Archaeologists shed new light on wealth and status among Europe's early herders
How unequal were prehistoric societies? And how can archaeologists measure wealth in cultures that left behind no written records, no tax registers and no census data?
A new study published in the Journal of Neolithic Archaeology sheds light on the wealth and status among early herders in Europe, specifically focusing on the Corded Ware culture in present-day Bohemia. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen developed a multi-proxy method called QuantWealth to analyze almost 300 graves dating from 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.
This method compares archaeological evidence with genetic ancestry and Y-chromosome patterns of the skeletal remains, as well as considering pathologies, age, and gender. The study found that social inequality emerged gradually in Bohemia over several centuries following migrations from the steppe, bringing early Indo-European dialects across Europe.
However, the inequality was not deeply entrenched, and status was achieved through life actions rather than inheritance during the first 400 years. As time progressed, funerary competition intensified, and wealth differences became more pronounced, with adult men particularly associated with richer grave goods.
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