Update on the Absolute Chronology of the Migration period in Central Europe (375–568 AD): new data from Maria Ponsee, Lower Austria

Author(s)

Jakub Kaizer, Eva Maria Wild, Peter Stadler, Maria Teschler-Nicola, Peter Steier

Abstract

The Danube region in Central Europe was one of the areas where several cultures appeared before moving further or being defeated during the Migration Period in the middle of the first millennium AD. The Lombards, who crossed the Danube in 505 AD, settled in the "Tullnerfeld" where the Maria Ponsee graveyard was excavated in 1965-1972. From the historical evidence about the temporal and spatial migration of the Lombards, it was concluded that the graveyard was in use between 505 and 568 AD by three groups of migrants. We processed and dated a new set of 23 bones, found in the Maria Ponsee site. The determined C-14 dates fit well in the expected time interval, though discrimination between the grave groups could not be obtained. The dates were added to the chronological sequence, recording the Migration Period in Central Europe. The sequence lead to a good correlation of the modelled and historical data (A(model) = 87.6%). The results show differentiations of the respective tribes in the pre-Lombardic period. However, transitions between the Lombard phases were rather ambiguous, indicating that the Lombards set up new settlements while only partially abandoning the already inhabited ones before 546 AD.

Organisation(s)

Isotope Physics, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology

External organisation(s)

Comenius University Bratislava, Naturhistorisches Museum Wien (NHM)

Journal

Radiocarbon

Volume

61

Pages

1653-1662

No. of pages

10

ISSN

0033-8222

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2019.89

Publication date

08-2019

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103013 Ion physics

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Earth and Planetary Sciences, Archaeology

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/fec49595-8f52-4330-a12f-6a7674254ac4