Bronze Age Greeks moved as young adults, not families
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Researchers studying skeletal remains from archaeological sites in Greece determined that young adults, not entire families, largely drove migration during the Middle and Late Bronze Age.
The University of Gothenburg team analysed 199 individuals from southern and central Greece, using strontium isotope analysis to establish where people spent their childhoods. Their work challenges older ideas that women moved more often between communities through marriage.
The study revealed that between 5% to 10% of people in each community were born elsewhere, and these newcomers came from all social classes. Unlike previous assumptions, the researchers found similar numbers of nonlocal men and women. This suggests multiple factors motivated people to move, not just marriage patterns. The team’s findings indicate that migration happened primarily among individuals under 30, and no foreign-born children were identified in the study.
These results offer new insight into how communities changed during a period of significant economic and cultural development in the Mediterranean region.
