bold, presence of grave goods and non-local individuals 1 3 Isotopic Evidence forMobility intheCopper andBronze Age… for both copper and red pigment). There are no differences among local or non-local individuals (as ascribed by the strontium analysis) in any of the categories of grave goods, nor are they associated with a higher quantity or quality of material culture. This contrasts clearly with what we find in the NBCA-BCA. In this period, all types of burials, other than simple pits burials, yielded richer grave goods. However, one burial (number 4) stands out from the rest, as this burial has a great quantity of artefacts made of copper, gold, and ivory, together with bell beaker pottery and cinnabar (for a full description of the grave goods see Garrido Pena etal., 2019: 66–87). These grave goods were deposited with a female (individual 1964.3) who died at the age of 25–35years (Fig.7). This female is also the individual whose strontium values clearly exceed the local baseline and was the only non-local found in our study for the PBCA-BCA. Lastly, during EBA-MBA, none of the individuals were deposited with any grave goods. Discussion Regional andExtra‑regional Comparisons As presented earlier, out of 44 individuals, seven (15.9%) show 87Sr/86Sr signatures which exceed calculated local baselines. This percentage of outliers is three times higher than data published by Díaz-del-Río etal. (2017), which is currently the only published paper examining mobility in late prehistoric central Iberia through the analysis of strontium isotopes. In Díaz-del-Río etal. (2017), one analyzed site, Los Berrocales, is comparable to Humanejos in terms of its chronology (Bronze Age) and the number of individuals sampled. At Los Berrocales, 35 individuals were analyzed, of which three (8.6%) exhibited 87Sr/86Sr ratios that fell outside of the calculated local range for that site. While the number of outliers at Humanejos is higher than Los Berrocales, if we consider late prehistoric burials throughout the Iberian Peninsula, we find the Table 8 Type of container in relation to sex and distinguishing among periods Type of container Simple pit Pit with post holes Pit with post holes and corridor Complex pit Hypogeum Stone structure PBCA M/M? 10 1 0 0 0 0 F/F? 7 1 0 0 0 0 Total 17 2 0 0 0 0 NBCA-BCA M/M? 4 0 1 0 2 1 F/F? 4 1 0 0 0 1 Total 8 1 1 0 2 2 EBA-MBE M/M? 8 0 0 1 0 0 F/F? 2 0 0 0 0 0 Total 10 0 0 1 0 0 M.Cintas-Peña et al. 1 3 number of non-locals is highly variable. For example, a recent review of published data for the Chalcolithic period in Portugal and Spain (Cintas-Peña and García Sanjuán, 2022) found that while 87Sr/86Sr analyses at some burial sites reveal no nonlocals (Bolores, Cueva de los Cristales, El Rebollosillo and Los Husos), at others nonlocals account for 75% of individuals. The mean for the whole Iberia is currently 22.6% (Cintas-Peña and García Sanjuán, 2022). The highest numbers of nonlocal humans may be linked to the particularities of certain large settlements, like Perdigões (75% outliers) (Valera etal., 2020), but other sites also exhibit moderately high numbers of nonlocals including Valencina (33%) (Díaz-Zorita Bonilla, 2017) and La Pijotilla (29.4%) (Díaz-Zorita Bonilla, 2017). However, this general synopsis must be viewed with caution as different researchers may apply different methodologies to distinguish between locals and nonlocals, with some using strontium data from animals to calculate local baselines, while other may use only environmental samples or, alternatively, employ statistical analyses of the variations in strontium values between individuals in the burial population. Furthermore, the size of these burials also varies dramatically, which also may complicate these comparisons. The number of non-locals in the pre-Beaker period of Humanejos could be explained by this being a burial site that drew people from disparate settlements for interment activities. If this hypothesis were true, it could imply that the burials in the area preceded the activity in the adjacent settlements, as is found for some other Copper Age sites, such as Los Millares, where radiocarbon dates suggest the cemetery was established c. 230years before the settlement foundation (Aranda Jiménez etal., 2020). However, at Humanejos, both domestic and funerary deposits seem to be coetaneous. At other Copper Age sites, such as Perdigões (Valera etal., 2020), the high number of non-locals has been explained by the existence of some kind of aggregation process, linking the higher mobility to the unstable character of the settlement, although some authors argue that the highly variable local geology could be behind the pattern (Díaz-del-Río, 2021: 178). At Humanejos, the archaeological record currently does not support this explanation either. When we consider the geology for the surrounding area, we can propose that variations in 87Sr/86Sr signatures from the Madrid region are related to limestones Table 9 Presence of each category of grave goods in relation to sex and distinguishing among periods Grave goods Pottery Beaker pottery Copper Gold Ivory Cinnabar Lithics Variscite Bone Faunal deposit PBCA M/M? 4 0 1 0 0 1 5 0 1 3 F/F? 4 0 3 0 0 3 0 1 0 1 Total 8 0 4 0 0 4 5 1 1 4 NBCABCA M/M? 0 4 2 0 0 4 1 0 1 0 F/F? 1 2 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 Total 1 6 4 1 2 5 1 0 1 0 EBA-MBE M/M? 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 F/F? 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 Isotopic Evidence forMobility intheCopper andBronze Age… (lower range values 0.707 and 0.708), granitic areas (higher range values 0.714 up), and to the sedimentary depositional environments (intermediate values) (Díaz-del- Río etal., 2022). 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Authors and Affiliations MartaCintas‑Peña1· RafaelGarridoPena2· AnaM.Herrero‑Corral3· RaúlFloresFernández4· AnnaJ.Waterman5· MartaDíaz‑ZoritaBonilla6· PedroDíaz‑del‑Río7· DavidW.Peate8 * Marta Cintas-Peña [email protected] 1 Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain 2 Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain 3 Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut, Österreichische Akademie Der Wissenschaften, Vienna, Austria 4 Independent Scholar, Madrid, Spain 5 Department ofNatural andApplied Sciences, Mount Mercy University, CedarRapids, USA 6 Institut Für Ur- Und Frühgeschichte Und Archäologie Des Mittelalters, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tubingen, Germany 7 Instituto de Historia, CSIC, Madrid, Spain 8 Department ofEarth andEnvironmental Sciences, University ofIowa, IowaCity, USA