New light on wealth and status among Europe's early herders

 

A new study by researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the Max Planck Institute indicates that early herding communities in Central Europe only gradually developed social inequality – it was not imported by the steppe migrants

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Copenhagen

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Artistic reconstruction of the young girl with the copper neck ring (and hair spirals) in grave 41 at Čachovice. Red ochre face paint inspired by decorations on the pottery in her grave.

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Credit: Oil pastel by Solveig Chaudesaigues-Clausen

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 researcher from the University of Copenhagen has developed a multi-proxy method called QuantWealth that uses archaeological evidence from graves to reconstruct social status, wealth display, and inequality thousands of years ago.

In a new study published in Journal of Neolithic Archaeology, the method was applied to almost 300 4-5,000-year-old graves in present-day Bohemia. The researchers compared the analyses of the graves with genetic ancestry and Y-chromosome patterns of the skeletal remains to track paternal lineages, including pathologies, age, and gender to give unprecedented detail to the story of the so-called Corded Ware culture.

The researchers found that social inequality emerged gradually in Bohemia over several centuries following migrations from the steppe. These migrations spread early Indo-European dialects across Europe, but, at least in Bohemia, inequality was not deeply entrenched:

"Archaeologists have long debated whether steppe populations migrating across Europe from Ukraine brought with them a highly unequal social system and patriarchy. Our results suggest a much more dynamic picture, where social differences developed gradually. Achieving status through life-actions appears to have been more important than through inheritance, at least during the first 400 years", says University of Copenhagen archaeologist Mikkel Nørtoft, main author of the study, who developed the QuantWealth method in his PhD thesis.

A society in transition
Mikkel Nørtoft and his colleague Adam B. Rohrlach analysed 296 burials from the Corded Ware culture in Bohemia dating between approximately 2,900 and 2,300 BCE.

“Following a few harsh years of “dark sun” clouded by a devastating volcanic eruption 2,900 BCE, the earliest herder communities, settling in Bohemia around 2,900-2,700 BCE, seem to have focused mostly on building social cohesion across this new network of migrants in Central Europe. In Bohemia, they did this through shared burial rituals, and building earthen mounds, but with few grave goods”, Mikkel Nørtoft explains.

Wealth differences were small, mostly age-related, and power seems to have been distributed across multiple steppe-derived lineages, with little gender inequality.

Increased competition and inequality
Over time, circa 2,700-2,500 BCE, however, funerary competition in Bohemia intensified after a new lineage appeared. The researchers found increasing concentrations of prestige items, meat offerings, expanding exchange networks, and growing gender inequality. Adult men in particular became associated with more richly furnished graves, and younger adults became most frequent in the graves, but without clearly increasing signs of violence in skeletal trauma.

“In the final phase, roughly 2,500-2,300 BCE, we see a few rich displays of family wealth through children, and the previously new lineage now dominated the burial record. So maybe the new lineage had gained the most followers and power through the competitive burial parties, and their descendants were now competing among themselves”, Mikkel Nørtoft points out and adds:

“The few rich child graves and this prevailing lineage could indicate more inherited wealth and emerging traits of persistent inequality. Ethnographic parallels could also support the idea that parents adorned their children with ornaments to increase their social value in future marriage exchange. Brides often moved into the husband’s household in Corded Ware societies, and bridewealth or dowry is preserved in early Indo-European vocabulary, and historically common in Indo-European societies.”

This could be exemplified in one particularly rich female child grave in this late phase from the site Čachovice, the richest among all Bohemian graves in the study. This grave also included an extremely rare copper neck ring, a widespread upper-class symbol (known as “torcs”) in the later European Bronze and Iron Ages.

According to the researchers, these developments suggest growing social competition and the possible emergence of more durable forms of inequality among late Corded Ware communities.

Whether this development shows the first small steps to long-standing family dynasties documented later in the Bronze Age will require more data on both the Corded Ware Culture and the related Bell Beaker Culture who replaced them in Central Europe.

“We now have a correlation between changing Y-haplogroup lineages and unequal burial wealth display in one region, but we need more DNA data to confirm this at the family level, and elsewhere”, explains Nørtoft. The study also shows how combining DNA, archaeology, and language can enrich narratives about social changes in the past.

The study “Cooperation and Competition: Changes in Wealth, Power, and Patrilines in the Czech Corded Ware Culture” has been published in Journal of Neolithic Archaeology.
 

