Conspicuous burials in a Neolithic enclosure at Riedling (Bavaria, Germany) – A selection of individuals?

•A selected part of the population had been buried at the enclosure.•The burial population was drawn from different geographical zones.•(non) Local origin is not a factor in burial treatment.•People lived on a flexible multi-resource subsistence economy.•Sex differences in the daily diet with regard to the protein source are apparent. The Neolithic Münchshöfen culture in southern Germany (5th mill. BC) lacks formal burial sites. Primary, secondary and partial burials are evidenced instead. Using the enclosure at Riedling, the largest burial collective known in the area to date, we gained more information on subsistence strategy, population structure and admixture by stable isotope analysis of the human skeletons. The remains of 39 individuals were discovered in the enclosure and the osteological investigation indicates burial of selected individuals. Radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios revealed that nine out of 20 individuals were not local to the site and that some of them had even migrated during childhood. The nearest possible place of origin is found across the Danube river, which obviously did not constitute a geographical obstacle. Isotopic sourcing of collagen δ13C and δ15N ratios revealed marked sex differences in the daily diet and showed that at least some of the non-locals had lived on different diets. Diet and isotopic provenance did not correlate with burial rite and no clear social hierarchies could be inferred. Morphology combined with stable isotope analysis revealed a dynamic Neolithic population with a multi-resource subsistence economy and interaction across a topographical boundary.