Fig 1.
Plot of all pins with radiocarbon dates from Singen and the Augsburg region.
Pin types with more than two dates are supplemented with a sum calibration (black) to show their overall timespan [2].
Fig 2.
Overview of the sites in southern Germany and Switzerland used for analysis.
To provide a better overview, circles are used to represent clusters of dots: 1 Altenmarkt, Osterhofen Am Stadtwald; 2 Aschheim, Feldkirchner Feld; 3 Aschheim, Kita; 4 Aschheim, Sportplatz; 5 Aschheim, Südlich Postfachzentrum; 6 Barmaz I; 7 Bergheim, Förchenaufeld; 8 Bex-les Mûriers; 9 Birch, Düdingen, 10 Birmensdorf, Rameren; 11 Blankburg, Am Burgfeld; 12 Bobenheim-Roxheim, Ernst Roth Straße/Neubau Korz; 13 Bulle, Le Terraillet; 14 Buxheim, Bierwegparallele; 15 Buxheim, Dünzlau; 16 Chables, Les Biolleyres; 17 Chieming, Grabenstätt; 18 Desching, Mühläcker; 19 Donath, Sursés; 20 Eching, BMW-Lager; 21 Eching, Dietersheim; 22 Eching, Hirmerfeld und Liebigstrasse; 23 Enney, Le Bugnon; 24 Fällanden, Fröschbach; 25 Freiham, Gut Freiham; 26 Friedberg, Metzgerwäldchen; 27 Germering, Breslauer Strasse; 28 Grossmehring, Strassgwender; 29 Grünwald, Gymnasium; 30 Günzburg, Ulmer Strasse; 31 Harthausen b. Feldhausen, Bühl, Hügel 1; 32 Haunstetten, Postillionstrasse; 33 Haunstetten, Unterer Talweg 109-111-113; 34 Haunstetten, Unterer Talweg 58–62; 35 Haunstetten, Unterer Talweg 85; 36 Heroldingen, Hoppingen; 37 Hilterfingen, Schlosspark Hünegg; 38 Hilterfingen, Im Äbnit/Tannbühlstrasse; 39 Hundersingen, Weidenhang, Hügel; 40 Hurlach, Mitterfeld; 41 Ingolstadt-Mailing, MIBA-Gelände; 42 Ingolstadt, Carraraplatz; 43 Kleinaitingen, Gewerbegebiet Nord; 44 Kleinaitingen, Herbst- und Friedenstrasse; 45 Kleinprüfening, Buchschlag; 46 Königsbrunn, Afra- und Augustusstrasse; 47 Königsbrunn, Kiesgrube Burkhart; 48 Königsbrunn, Obere Kreuzstrasse; 49 Königsbrunn, Simpertstrasse; 50 Koppigen, Usserfeld; 51 Kösching, Frühlingsstrasse; 52 Kraiburg, Römerstrasse; 53 Laax, Salums; 54 Maisach-Gernlinden, Südumgehung; 55 Maisach, Frauenstrasse; 56 Mammendorf, Bürgermeister-Drexler-Bogen; 57 Manching, Hundsruckenacker; 58 Manching, Westenhausen; 59 Marching, Gangsteig; 60 Mehrstetten, Oberes Häule Hügel 2; 61 Menning, Bachberg; 62 Möttingen, Baadfeld; 63 München-Trudering, Friesen- und Karpfenstrasse, 64 München, Stegmühlstrasse; 65 Murten, Löwenberg; 66 Mutterstadt, Auf dem Limburg; 67 Neftenbach I (Steinmöri); 68 Neftenbach II (Zürichstrasse 55); 69 Nersingen, Leibi, Steinegert; 70 Nersingen, Leibi; 71 Nördlingen-Baldingen, am Mühlweg Ost; 72 Oberottmarshausen, Kiesgrube Lauter; 73 Poing, Nord; 74 Poing, Siemensgelände; 75 Posieux, Châtillon; 76 Raisting, Langpommer-Äcker; 77 Rohrenfels; 78 Rüthi, Hirschensprung; 79 Schwabmünchen, Mittelstetten; 80 Singen am Hohentwiel; 81 Sion, Petit-Chasseur I; 82 Sion, Petit-Chasseur II; 83 Sion, Petit-Chasseur III; 84 Spiez-Einigen, Holleeweg 3; 85 Tafers, Kiesgrube Zelgli; 86 Thun, Wiler; 87 Tiengen, Eidöre/Auf dem Buck, Hügel A; 88 Triesen, Fürst-Johann-Strasse 40; 89 Unterbrunnham, Wagenau Hügel 16; 90 Unterelchingen, Obstgartenstrasse; 91 Untermeitingen; 92 Upflamör, Lautrieb Hügel 11; 93 Lausanne, Vidy; 94 Vufflens-la Ville, En Sency; 95 Wehringen, Hochfeld; 96 Weichering, Toter Mann; 97 Zuchering, Süd; 98 Zurzach, Schlosspark Himmelreich. Basic vector map of Europe; the isohypses were produced by using Copernicus data and information funded by the European Union—EU-DEM layers https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3457998 [17].
Fig 3.
Newly radiocarbon-dated graves.