Medieval public health system in Trondheim exposed the population to roundworm

 

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Nidaros (now Trondheim) was a bustling city in the Middle Ages, characterized by trade, migration, and powerful institutions such as Nidaros Cathedral and the Archbishop’s Palace. This drawing depicts the urban landscape around the city’s main thoroughfare, Kaupmannastretet (known today as Krambugata). It is a reconstruction of how the area appeared around 1250. 

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Credit: Illustration: Kari Støren Binns, NTNU University Museum.

Ancient skeletons can tell us a great deal about how people lived, what they ate, what diseases they suffered from, and what caused their deaths. They also provide insight into social conditions and how society was organized.

Inside the Trondheim Public Library, you can see parts of a medieval cemetery unearthed by archaeologists. This was the burial ground for people who belonged to a stone church that once stood beneath the library building.

Another medieval cemetery lies just across the street, situated beneath the premises of the current bank building, SpareBank 1.

One cemetery was centrally located in the oldest part of the city, while the other was situated on the outskirts of the urban core. Archaeological excavations and findings at these two sites have revealed significant differences between the individuals buried there.

Differing diets

Bone analysis indicates that child mortality was significantly higher, and general health poorer, among those buried in the cemetery on the city’s periphery at the time – an area inhabited primarily by craft workers.

Their diet was less varied than that of Kaupmannastretet (known today as Krambugata) residents, who belonged to the church beneath the public library. The latter group represented the city’s social elite; they were engaged in trade and resided in large townhouses. Their diet was more diverse, including seafood, for example. Social inequality affected health and mortality –then and today.

MedHeal600 (Medieval Urban Health: From private to public responsibility) is a research project led by the University Museum at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

The researchers have investigated public health and living conditions in Trondheim from the year 1000 to 1600, including how public authorities facilitated access to healthcare.

The origins of a public health system

Analyses of the skeletons reveal that well over half of the city’s inhabitants experienced physiological stress during childhood and adolescence, caused by an insufficient or overly monotonous diet. Many people also died from infectious diseases such as leprosy, typhoid fever, and tuberculosis.

“Society was familiar with these diseases, and public authorities implemented measures to limit their spread. In the Middle Ages, responsibility for health, hygiene, and waste management shifted from being a private concern to increasingly becoming a public urban responsibility," says Axel Christophersen.

Christophersen is a professor emeritus of historical archaeology at the NTNU University Museum and has headed the Medieval Urban Health research project.

"The city initiated measures to improve hygiene, ensure cleaner streets, and manage waste," says Christophersen.

Here we see the beginnings of a public health system.

Responsibility for the community and the King’s inspectors

Erik Opsahl is a professor of medieval history and head of the Centre for Medieval Studies at NTNU. He points out the importance of the fundamental principle in Magnus the Lawmender’s Landslov (Norwegian Code of the Realm) of 1274 – and the Bylov (Town Law) two years later. The local community bore, to a large extent, what we might call the operational responsibility for the common good.

In many respects, the King’s officials acted as overseers to ensure that tasks were carried out.

Erik Opsahl, Axel Christophersen, and James Barrett edited the recently published book Health in Medieval Urban Trondheim: From Individual to Communal Responsibility AD 1000–1600.

The changes in the new waste management system did not follow a linear progression from simple to advanced, or from private to public. Rather, these were dynamic processes driven by shifts in various practices.

“Moreover, the modern distinction between the private and public sphere is difficult to apply to medieval society,” says Opsahl.

Good intentions, mixed outcomes

In her PhD dissertation as part of this research project, Elisabeth Forrestad Swensen explored the development of a functional new water and waste management system during the Middle Ages and the early modern period.

Swensen examined how Trondheim managed waste, sewage, and drinking water, and how these factors influenced public health and the spread of disease. Archaeological findings indicate that the inhabitants of Nidaros (as Trondheim was then known) actively addressed the challenges related to water and waste.

“Measures were taken with clear, positive intentions; however, not all of them proved equally effective in practice. Although waste was often handled with care, certain changes may nonetheless have led to an increase in infectious diseases and parasites,” Swensen says.

Latrine waste was not mixed with other types of waste. The two waste types were disposed of in separate locations. The distinction between general waste pits and latrine pits indicates that human waste was managed according to its own specific protocols.

A vicious cycle of roundworms

During the High Middle Ages (1130–1350), Europe – including Norway – experienced significant population growth.

Everything increased: more people, more houses, more waste... and more foul odours. During this period, the theory of miasmas gained traction. This concept was linked to unpleasant smells, which were believed to be the actual cause of disease.

