Karin M Frei

Recent genetic, isotopic and linguistic research has dramatically changed our understanding of how the Corded Ware Culture in Europe was formed. Here the authors explain it in terms of local adaptations and interactions between migrant Yamnaya people from the Pontic-Caspian steppe and indigenous North European Neolithic cultures. The original herding economy of the Yamnaya migrants gradually gave way to new practices of crop cultivation, which led to the adoption of new words for those crops. The result of this hybridisation process was the formation of a new material culture, the Corded Ware Culture, and of a new dialect, Proto-Germanic. Despite a degree of hostility between expanding Corded Ware groups and indigenous Neolithic groups, stable isotope data suggest that exogamy provided a mechanism facilitating their integration.

ABSTRACT
Since the mid 1990s the National Museum of Denmark and Museum Vestsjælland have conducted excavations on two royal residential complexes from late Germanic Iron Age and Viking Age. During the excavations a range of samples were collected for macrofossil analysis. In two of these samples two seeds of vine grapes dated to the late Germanic Iron Age and the Viking Age were discovered. So far they are the oldest grape seeds discovered in the present Danish area.

One of the seeds was chosen for strontium isotope analysis in order to determine the provenance of the grape. The strontium isotopic composition of the grape seed yielded a 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.71091 (±0.00004; 2σ) which falls within Denmark’s strontium isotopic baseline range indicating that the seed could be of local origin.

Archaeological and historical evidence seem to point to that people in the Iron and Viking Age knew and consumed wine and even had access to gain potential know-how related to wine production. Hence, even though it is not possible to determine whether the two seeds found at Tissø are a result of either grape consumption (fresh or dried) or used for wine production, these finds point to that grapes and probably wine were products consumed by the elite at Tissø.

Historical documents record the operation of a silver mine from the 16th century AD located near the former village of Salberget in central Sweden. The historical record describes several categories of inhabitants , including local families, workers and miners, foreign engineers and mining specialists, as well as war captives and criminals used as forced labor in the mines. A church yard in the vicinity of the village served as a burial ground. Archaeological evidence indicates two distinct grave types (coffin and earthen) and physical anthropology documents differences in age and sex between these grave types, as well as harsh conditions of life. Strontium and oxygen isotopes have been used previously to investigate the place of origin of the cemetery inhabitants and clear differences among the types of graves were seen in the isotope results. Place of origin was more difficult to ascertain however. Here we utilize lead isotopes as an additional isotopic tracer to identify origins. The lead isotope investigations pinpoint several areas outside of the Sala region where some of the inhabitants originated. In addition, the study documents the benefits of using lead isotopes in human proveniencing studies.

Migrations and population dynamics are considered very problematic topics in the fields of ancient studies. Recent scholarship in (pre)historical population has generated new impulses by using scientific approaches using radiogenic and stable isotopes, and palaeogenetics, as well as computer simulation. As a result, the state of migration research has undergone rapid change. Several research groups presented papers at a conference held in Berlin in 2010, addressing specific historical aspects of population dynamics and migration, with no chronological or geographical restrictions, in the light of cutting-edge bio-archaeological research. This volume, divided into three larger thematic sections (isotope analysis, population genetics, and modelling and computer simulation), presents experiences and insights about methodological approaches, research results and prospects for future research in this area in a varied collection of papers. Scholars from widely diverse scientific disciplines present their approaches, findings and interpretations to an audience far broader than the circles of the individual disciplines

