Mobility and community at Mesolithic Lake Onega, Karelia, north-west Russia: insights from strontium isotope analysis.

ABSTRACT: This study investigates the underlying mechanisms driving the formation of the largest known burial site of the Northern European Mesolithic, Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov (YOO). Radiogenic strontium isotope analysis (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) was used to identify group dynamics within the cemetery and examine the site's place within local and supra-regional networks. The analysis of 57 humans and 31 animals was supported by the creation of an environmental baseline which identified four key geological zones and defines the strontium characteristics of Lake Onega. Only two individuals had strontium values indicating time spent outside of Lake Onega's northern shores, where the majority of the burial population is likely to have resided. These results suggest that the YOO cemetery predominan

SUBMITTER: Eckelmann R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11685259 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature