title: Tracing residential mobility during the Merovingian period: An isotopic analysis of human remains from the Upper Rhine Valley, Germany.
abstract: Written sources have provided information about the rise of Merovingian power and their territorial conquests after the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire, but the extent to which altered power relations in the newly annexed territories reshaped regional and local communities is poorly understood. The early medieval cemetery of Dirmstein, located in the Upper Rhine Valley, is one of the rare sites bearing archeological evidence of simultaneous use by an indigenous community and newcomers from outside the Merovingian core area, and it offers the opportunity to investigate residential mobility at the former Roman Rhine frontier during the Merovingian period.
  
  
  
  We conducted strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope analyses on human tooth enamel recovered from 25 sixth century inhumations at the Dirmstein cemetery to establish the presence of newcomers to the Upper Rhine region.
  
  
  
  The low δ(13) C values exhibited by the Dirmstein individuals revealed ingestion of a C3 terrestrial based diet, with no detectable contribution of C4 plants, which indicates the absence of individuals from regions where a C4 -based diet was common. Human (87) Sr/(86) Sr values well outside the local range of bioavailable strontium, in combination with low δ(18) O values, suggest a notable presence of newcomers from more eastern or high altitude regions.
  
  
  
  The isotopic evidence indicates that residential mobility was important and new settlers, most likely from outside the Merovingian core area, contributed to the settlement of the northern Upper Rhine Valley during the sixth century AD.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School "Human Development in Landscapes,", Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, 24098, Germany.|Institute for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, 24098, Germany.|Leibniz Laboratory for Radiometric Dating and Stable Isotope Research, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, 24118, Germany.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schuh
authors.affiliation: Graduate School "Human Development in Landscapes,", Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, 24098, Germany.|Institute for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, 24098, Germany.
authors.forename: Cheryl A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Makarewicz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D055699:Cemeteries; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000737:chemistry; D004032:Diet / Q000266:history; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D049691:History, Medieval; D063426:Human Migration; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013325:Strontium Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D013325:Strontium Isotopes
keywords: Early Middle Ages; enamel carbonate; oxygen