Das Grab aus Kruszyn, 2009 in Kujawien entdeckt, rechnet zu einer kleinen Regionalgruppe der Schnurkeramik. Es zeichnet sich durch einen verhältnismäßig guten Erhaltungszustand und untypisch zahlreiche,aus Knochen und Geweih gefertigte Werkzeugbeigaben aus. Die aufgedeckten sterblichen Überreste wurden anthropologisch und isotopisch analysiert (14C, δ13C, δ15N, 87Sr/86Sr, δ18O), organische Reste archäozoologisch und trassologisch untersucht wie auch Sedimentproben aus dem Umfeld der Bestattung studiert. Der Befund datiert in die 2. Hälfte des 3. Jahrtausends v. Chr. und weist im Hinblick auf seine Grabkonstruktion Ähnlichkeiten mit mitteleuropäischen, frühen schnurkeramischen Hügelgräbern auf. Bestattet wurde hier ein älterer Mann nicht einheimischer Herkunft, der sich zu Lebzeiten wahrscheinlich mit der Verarbeitung von Leder beschäf tigt hatte, wovon Spuren an ihm beigegebenen Werkzeugen aus Wildtierknochen zeugen. Im Grab konnten außerdem Rinderknochen und ein für spätneolithische Siedlungen jener Kultur typisches Gefäß entdeckt werden. La tombe de Kruszyn, découverte en 2009 dans la région de Cujavie, fait partie d’un petit groupe régional de la culture à céramique cordée. Elle est relativement bien conservée et se distingue par un riche assemblage d’outils, fabriqués en os et en cornes. Des analyses anthropologiques et des investigations isotope (14C, δ13C, δ15N, 87Sr/86Sr, δ18O) ont été menées sur les débris humains, les vestiges en matières organiques ont été examinés en appliquant les méthodes archéozoologiques et l’analyse fonctionnelle. On a aussi analysé les échantillons des sédiments de l’entourage de la tombe. La tombe date de la première moitié du IIIe millénaire av. J.-C. Pour ce qui est de sa construction, elle ressemble le plus aux tumuli d’Europe centrale du début de la culture à céramique cordée. Cette sépulture appartenait à un homme âgé qui n’était pas originaire de la Cujavie et qui, probablement, travaillait le cuir: les traces laissées sur les outils en os retrouvés auprès de lui en constituent la preuve. Ils ont été fabriqués avec des matières d’origine animale sauvage. Dans la tombe, on a aussi découvert des os de vache ainsi qu’une marmite typique pour les sites de peuplement du Néolithique final. Excavated in 2009, the barrow from Kruszyn (the Kujawy region) is related to a small regional group of the Corded Ware culture. Noteworthy is a fairly good state of its preservation and a remarkably numerous assemblage of tools made of bone and antler. Unearthed human remains were anthropologically studied and examined isotopically (14C, δ13C, δ15N, 87Sr/86Sr, δ18O), while artefacts made of organic material were subject to archaeozoological and use wear analyses. Samples of sediments surrounding the grave were also investigated. The grave dates back to the first half of the third millennium BC and in terms of its construction bears the closest resemblance to the Central European early Corded Ware barrows. It was a burial of a non-local elderly man, probably engaged in hide working in life, as evidenced by traces on the tools deposited with him in the grave and made from bones of wild animals. The grave yielded also cow bones and a pot typical for the late Neolithic settlement sites. Grób z Kruszyna, odkryty w 2009 r. na Kujawach, należy do niewielkiej regionalnej grupy kultury ceramiki sznurowej. Wyróżnia się on stosunkowo dobrym stanem zachowania oraz nietypowo licznym zbiorem narzędzi wykonanych z kości i poroża. Szczątki ludzkie poddano analizom antropologicznym i izotopowym (14C, δ13C, δ15N, 87Sr/86Sr, δ18O), dla zabytków z surowców organicznych wykonano badania archeozoologiczne i traseologiczne, przebadano również próbki osadów z otoczenia grobu. Grób pochodzi z 1. poł. 3 tys. przed Chr. i pod względem konstrukcyjnym wykazuje najbliższe podobieństwo do środkowoeuropejskich kurhanów wczesnosznurowych. Pochówek należał do starszego mężczyzny, pochodzącego spoza Kujaw, który najprawdopodobniej zajmował się obróbką skór, o czym świadczą ślady na znalezionych przy nim narzędziach. Wykonano je z surowców pochodzących od zwierząt dzikich. W grobie odkryto również kości krowy oraz garnek typowy dla późnoneolitycznych stanowisk osadowych.

ABSTRACT Walrus-tusk ivory and walrus-hide rope were highly desired goods in Viking Age north-west Europe. New finds of walrus bone and ivory in early Viking Age contexts in Iceland are concentrated in the south-west, and suggest extensive exploitation of nearby walrus for meat, hide and ivory during the first century of settlement. In Greenland, archaeofauna suggest a very different specialized long-distance hunting of the much larger walrus populations in the Disko Bay area that brought mainly ivory to the settlement areas and eventually to European markets. New lead isotopic analysis of archaeological walrus ivory and bone from Greenland and Iceland offers a tool for identifying possible source regions of walrus ivory during the early Middle Ages. This opens possibilities for assessing the development and relative importance of hunting grounds from the point of view of exported products.

