DEMOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, MOBILITY, KINSHIP, AND DISEASE DURING THE BRONZE AGE: THE CHALLENGE OF COLLECTIVE BURIALS

THE SKELETAL REMAINS OF OUR ANCESTORS, GRAVE GOODS, AND FUNERARY PRACTICES ARE VALUABLE SOURCES OF CULTURAL, SOCIAL, HISTORICAL, AND BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION ABOUT PAST POPULATIONS. THUS, THE DETAILED AND HOLISTIC ANALYSIS OF BURIAL GROUNDS APPEARS AS ONE OF THE MAJOR SOURCES OF INFORMATION TO UNDERSTAND PAST SOCIETIES AND EVENTS, BUT THEY CAN ALSO PROVIDE US WITH DATA TO BETTER UNDERSTAND OUR PRESENT AND FUTURE AS A SPECIES, FOR EXAMPLE ABOUT FAMILIAL RELATIONSHIPS, WOMEN ROLE IN SOCIETY, EVOLUTION AND DISSEMINATION OF DISEASE, ETC. IN ADDITION, THE INTERACTION OF DIFFERENT SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES, SUCH AS BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, ARCHAEOLOGY, AND PALEOGENETICS, CONTRIBUTING WITH DIFFERENT METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES, IS CRUCIAL TO SUCCESSFULLY ANALYSE AND INTERPRETATE VARIOUS KINDS OF EVIDENCE. FUNERARY PRACTICES DURING THE EUROPEAN BRONZE AGE ARE DIVERSE, BUT COLLECTIVE BURIAL IS THE MAIN CHARACTERISTIC. THE BRONZE AGE IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA, LAST FROM C.2200 TO 900 CAL BC AND THERE WAS A CONSIDERABLE VARIETY OF FORMS OF SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS DURING THE APPROXIMATELY THIRTEEN HUNDRED YEARS THAT CORRESPOND TO THE BRONZE AGE. IN THE CURRENT TERRITORY OF CATALONIA (THE NORTH-EASTERN PART OF THE IBERIA PENINSULA) AND THE BALEARIC ISLANDS, DURING THE BRONZE AGE, THE BURIAL RECORD IS MAINLY DOMINATED BY COLLECTIVE BURIALS. SOME COLLECTIVE BURIALS FROM THE CATALAN AND BALEARIC BRONZE AGE, HAVE BEEN EXCAVATED AND ANALYSED BY OUR GROUP USING DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES. OUR ANALYSED HAVE GENERATED CRUCIAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT A) KINSHIP, MOBILITY AND WOMEN’S SOCIAL ROLE, AND THE B) SPREAD OF DISEASES. ACCORDING TO THE CURRENT KNOWLEDGE AND OUR PREVIOUS RESULTS, WE HYPOTHESISE THAT: I) THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION DURING THE BRONZE AGE IS COMPLEX AND DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF KINSHIP CAN BE OBSERVED DEPENDING ON THE TERRITORY AND ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS. WOMEN’S EXOGAMY CAN BE FREQUENT BUT THIS DOES NOT NECESSARILY IMPLY A PATRILOCAL SYSTEM. MOREOVER, SMALL ISLAND POPULATIONS, FOR THEIR CHARACTERISTICS, COULD PRESENT A DIFFERENT PROFILE. II) MIGRATION OF WOMEN IS VERY FREQUENT AND ESSENTIAL TO SHORT-DISTANCE CULTURAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSMISSION; HOWEVER, SOME CASES OF LARGE-SCALE WOMEN MIGRATION ARE ALSO PRESENT. III) THE SPREAD OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES HAS HAD A RELEVANT ROLE IN ANCIENT MORTALITY, IN PARTICULARLY IN INFANT MORTALITY, AND SPECIFICALLY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLECTIVE BRONZE AGE BURIALS. IN ADDITION, COLLECTIVE BURIALS REPRESENT AN OPPORTUNITY TO INFER ABOUT HEALTH AND DISEASE IN PAST POPULATIONS AND PARTICULARLY IN A PERIOD OF INTENSE POPULATION GROWTH AND MIGRATION, SUCH AS THE BRONZE AGE. THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO INVESTIGATE BRONZE AGE COLLECTIVE BURIALS FROM CATALONIA AND BALEARIC ISLANDS, USING A HOLISTIC APPROACH (COMBINING MORE CLASSIC METHODS WITH LEADING METHODOLOGIES IN BIOANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHAEOLOGY, SUCH AS DENTAL HISTOLOGY, ISOTOPE ANALYSIS, AND PALEOGENOMICS), TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE SOCIAL ORGANIZATION, KINSHIP, MOBILITY, WOMEN’S SOCIAL ROLE, AND HEALTH AND DISEASE DURING THE BRONZE AGE, IN TERRITORIES WITH DIFFERENT ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS. WE PROPOSE TO ANALYSE, THREE CASE STUDIES OF BRONZE AGE COLLECTIVE BURIALS REPRESENTATIVE OF DIFFERENT TERRITORIES WITH DIFFERENT ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS, FROM CATALONIA AND BALEARIC ISLANDS. THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL PROVIDE FUNDAMENTALLY NEW INSIGHTS INTO COLLECTIVE BURIALS FROM THE CATALAN AND BALEARIC BRONZE AGE.