The Not Very Patrilocal European Neolithic: Strontium, aDNA, and Archaeological Kinship Analyses

Two decades of strontium isotope research on Neolithic European burials – reinforced by high-profile ancient DNA studies – has led to widespread interpretations that these were patrilocal societies, implying significant residential mobility for women. The Not Very Patrilocal European Neolithic questions that narrative from a social anthropological perspective on kinship. It introduces models for inferring residence and descent with isotope and genetic data and provides in-depth descriptions of archaeological kinship analysis. From social anthropological insights to reassessments of data, an alternative perspective on the social dynamics of Neolithic European societies emerges from this new guide for prehistorians working with biological and archaeological materials.

Table of Contents:
Preface and Acknowledgments ; Introduction ; Corporate Kin Groups, Marriage, Residence, and Postmortem Location ; Neolithic European Kinship: Dental Strontium Isotope Ratios ; Neolithic European Kinship: aDNA ; ‘Supporting Evidence’ ; Archaeological Kinship Analysis ; Neolithic European Kinship: Archaeology ; The Very Bilocal, Bilateral European Neolithic ; Glossary ; References Index

About the Author :
Bradley E. Ensor (PhD 2003, University of Florida) is a professor of anthropology at Eastern Michigan University (2003-present). He teaches archaeology, social anthropology, and physical anthropology. His research addresses theory and methods in archaeology, bioarchaeology, and ethnology emphasizing the intersections of political economy, kinship, and gender. His publications include Crafting Prehispanic Maya Kinship (2013), The Archaeology of Kinship (2013), Oysters in the Land of Cacao (2020), 17 journal articles, and 7 chapters in edited volumes.

Review :
‘Dieses Buch ist eine heftige, manchmal provokative Infragestellung älterer und neuerer Hypothesen über die Gestaltung und Struktur gesellschaftlicher Beziehungen, insbesondere von Heiratsregeln und Verwandtschaftsstrukturen. Sowohl Archäologie als auch Bioarchäologie werden durch diese Argumentation eindeutig bereichert: Vor allem nimmt man die Lehre mit, dass sozialanthropologische Blickwinkel unentbehrlich sind, und dass es sehr wünschenswert wäre, eine Datenbank zu Praktiken des Neolithikums (und des Chalkolithikums, der Bronzezeit) aufzubauen und benutzen.’ [translated: This book is a vigorous, sometimes provocative questioning of older and newer hypotheses about the design and structure of social relations, particularly marriage rules and kinship structures. Both archaeology and bioarchaeology are clearly enriched by this argumentation: Above all, one takes away the lesson that social-anthropological perspectives are indispensable, and that it would be highly desirable to build and use a database on Neolithic (and Chalcolithic, Bronze Age) practices.] – Eszter Bánffy (2023): GERMANIA 101