ABSTRACT The important Viking Age and early Medieval site of Sebbersund in northern Jutland, Denmark, contains a large churchyard from the 11th–12th century AD. Sebbersund was an important trading center in this period and the location of one of the first churches in Denmark, perhaps an entry point for the introduction of Christianity to the country. Excavations have exposed almost 500 graves of an estimated 700 individuals in the cemetery. Here we report on the analysis of strontium isotopes in human tooth enamel from burials in the cemetery as a signal of place of birth. Some 19 samples have been measured and at least three non-local outliers identified. Futhermore, six archaeological fauna samples had been analyzed in order to define the local bioavailable strontium isotope baseline range and these values were compared to the more general bioavailable baseline range values for Denmark. The burials are evaluated in light of the available archaeological, chronological, anthropological, and isotopic information.

The Bronze Age of Eurasia (c. 3,000-1,000 years BC) was a period of major cultural changes accompanying the transition from hunting-gathering and farming into early urban civilization. It remains debated how these transitions shaped the distribution of the human populations. To investigate this we used new methodological improvements to sequence low coverage genomes from 101 ancient humans from across Eurasia, covering the entire Bronze Age including the late Neolithic and the Iron Age. We show that around 3,000 BC, Europe and Central Asia receive a major genetic input from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe through people related to the Yamnaya culture, resulting in the formation of the Corded Ware Culture in Europe and the Afanasievo Culture in Central Asia. A thousand years later, migrations from Europe into Central Asia, gives rise to the Sintashta and Andronovo Cultures. During later Bronze Age, the European-derived populations in Asia are gradually replaced by multi-ethnic cultures.

Ancient human mobility at the individual level is conventionally studied by the diverse application of suitable techniques (e.g. aDNA, radiogenic strontium isotopes, as well as oxygen and lead isotopes) to either hard and/or soft tissues. However, the limited preservation of coexisting hard and soft human tissues hampers the possibilities of investigating high-resolution diachronic mobility periods in the life of a single individual. Here, we present the results of a multidisciplinary study
of an exceptionally well preserved circa 3.400-year old Danish Bronze Age female find, known as the Egtved Girl. We applied biomolecular, biochemical and geochemical analyses to reconstruct her mobility and diet. We demonstrate that she originated from a place outside present day Denmark (the island of Bornholm excluded), and that she travelled back and forth over large distances during the final months of her life, while consuming a terrestrial diet with intervals of reduced protein intake. We also provide evidence that all her garments were made of non-locally produced wool. Our study advocates the huge potential of combining biomolecular and biogeochemical provenance tracer analyses to hard and soft tissues of a single ancient individual for the reconstruction of high- resolution human mobility.

Galgedil is a Viking Age cemetery located in the northern part of the Danish island of Funen. Excavations at the site revealed 54 graves containing 59 inhumations and 2 cremation burials. Previous study of the remains to date has included light isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in collagen (10 samples) and the radiocarbon determination of the age of 8 samples. In addition, aDNA was investigated in 10 samples from the cemetery. Here we report the analysis of strontium isotopes in human tooth enamel as a signal of place of birth. Some 36 samples have been measured and non-local outliers identified. Baseline levels of strontium isotope ratios in Denmark are discussed and documented. Our study also includes an in-depth consideration of the bioarcheology of the skeletal remains in terms of demography, paleopathology, and taphonomy. The burials are evaluated in light of the available archeological, chronological, anthropological, and isotope information available.