This belief is likely why the authorities in Trondheim decreed that fetid latrine waste should be transported to pits outside the city centre – a measure that sounds both sensible and smart.

However, "an analysis of the contents of these latrines reveals that nearly the entire population was infected with roundworms. This occurred because the latrine waste was incorporated into manure once it began being transported out of the city centre. Roundworms thrive especially well in manure," says Swensen.

"This manure was spread across the city’s agricultural land where food was grown. allowing the roundworm parasite to enter the food supply, and consequently, the people living in the city," she explains.

The result was a kind of perpetual cycle between humans and roundworms.

Wood chips dampened unpleasant odours

Latrine waste was transported out of the city, whereas most other waste pits remained within the city limits. However, these were situated on separate plots of land, suggesting that the inhabitants understood the health benefits of keeping organic waste at a distance.

Sawdust or wood chips were mixed in and made up a significant portion of this waste, which helped to dampen the smell of decaying refuse.

The volume of wood chips – a byproduct of house construction – dropped significantly toward the end of the 13th century. This could be linked to a massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia in 1257, which sent ash clouds across vast distances. Traces of this ash can still be found in the northern and southern polar regions.

Temperatures fell sharply for several years, tree growth slowed, and these climatic changes dampened societal activity.

Wood chip shortage led to new waste-disposal practices

“Migration into Trondheim appears to have stagnated during the second half of the 13th century as well. Archaeological investigations have shown that house construction all but ceased from around 1300. This could be related in part to a stagnation in population growth. Construction over the course of several centuries had also exhausted the timber supply surrounding Trondheim. This led to a reduction in construction waste – notably wood shavings and wood chips," says Axel Christophersen.

The shortage of wood chips contributed to a significant worsening of the stench emanating from the waste pits within the city.

Reduced risk of disease

Excavations reveal that the practice of discarding organic waste into the pits along city streets where people lived came to an end during this period. Organic waste was now transported out of the city instead. The loss of wood chips and the intensified stench from the waste pits are likely reasons for the shift in managing waste.

This change in waste management helped lower the risk of infectious diseases.

Then the Black Death swept in

The Black Death reached Europe from Asia via the Silk Road and wreaked havoc starting in the mid-14th century. The deadly plague arrived in Norway in 1349, claiming the lives of an estimated one-third of the population, though the exact death toll remains unknown.

“The late Middle Ages has a particularly poor reputation, and the Black Death has been blamed for a long period of decline in Norway. This ultimately led to Norway becoming politically subordinate to Denmark in 1537 – an event often referred to as Norway’s ‘loss of independence,’” says Opsahl.

“However, a single plague epidemic cannot account for such a sharp population decline, which persisted for several centuries. This decline was the result of repeated outbreaks of the plague. Around 1340, Norway’s population was approximately 500,000; by the early 16th century, the country had only about 200,000 inhabitants,” Opsahl says.

Population Trends

We cannot know exactly how the population evolved between these two points in time. Was the decline a steady, continuous drop in population? Or did it follow a pattern of recovery and growth following one plague outbreak, only to be reduced again by the next?

“The latter scenario is the most probable, given the broader European trend, says Opsahl. “It also aligns with evidence that we observed in construction activity. So, it’s quite possible that the population of Trondheim experienced periods of relative growth.”

The book Health in Medieval Urban Trondheim: From Individual to Communal Responsibility AD 1000–1600, Scandinavian University Press / Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskabs Skrifter (Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters' Publications), published 16 August 2026.

Elisabeth Forrestad Swensen, Chapter 6: "Water and Waste in Medieval Urban Trondheim: How Mind and Matter Affected Health."

You can learn more about the research project in this podcast: Ny funn om livet i middelalderen (link in Norwegian).

Access the complete podcast series "Trondheim i middelalderen" (link in Norwegian), featuring Professor Erik Opsahl and Director of Culture Ola By Rise.

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DOI

Early human life on an ancient Arabian lakeshore

Summary author: Walter Beckwith

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

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Early humans developed sophisticated hunting technologies and exploited diverse plant and animal resources while living in the Arabian interior, according to a new study of a 125,000-year-old archaeological site in Saudi Arabia. The findings offer new evidence of how prehistoric populations adapted to the region's changing environments during periods of increased rainfall. During the Pleistocene, the Arabian Peninsula served as an important corridor for human migration between Africa and Asia, as alternating periods of aridity and increased rainfall periodically transformed its otherwise inhospitable landscapes into habitable environments. Fossil and archaeological evidence indicates that Homo sapiens occupied the region during these wetter intervals when changing environments created viable routes through the interior. However, these favorable conditions were unevenly distributed, with freshwater and food resources concentrated in localized habitats that may have determined where people could settle and travel.

