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Evidence for dynastic succession among early Celtic elites in Central Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Joscha Gretzinger

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Felicitas Schmitt

    (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege im Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart)

  • Angela Mötsch

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Selina Carlhoff

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Thiseas Christos Lamnidis

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Yilei Huang

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Harald Ringbauer

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Corina Knipper

    (Curt Engelhorn Zentrum Archäometrie gGmbH)

  • Michael Francken

    (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege im Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart)

  • Franziska Mandt

    (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege im Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart)

  • Leif Hansen

    (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege im Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart)

  • Cäcilia Freund

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Cosimo Posth

    (Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
    Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen)

  • Hannes Rathmann

    (Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
    Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen)

  • Katerina Harvati

    (Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
    Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
    Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen)

  • Günther Wieland

    (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege im Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart)

  • Lena Granehäll

    (EURAC Research)

  • Frank Maixner

    (EURAC Research)

  • Albert Zink

    (EURAC Research)

  • Wolfram Schier

    (Freie Universität Berlin)

  • Dirk Krausse

    (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege im Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart)

  • Johannes Krause

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Stephan Schiffels

    (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

Abstract

The early Iron Age (800 to 450 BCE) in France, Germany and Switzerland, known as the ‘West-Hallstattkreis’, stands out as featuring the earliest evidence for supra-regional organization north of the Alps. Often referred to as ‘early Celtic’, suggesting tentative connections to later cultural phenomena, its societal and population structure remain enigmatic. Here we present genomic and isotope data from 31 individuals from this context in southern Germany, dating between 616 and 200 BCE. We identify multiple biologically related groups spanning three elite burials as far as 100 km apart, supported by trans-regional individual mobility inferred from isotope data. These include a close biological relationship between two of the richest burial mounds of the Hallstatt culture. Bayesian modelling points to an avuncular relationship between the two individuals, which may suggest a practice of matrilineal dynastic succession in early Celtic elites. We show that their ancestry is shared on a broad geographic scale from Iberia throughout Central-Eastern Europe, undergoing a decline after the late Iron Age (450 BCE to ~50 CE).

Suggested Citation

  • Joscha Gretzinger & Felicitas Schmitt & Angela Mötsch & Selina Carlhoff & Thiseas Christos Lamnidis & Yilei Huang & Harald Ringbauer & Corina Knipper & Michael Francken & Franziska Mandt & Leif Hansen, 2024. "Evidence for dynastic succession among early Celtic elites in Central Europe," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 8(8), pages 1467-1480, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:8:y:2024:i:8:d:10.1038_s41562-024-01888-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01888-7
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