Scientific Reports | 5:10431 | DOI: 10.1038/srep10431

Karin Margarita Frei1,2, Ulla Mannering1,2, Kristian Kristiansen3, Morten E. Allentoft4,
Andrew S. Wilson5, Irene Skals1, Silvana Tridico6, Marie Louise Nosch2, Eske Willerslev4,
Leon Clarke7 & Robert Frei8,9


Ancient human mobility at the individual level is conventionally studied by the diverse application
of suitable techniques (e.g. aDNA, radiogenic strontium isotopes, as well as oxygen and lead
isotopes) to either hard and/or soft tissues. However, the limited preservation of coexisting hard
and soft human tissues hampers the possibilities of investigating high-resolution diachronic mobility
periods in the life of a single individual. Here, we present the results of a multidisciplinary study
of an exceptionally well preserved circa 3.400-year old Danish Bronze Age female find, known as
the Egtved Girl. We applied biomolecular, biochemical and geochemical analyses to reconstruct her
mobility and diet. We demonstrate that she originated from a place outside present day Denmark
(the island of Bornholm excluded), and that she travelled back and forth over large distances during
the final months of her life, while consuming a terrestrial diet with intervals of reduced protein
intake. We also provide evidence that all her garments were made of non-locally produced wool.
Our study advocates the huge potential of combining biomolecular and biogeochemical provenance
tracer analyses to hard and soft tissues of a single ancient individual for the reconstruction of highresolution
human mobility.

Authors: Karin M. Frei (a)*, Ashley N. Coutu (b), Konrad Smiarowski (c), Ramona Harrison (c), Christian K. Madsen (d), Jette Arneborg (d), Robert Frei (e), Gardar Guðmundsson (f), Søren M. Sindbæk (g), James Woollett (h), Steven Hartman (i), Megan Hicks (c) & Thomas H. McGovern (c)

Walrus-tusk ivory and walrus-hide rope were highly desired goods in Viking Age north-west Europe. New finds of walrus bone and ivory in early Viking Age contexts in Iceland are concentrated in the south-west, and suggest extensive exploitation of nearby walrus for meat, hide and ivory during the first century of settlement. In Greenland, archaeofauna suggest a very different specialized long-distance hunting of the much larger walrus populations in the Disko Bay area that brought mainly ivory to the settlement areas and eventually to European markets. New lead isotopic analysis of archaeological walrus ivory and bone from Greenland and Iceland offers a tool for identifying possible source regions of walrus ivory during the early Middle Ages. This opens possibilities for assessing the development and relative importance of hunting grounds from the point of view of exported products.

DOI:10.1080/00438243.2015.1025912 

Author affiliations (a) National Museum of Denmark, Environmental Archaeology and Material Science Laboratories (b) University of Cape Town (c) City University of New York (d) National Museum of Denmark (e) University of Copenhagen (f) Archaeological Institute of Iceland (g) Aarhus University (h) Université Laval in Quebec (i) Mid Sweden University

Author biographies
Karin Frei is a senior researcher at the National Museum of Denmark, Environmental Archaeology and Material Science Laboratories. Karin M. Frei conducted laboratory experiments on walrus tusks and developed methodological setup for lead isotope extraction from walrus tusks. Furthermore, contributed to the interpretation of the lead isotope data, to the writing of the manuscript and research grant application.

Ashley Coutu is a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellow currently based at the Dept. of Archaeology University of Cape Town South Africa. Ashely N. Coutu contributed with sample preparation and conducted laboratory experiments on walrus tusks guided by KMF and RF.

Konrad Smiarowski is a senior doctoral student specializing in Greenlandic zooarchaeology at the City University of New York Doctoral Program in Anthropology. Konrad Smiarowski carried out zooarchaeological analyses of bone collections from Greenland, provided quantitative data and contributed to writing.

Ramona Harrison is a post-doctoral fellow of the NSF funded Comparative Island Ecodynamics Project specializing in the zooarchaeology of Iceland, currently based at the Zooarchaeology Laboratory Hunter College City University of New York. Ramona Harrison contributed newly synthesized information on Icelandic zooarchaeological data and was involved in editing and writing.

Christian Koch Madsen is a post-doctoral researcher at the National Museum of Denmark specializing in the archaeology of Norse Greenland. Christian K. Madsen contributed with samples and archaeological data from Greenland, interpretation, writing and editing.

Jette Arneborg is Curator and senior researcher at the National Museum of Denmark specializing in the archaeology of Norse Greenland. Jette Arneborg contributed access to samples and archaeological data from Greenland, interpretation, writing and editing.

Robert Frei is Professor of Geochemistry and Research Group Leader at the Department of Geoscience and Natural Resource Management at the University of Copenhagen. Robert Frei provided access to the laboratory facilities at the Department of Geoscience and Natural Resource Management (University of Copenhagen). Conducted laboratory experiments on walrus tusks and developed methodological setup for lead isotope extraction from walrus tusks. Furthermore, contributed to the interpretation of the lead isotope data, to the writing of the manuscript and research grant application.