 

To better understand these dynamic environments and how early humans adapted to them, Chris Clarkson and colleagues investigated archaeological and environmental evidence from ‘Uruq Aljelibah,  a roughly 125,000-year-old paleolakeshore site at Mundafan in southern Saudi Arabia. According to the findings, the ancient lake supported a rich ecological landscape, attracting animals such as hippopotamuses and other large herbivores, as well as diverse plant resources, including palms and reeds. Analysis of the more than 5,500 stone artifacts, animal fossils, and preserved organic residues suggests that the early humans that lived on this landscape engaged in a sophisticated range of activities, from hunting and animal processing to woodworking and plant-fiber production. Particularly striking is evidence that some stone points were hafted with plant-based adhesives and bindings, with chemical traces suggesting that potentially toxic plants may have been incorporated into hunting weapons. Clarkson et al. argue that early human survival on the Arabian Peninsula depended on far more than access to freshwater and food. The finding that people developed complex technological systems and used a diverse array of local resources shows that humid periods in Arabia created not only migration corridors between Africa and Asia, but productive environments capable of sustaining repeated human occupation as well.

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.aef9342  

125,000-year-old lakeside reveals how early humans lived

when the Saudi desert was green

Evidence of early humans hunting, processing plants and occupying a thriving lakeside during the Green Arabia period

Peer-Reviewed Publication

King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST)

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Fieldwork at 'Uruq al-Julaybah, on the shore of the ancient Mundafan lake in southern Saudi Arabia. Left: a researcher exposes finds along a survey grid line. Top right: a fossil on the surface of the ancient lake bed. Bottom right: a fossil being uncovered from the sand.

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Credit: KAUST / Saudi Heritage Commission

Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, 15 November 2026 – The Saudi Heritage Commission has announced the findings of an archaeological and environmental study jointly led by the Commission, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Griffith University. Megafauna remains, stone tools and rare plant material recovered from the 125,000-year-old lakeside site of Uruq al-Julaybah in Mundafan, southern Saudi Arabia, provide one of the most detailed pictures yet of prehistoric human life in Arabia. Together, the discoveries reveal how early people lived, hunted and used their environment during a greener, wetter period in Arabian history.

Published in Science, the study brings together KAUST researchers spanning geology, archaeology, botany and micropaleontology alongside colleagues at Griffith University and the Saudi Heritage Commission and several other international institutions. The findings add significant evidence to Saudi Arabia's deep human and environmental history and contribute to a wider understanding of early human presence across the Arabian Peninsula.

Researchers used satellite terrain modeling to map the approximately 340 km² ancient lake, which reached a maximum depth of 29 meters. Sediments, geomorphological data and aquatic remains indicated a relatively stable freshwater body surrounded by vegetation and open grasslands.

The team also carried out systematic grid surveys to collect fossils and stone tools, used two dating methods on sand and fossil teeth, applied 3D-refitting techniques to stone tools, and conducted microscopic and chemical residue analysis of tool surfaces. This comprehensive methodology provided direct insights into how early human populations lived and adapted during the last Interglacial period, a warm, humid phase approximately 125,000 years ago commonly known as Green Arabia.

The team documented more than 500 fossil specimens of plants and animals, including invertebrates, at more than 130 locations across the site. Animal remains included hippos, extinct long-horned buffaloes, camels, Arabian oryx, gazelles and ostriches.

Researchers collected 5,511 stone tools larger than 2 cm from the main study area. More than 98% were made of flint, and analyses showed the use of Levallois techniques in stone tool production.

The tools contain residues of a wide variety of plants, including some that are toxic. Traces of resin and woody tissue suggest the use of hafted weapon tips, while plant residues indicate the processing of tubers, bushes and palm leaves. These traces point to varied uses of plants for food and everyday tasks. Among the most significant findings is evidence of the potential use of toxic plant compounds in hunting technology, understood to be among the first such evidence recorded in Saudi Arabia, alongside some of the earliest evidence of palm-related vegetation found in the region. Together, these findings paint a picture of a population making diverse and sophisticated use of their environment.

