Mobility or migration: a case study from the Neolithic settlement of Nieder-Mo ¨ rlen (Hessen, Germany) Olaf Nehlich a, * , Janet Montgomery b , Jane Evans c , Sabine Schade-Lindig d , Sandra L. Pichler e , Mike P. Richards a , Kurt W. Alt f a Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany b Division of Archaeological, Geographical and Environmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD7 1DP, UK c NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, NG12 5GG, UK d Landesamt fu ¨r Denkmalpflege Hessen, Schloss Biebrich, 65203 Wiesbaden, Germany e Institute for Prehistory and Archaeological Science IPAS, University of Basel, Spalenring 145, 4055 Basel, Switzerland f Institute of Anthropology, University of Mainz, Colonel Kleinmann Weg 2, 55099 Mainz, Germany article info Article history: Received 10 June 2008 Received in revised form 6 April 2009 Accepted 10 April 2009 Keywords: Neolithic Linearbandkeramik Flomborn Mobility Carbon Nitrogen Strontium abstract A combination of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of collagen and radiogenic strontium isotope analysis of tooth enamel was used to investigate diet and mobility at the early Neolithic settlement of Nieder-Mo ¨rlen in Germany. The carbon and nitrogen ratios suggest a mixed terrestrial based diet that is consistent with data previously published for early Neolithic sites in Europe. The strontium isotope data indicate a high degree of human mobility with only one individual having an isotope ratio consistent with locally derived strontium. Unusually, a group of non-local juveniles with isotope ratios typical of upland regions is also present at the settlement but there are no adult burials with such values. Whilst transhumance is considered as an explanation, it would not explain why these non-local juveniles lived foreshortened lives and other possible mechanisms are therefore discussed. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The transition from hunting and gathering to the husbandry of animals and plants was arguably the greatest subsistence change made by prehistoric humans. Evidence for this major change has been found in many dietary and migratory studies, using stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes and radiogenic strontium isotopes, respectively. The sudden change of diet from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic has been demonstrated in several studies (Lillie, 1998; Richards et al., 2003a,b), as has the presence of migrants of different geographic origins in prehistoric settlements (Bentley et al., 2002, 2004; Price et al., 2004). It has to be questioned whether these migrants are indicative of a discrete permanent relocation, e.g. chain migration, or whether they result from localised social strategies, such as transhumance, during childhood, i.e. circulation within the home region (Anthony, 1997; Tilly, 1978). 2. The settlement of Nieder-Mo ¨ rlen Around 5400 BC the Rhineland and the Wetterau was settled, during the earliest Linearbandkeramik (LBK) phase. A few genera- tions later, a new style of pottery marks the earliest Flomborn phase of LBK. The origin of these settlers is unclear; it is not known whether the adoption of the Neolithic package occurred as a result of diffusion or migration of people (Gronenborn, 1999a). The basin of the Butzbacher Becken in the Wetterau region, Hessen (Germany), is covered with a thick layer of loess and bounded by the rivers Usa and Wetter (Fig. 1). The region thus provides excel- lent conditions for agriculture and animal domestication and the earliest settlements in the area occur here. One such Neolithic settlement was excavated between 1997 and 2001 at Nieder-Mo ¨ r- len, a district of Bad Nauheim (Schade-Lindig and Schwitalla, 2003). Excavation results indicate that people settled at Nieder-Mo ¨ rlen throughout the LBK (Schade-Lindig and Schmitt, 2003). In addition to quite different ceramics, numerous idol figurines were found, leading Schade-Lindig (2002) to suggest that the settlement was a special ritual place in Neolithic times. Furthermore, there is evidence to support the site being a centre of textile manufacturing * Corresponding author. Fax: þ49 341 3550 399. E-mail address: olaf@nehlich.com (O. Nehlich). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas 0305-4403/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.04.008 Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 1791–1799