1–2 Donath, Sursés grave 3A; 3 Donath, Sursés grave 3B; 4–10 Enney, Le Bugnon grave 1; 11 Posieux, Châtillion; 12 Tafers, Kiesgrube Zelgli. Drawings 1–3 after Spindler 1973 [27]; 4–10 after Abels 1972 [28]; 11 after Ramseyer 1990 [29]; 12 after Abels 1972 [28]. Scale 1:4.
Table 1.
Results of new radiocarbon dating of Early Bronze Age graves in Switzerland.
Fig 4.
Comparison of methods for summarizing a set of 40 radiocarbon dates.
The open diamonds show the randomly selected dates in the range AD 100–AD 500, the light gray crosses show the medians of the likelihood distributions of the calibrated dates and the black crosses the medians of the marginal posterior distributions for each dated event. Panel (a) shows the sum of the likelihoods. Panels (b), (c), and (d) all use the marginal posteriors from the same simple single uniform phase model with a start and end boundary (Bronk Ramsey 2009 [37]): panel (b) shows the sum of the marginal posteriors, panel (c) shows the marginal posterior for an event simply constrained to lie between the start and end boundary, and panel (d) shows a kernel density plot based on the dated events constrained to be within the phase. Panel (e) is a KDE plot generated from samples randomly taken from the likelihood distributions. Panel (f) shows the effect of applying the KDE_Model model which uses the KDE distribution as a factor in the likelihood (see text). Panel (g) shows a kernel density plot of the original calendar dates chosen from the range AD 100–AD 500: ideally this is the distribution that the other estimates should reproduce. The overlaid green and red distributions with their associated ranges show the marginal posterior for the First and Last events within the series: these should overlap at 95% with the first and last open diamonds which are the actual first and last events sampled; this is the case for those based on the uniform phase model and the KDE model but not those based on the unconstrained Sum or KDE plot. Graphic credits Bronk Ramsey, 2017 [46].
Fig 5.
Results of the regressive reciprocal averaging seriation of the radiocarbon-dated burials from southern Germany.
Y axis: graves; X axis: finds; point size: percentage of finds in the grave.
Fig 6.
A selection of graves from the Early and Middle Bronze Age phases.
Drawings after Krause 1988 [5], Hafner and Suter 1998 [10], Kimmig and Unser 1954 [50] and Müller and Lorke 2009 [13]. Scale 1:4.
Fig 7.
Highest posterior density intervals for the estimated start and end of each Bronze Age phase and KDE plot visualization of the overall distribution of dated events within each phase.
These are derived from a Bayesian model defined by the OxCal code provided as supplementary information. The individual dates are constrained by the information incorporated in the model.
Table 2.
Modelled time spans for each phase and transition after S2 Data.
Fig 8.
Gaussian boundary of the transitions between Bz A1 and A2 and Bz A2 and B; both 1σ and 2σ probability intervals are marked.
Fig 9.
Distribution of Bronze Age eyelet pins from graves in Europe.
1 Eulau, cemetery 3, grave 4 (Bef. 338); 2 Schiepzig; 3 Eulau, cemetery 7, Bef. 1; 4 Oechlitz, grave Bef. 25942; 5 Praha-Miškovice, grave 8; 6 Eulau, cemetery 4, grave Bef. 492; 7 Praha-Miškovice, grave 21; 8 Leubingen, central grave; 9 Praha-Miškovice, grave 19; 10 Stöbnitztal/Oberwünsch, ICE-Trasse, grave (rechter Hocker), Bef. 290; 11 Dörstewitz/Schkopau, grave Bef. 80189; 12 Stedten; 13 Praha-Miškovice, grave 33; 14 Dörstewitz/Schkopau, grave Bef. 80198; 15 Praha-Miškovice, grave 32; 16 Benzingerode, grave 14; 17 Helmsdorf, central grave; 18 Eulau, cemetery 3, grave 5 (Bef. 342); 19 Eulau, cemetery 3, grave 5 (Bef. 342); 20 Bad Lauchstädt, grave Bef. 60483; 21 Spiez-Einigen, grave 2; 22 Bad Lauchstädt, grave Bef. 60481; 23 Bad Lauchstädt, grave Bef. 60651; 24 Kleinaitingen, Gewerbegbiet Nord grave 37; 25 Spiez-Einigen, grave 1; 26 Krajeńskie, Hexenberg, grave 91; 27 Spiez-Einigen, grave 2008.1; 28 Donath-Surses, grave 3A; 29 Spiez-Einigen, grave 2008.2. The data are from Knoll and Meller 2015 [48]and Massy 2018 [8].
Fig 10.
Calibrated radiocarbon and dendro dates from burials with Bronze Age eyelet pins in Europe.
In Switzerland and Southern Germany only eyelet pins of type 1, 5 and 7 are found in burials. The data are from Knoll and Meller 2015 [48] and Massy 2018 [8].
Fig 11.
KDE_models of different regions according to their burial rites.
The most striking changes take place between 1650 and 1550 at the transition from the Early Bronze Age to the Late Bronze Age. The most important of these are the emergence of burial mounds and cremations. The red bar marks the period of these changes.
Fig 12.
Overview of the main transformations during the European Bronze Age based on radiocarbon-dated burials.
Dark colors show the kernel density plots and bright colors show the sum calibrations of the different phases (S5 File). (A) Modeled Phases in Switzerland and southern Germany; (B) KDE model of burial rites in Switzerland; (C) KDE model of burial rites in southern Germany.