Osteoarchaeological Perspectives on Socioeconomic Changes in European Iron Age Societies: Some Introductory Remarks

Abstract

Across many regions of Europe, the Iron Age represented a period of significant cultural, economic, and social change. New systems of agricultural production emerged, extensive exchange networks were established, and in several areas, such as Central Europe, Middle Italy, and parts of the Iberian Peninsula, a pronounced political and economic centralization became evident.

One of the crucial innovations of this period was the emergence of highly organized proto-urban settlements: cycles of urbanization, subsequent de-urbanization and re-urbanization are evident in several phases of the Iron Age (e.g., Salač 2014, 69–73) and appear in various geographic areas and cultural contexts. In some cases, these developments were closely interrelated. For instance, in Central and Northern Italy, from the 9th century bce onwards, urban settlements such as Verucchio and Bologna emerged, playing a vital role as political and economic centers for the surrounding micro-regions and forming part of supraregional exchange and communication networks that spanned large parts of Europe (e.g., Rondini and Zamboni 2020). Through these extensive communication networks, stimuli for settlement centralization and urbanization also reached Central Europe, where early Celtic princely seats emerged as central places of supraregional importance in the 7th century bce (e.g., Fernández-Götz and Krausse 2013). These changes in settlement structures and economic patterns were accompanied by new trends in social stratification, resulting in the establishment of an elite with dynastic structures, as evidenced by lavishly furnished burials excavated near Early Iron Age central places (e.g., Gretzinger et al. 2024). An even more comprehensive stage of Iron Age urbanization, both in terms of geographic expansion and the degree of changes in settlement patterns, became evident from the 3rd/2nd century bce onwards, when large settlements of unprecedented dimensions emerged in the greater region encompassing Southern England, the Iberian Peninsula, Northern Italy, the German-Czech Central Uplands, and the Pannonian Plain. Although these agglomerations, referred to by Iron Age archaeology as oppida, exhibit specific features at regional and individual levels, they were all characterized by various elements associated with urbanism, such as a high degree of internal organization, a central function for their surrounding areas, and in some cases an important role as economic distribution points (Guichard, Sievers, and Urban 2000; Salač 2014, 65–69). This late phase of Iron Age urbanization is also to be viewed as a wide-ranging communication area, linking, among others, the Mediterranean Greco-Roman oikumene with the societies of Central, Western and Northern Europe (e.g., Loughton 2009, 80–81).

This space of supraregional and transcultural communication not only contributed to the dissemination of ideas and concepts of urbanism but also served as the foundation for a comprehensive transfer of technologies and mindsets that influenced various aspects of daily life. These include the spread of the potter's wheel (de Groot et al. 2023, 129), turning mill technologies, methods of intensified field cultivation (Vives-Ferrándiz Sánchez et al. 2023), and the introduction of the domestic chicken in areas north of the Alps (Peters et al. 2022, 4–5). The high degree of economic specialization resulting from innovations and social changes is evident from a variety of archaeological case studies, such as late Iron Age salt mining in the North-Eastern Alps (e.g., Stöllner et al. 2003) and a large-spread wine trading system between Italy and Gaul (Loughton 2009).

A key source for understanding the processes of cultural, social, and economic change in different parts of Europe is the analysis of animal and human remains from Iron Age funerary and settlement contexts. Thus, bioarchaeology, zooarchaeology, and prehistoric anthropology, with their broad methodological spectrum, offer deep insights into various aspects of Iron Age daily life, economy, and society (e.g., Gretzinger et al. 2024; Saliari et al. 2023; Sorrentino et al. 2018). This also encompasses issues of cultural transfer, mobility, and networks in Iron Age Europe, which were the subject of a workshop organized by the National Heritage Agency of Baden-Württemberg as part of the project Animal husbandry in crisis? Archeozoology of late La Tène cultural developments between the Danube region and the Inn Valley (funded by the German Research Foundation/DFG, Project number 433366418) in Konstanz in 2022 (Trixl and Francken 2023). From this fruitful exchange of results and ideas between zooarchaeology and prehistoric anthropology, the present special issue on Iron Age osteoarchaeological research has developed, addressing the following questions in particular:

Which processes of social, economic, and cultural change can we identify as having occurred during the Iron Age, especially at its initial and final periods in different European model regions?

How did mobility and supraregional networks develop within and between Iron Age communities? What role did Mediterranean agents, particularly Etruscan city-states, Greek colonies and finally the Roman sphere of influence, play in this process?

How did local Iron Age communities respond to new cultural and economic influences and innovations, especially from the Mediterranean?

Were ecologically, climatically, or culturally induced changes in population histories accompanied by changes in livestock farming?

How did ecological, climatic, or cultural changes affect population health and demography?

In what ways do archaeological bone assemblages reflect socio-economic crises?

Did human-animal interactions change over the course of the Iron Age?

What methods are currently available to conduct osteoarchaeological research on cultural transfer, mobility, and networks during the Iron Age?

How can we maximize the synergies between these methods within an interdisciplinary framework?

To explore these questions, the contributions presented in this volume cover a wide range, both methodologically and geographically, including osteoarchaeological assemblages from present-day Scandinavia, England and South-Eastern France, as well as from the Rhine-Moselle region, South-Western Germany, the Alpine area, and Northern Italy. Furthermore, by applying an integrated approach that includes zooarchaeology and prehistoric anthropology, we aim to bridge the gap between Iron Age humans and animals. Thus, we hope to provide a more holistic view of how socio-economic changes affected humans and animals in selected Iron Age model regions.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.