What makes this site exceptional is that all of these elements (animal remains, stone tools and plant material) were found together in a single, dated context, allowing researchers to reconstruct in unusual detail the daily lives of the people who occupied this lakeside. The site provides a vivid and unusually complete picture of how humans lived in Green Arabia.

The findings also indicate that the shores of ancient Lake Mundafan brought together freshwater, animals, plants and raw materials during the humid period around 125,000 years ago. This combination supported a range of human activities, including stone tool production, the preparation of hunting equipment, the processing of animal and plant resources, and fiber working.

“It is very exciting to see how the collaboration of so many different specialists allows to reconstruct this uniquely complete picture of life, behavior and the environment in the distant past,” said Professor Frans van Buchem, KAUST Professor of Geology and co-lead scientist.

Dr. Faisal Al-Jibreen, a participating researcher from the Heritage Commission and a professor of Paleolithic archaeology, described the discovery in the sands of Lake Mundafan in the Empty Quarter as an important archaeological find that sheds light on the ancient environment and its relationship with humans and animals in southern Saudi Arabia’s early prehistory.

“This site gives us a rare and richly detailed view of how people lived in a landscape that looks nothing like Arabia today,” said Professor Chris Clarkson, co-lead scientist and Professor of Archaeology at Griffith University's Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution. “The combination of animal remains, stone tools and plant material in a single, dated context is what makes this discovery so significant.”

“Saudi Arabia has an exceptional archaeological heritage. Building Heritage Science capabilities in the Kingdom will enable us to turn the smallest traces into the biggest stories,” said Professor Laurence Hapiot, co-author and Head of Heritage Research at KAUST.

Massive burial sites persisted late into the Bronze Age in Spain

Trafalgar necropolis reveals ongoing use, and possibly construction, in 2nd millennium BC

Caption

Graves goods Tomb I and II. A. Gold earring; B. Dark green barrel-shaped necklace bead, highly polished, biconical central perforation; C. Spherical silver bead; D. Cylindrical, planar, whitish-yellow necklace bead with irregular edge; E. Metallic arrow; F. Cylindrical silver bead; G. Copper earring; H. Ivory comb.

Credit

Vijande-Vila et al., 2026, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Iberian people continued using, and possibly building, massive necropolises well into the Bronze Age, according to a study published November 11, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One by Eduardo Vijande-Vila of the University of Cádiz, Spain and colleagues.

During the Bronze Age, Iberian cultures moved away from large, collective tombs in favor of smaller individual burials. But this transition was not uniform, with some regions resisting this cultural shift. In this study, Vijande-Vila and colleagues describe the necropolis of Trafalgar in the Strait of Gibraltar as one of the latest megalithic burial structures in the region.

The necropolis of Trafalgar includes two known tombs, each with multiple individuals buried together. Radiocarbon dating of sixteen of these individuals demonstrate that both tombs were in use between 1875-1625 BC, indicating that cultures of southern Spain continued the use of large, collective tombs well into the 2nd millennium BC, among the latest known Iberian cultures to do so.

It remains unclear when this necropolis was originally built, but due to the lack of older materials recovered at the site, the authors hypothesize that the structure might have originated only slightly earlier, during the early 2nd millennium BC. Additional dating methods will be needed to confirm this, but if true, this site would be among the latest known megalithic projects to be built in the region.

There may be further undiscovered tombs at this site and therefore deeper insights into the history of Iberian burial practices. However, with the strong winds and shifting sands of the site’s surroundings, the necropolis is in danger of being buried again beneath the dunes. Future research will require ongoing maintenance to preserve this site.

The authors add: “The Trafalgar megalithic necropolis has revealed a highly significant finding. During the Bronze Age, an entirely new funerary space was constructed in a landscape dominated by the sea. We propose this hypothesis based on the absence of archaeological evidence for earlier occupation in the surrounding area. Until now, the evidence available for this period has primarily pointed to the reuse of megalithic monuments built during the Copper Age. This discovery offers a new perspective on funerary practices during this period and would demonstrate that new monumental burial spaces continued to be constructed”

 The freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/4zmZd0J

Citation: Vijande-Vila E, Becerra-Martín S, Morell-Rovira B, Díaz-Zorita Bonilla M, Molina-Piernas E, Muñoz-Muñoz A, et al. (2026) The last builders of megaliths in the South of the Iberian peninsula? The Bronze Age necropolis of Trafalgar (Barbate, Cádiz, Spain). PLoS One 21(11): e0359220. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0359220