Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40834070›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

Spatiotemporal reconstruction of Corded Ware and Bell Beaker burial rituals reveals complex dynamics divergent from steppe ancestry.

Quentin P J Bourgeois, Florian Helmecke, Louise Olerud, Igor Djakovic, M Guadalupe Castro Gonzales, Erik Kroon

Abstract readHistorical Article
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Late Neolithic 'decline' is a grave question.Nature ecology & evolution · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Quentin P J BourgeoisFaculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-7518-2142
Florian HelmeckeFaculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, Netherlands.ORCID 0009-0006-2483-5864
Louise OlerudFaculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, Netherlands.ORCID 0009-0008-5696-2862
Igor DjakovicFaculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, Netherlands.
M Guadalupe Castro GonzalesCISPAC - Santiago de Compostela University, Edificio Fontán, Cidade da Cultura S/N, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-4061-0407
Erik KroonFaculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-9019-2621

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Understanding how the dispersal of cultural innovations intersects with the spread of genes remains a central challenge in prehistoric archaeology. Here, we examine how the third millennium BCE Corded Ware (CW) and Bell Beaker (BB) burial traditions disseminated across Europe and their relation to the influx of steppe ancestry. To investigate these spatiotemporal dynamics during one of Europe's most transformative periods, we compiled a dataset of radiocarbon dates from 967 burials, applying kernel density estimation alongside optimal linear estimation. We show that the adoption of CW and BB funerary rites is not synchronized with, and often contradicts, the spread of steppe ancestry. Furthermore, we show that these burial traditions spread rapidly and polyfocally among dispersed communities before a brief yet continent-wide consolidation phase around 2600 BCE for CW and 2400 BCE for BB, suggesting broad, simultaneous societal changes among preliterate societies.

Indexed as

BurialCeremonial BehaviorFuneral RitesArchaeologyEuropeHistory, AncientHumansRadiometric DatingSpatio-Temporal Analysis

Identifiers

PMID40834070
PMCPMC13155569

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.