Bioarchaeology not only provides insights into human, animal, and environmental ecology, but also generates huge amounts of stable and radiogenic isotope data that are not well recognised by other disciplines. Here, we present potential avenues for the integration and interpretation of archaeological isotope data into environmental studies. We emphasise the large spatio-temporal scales on which isotope patterns can be observed, for example using isoscapes, the limitations and potential pitfalls that come with isotope data from archaeological research, and future cross-disciplinary collaborations between bioarchaeology and other palaeo-disciplines.

• Keywords
• Element cycles, Environmental monitoring, Geochemistry,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

We present Isotòpia, an open-access database compiling over 36,000 stable isotope measurements (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, δ34S, 87Sr/86Sr, 206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/206Pb, and 208Pb/206Pb) on human, animal, and plant bioarchaeological remains dating to Classical Antiquity (approximately 800 BCE - 500 CE). These were recovered from different European regions, particularly from the Mediterranean. Isotòpia provides a comprehensive characterisation of the isotopic data, encompassing various historical, archaeological, biological, and environmental variables. Isotòpia is a resource for meta-analytical research of past human activities and paleoenvironments. The database highlights data gaps in isotopic classical archaeology, such as the limited number of isotopic measurements available for plants and animals, limited number of studies on spatial mobility, and spatial heterogeneity of isotopic research. As such, we emphasise the necessity to address and fill these gaps in order to unlock the reuse potential of this database.

• MeSH
• Archaeology * MeSH
• Databases, Factual * MeSH
• History, Ancient MeSH
• Isotopes * analysis   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Plants * chemistry   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• History, Ancient MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Historical Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Isotopes * MeSH

From AD 567-568, at the onset of the Avar period, populations from the Eurasian Steppe settled in the Carpathian Basin for approximately 250 years1. Extensive sampling for archaeogenomics (424 individuals) and isotopes, combined with archaeological, anthropological and historical contextualization of four Avar-period cemeteries, allowed for a detailed description of the genomic structure of these communities and their kinship and social practices. We present a set of large pedigrees, reconstructed using ancient DNA, spanning nine generations and comprising around 300 individuals. We uncover a strict patrilineal kinship system, in which patrilocality and female exogamy were the norm and multiple reproductive partnering and levirate unions were common. The absence of consanguinity indicates that this society maintained a detailed memory of ancestry over generations. These kinship practices correspond with previous evidence from historical sources and anthropological research on Eurasian Steppe societies2. Network analyses of identity-by-descent DNA connections suggest that social cohesion between communities was maintained via female exogamy. Finally, despite the absence of major ancestry shifts, the level of resolution of our analyses allowed us to detect genetic discontinuity caused by the replacement of a community at one of the sites. This was paralleled with changes in the archaeological record and was probably a result of local political realignment.

• MeSH
• Archaeology * methods   MeSH
• Family Characteristics * ethnology   history   MeSH
• History, Medieval MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Genomics MeSH
• Cemeteries history   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Grassland * MeSH
• Consanguinity MeSH
• Politics MeSH
• Pedigree * MeSH
• DNA, Ancient * analysis   MeSH
• Check Tag
• History, Medieval MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Historical Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Asia ethnology   MeSH
• Europe ethnology   MeSH
• Names of Substances
• DNA, Ancient * MeSH

The Carpathian Basin represents the cradle of human agricultural development during the Neolithic period, when large parts were transformed into 'cultural landscapes' by first farmers from the Balkans. It is assumed that an Early Neolithic subsistence economy established along the hydrologic systems and on Chernozem soil patches, which developed from loess deposits. However, recent results from soil chemistry and geoarchaeological analyses raised the hypothesis that extensive Chernozem coverage developed from increased land-use activity and that Early Neolithic 'cultural' groups were not restricted to loess-covered surfaces but rather preferred hydromorphic soils that formed in the floodplains. This article performs multivariable statistics from large datasets of Neolithic sites in Hungary and allows tracing Early to Late Neolithic site preferences from digital environmental data. Quantitative analyses reveal a strong preference for hydromorphic soils, a significant avoidance of loess-covered areas, and no preference for Chernozem soils throughout the Early Neolithic followed by a strong transformation of site preferences during the Late Neolithic period. These results align with socio-cultural developments, large-scale mobility patterns, and land-use and surface transformation, which shaped the Carpathian Basin and paved the way for the agricultural revolution across Europe.

• MeSH
• Algorithms MeSH
• Archaeology MeSH
• Time Factors MeSH
• Geological Phenomena MeSH
• Hydrology MeSH
• Multivariate Analysis MeSH
• Soil MeSH
• Models, Theoretical * MeSH
• Agriculture * MeSH
• Geography MeSH
• Environment * MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Balkan Peninsula MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Soil MeSH