Spatiotemporal reconstruction of Corded Ware and Bell Beaker burial rituals reveals complex dynamics divergent from steppe ancestry
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Understanding how the dispersal of cultural innovations intersects with the spread of genes remains a central challenge in prehistoric archaeology. Here, we examine how the third millennium BCE Corded Ware (CW) and Bell Beaker (BB) burial traditions disseminated across Europe and their relation to the influx of steppe ancestry. To investigate these spatiotemporal dynamics during one of Europe's most transformative periods, we compiled a dataset of radiocarbon dates from 967 burials, applying kernel density estimation alongside optimal linear estimation. We show that the adoption of CW and BB funerary rites is not synchronized with, and often contradicts, the spread of steppe ancestry. Furthermore, we show that these burial traditions spread rapidly and polyfocally among dispersed communities before a brief yet continent-wide consolidation phase around 2600 BCE for CW and 2400 BCE for BB, suggesting broad, simultaneous societal changes among preliterate societies.
Source: Science Advances
Institutions: Leiden University, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Language: English
Subfield: Archeology
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
OpenAlex ID: W4413362227