Gardar Guðmundsson is a senior researcher at the Archaeological Institute of Iceland, specializing in the archaeology of Iceland and Greenland. Gardar Guðmundsson organized the loan of the Icelandic walrus specimens.

Søren M. Sindbæk, is Professor at the Institute for Culture and Society Aarhus University, Moesgård and leader of the walrus ivory analysis project. Søren M. Sindbæk organized the sampling project and research grant application, and negotiated access to samples. Further, he contributed to the writing of the manuscript, including framing interpretation and research context.

James Woollett is Associate Professor at Université Laval in Quebec, specializing in the environmental archaeology of Labrador and Iceland. James Woollett contributed access to archaeological data, bibliographic research, writing and editing.

Steven Hartman is professor of English at Mid Sweden University and the coordinator of the NIES Nordic Network for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies http://www.miun.se/nies. Steven Hartman contributed review of Walrus references in Icelandic sagas, including textual analysis, interpretation and writing.

Megan Hicks is a senior doctoral student specializing in Icelandic zooarchaeology at the City University of New York Doctoral Program in Anthropology. Megan Hicks provided zooarchaeological data and contributed to writing.

Thomas H McGovern is professor at the City University Anthropology program and coordinator of the North Atlantic Biocultural Organization (NABO www.nabohome.org). Thomas H. McGovern contributed to writing, collecting zooarchaeological data sets and research grant application.

Archaeological textiles recovered on two occasions from the Huldremose bog, Denmark, represent some of the best preserved and complete garments from the Danish Iron Age (500 BC–AD 800). In order to address the question regarding the provenance of the textile's raw material, we applied a recently developed method based on strontium isotopes to wool and plant fibres from these ancient garments. Textile plant fibres from Huldremose I find are of non-local provenance, whereas the wool from which the garment was made stemmed from sheep grazing on glaciomoraine soils developed on Cretaceous–Tertiary carbonate platform sediments widely found in Denmark. The Huldremose II find consists of an unusually large and well preserved garment, which is composed of wool from at least three different provenances. One source is again local, whereas the other two sources, characterized by elevated 87Sr/86Sr ratios, are compatible with geologically older (Precambrian) terrains which are typical for Northern Scandinavia, e.g. Norway or Sweden. Our study suggests that wool and plant fibres were either traded or brought as raw materials for textiles more commonly and over longer distances than previously assumed.

Siden 2010 har museets tvær­videnskabelige forskningsprojekt ”Førkristne kultpladser” arbejdet på at identificere og tolke en ræk­ke førkristne, rituelle pladser fra det 1. årtusinde e.Kr. i Danmark. Her præsenteres en række af de foreløbige resultater. Projektet er finansieret af A.P. Møller & Hu­stru Chastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond til almene Formaal. Ud­gravningerne er støttet af Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, og blev foretaget i samarbejde med Kalundborg Museum. En blandt flere nye erkendelser er, at kulten var knyttet til faste steder ved pe­riodens store residenser, hvor stor­mændene antagelig også rådede for kultens udførelse i forbindelse med større samlinger af befolk­ningen.

Strontium isotopes are used in archaeology to reconstruct human and animal migration routes. We present results of a pilot study applying strontium isotope analyses to modern sheep hair as a basis for its potential use as a provenance tracer for ancient woollen textiles. Our hydrofluoric acid-based, lipid soluble analytical protocol, also tested on a number of ancient textile fibres, allows for contamination-free, low blank strontium isotope analysis of minimal amounts of archaeological material. 87Sr/86Sr ratios of decontaminated sheep hair agree well with the compositions of biologically available (soluble) strontium fractions from the respective feeding ground soils, a translatable requirement for any potentially successful provenance tracing applied to wool textiles.

By Karin M. Frei, Ashley N. Coutu, Konrad Smiarowski, Ramona Harrison, Christian K. Madsen, Jette Arneborg, Robert Frei, Gardar Guðmundsson, Søren M. Sindbæk, James Woollett, Steven Hartman, Megan Hicks and Thomas H. McGovern

Walrus-tusk ivory and walrus-hide rope were highly desired goods in Viking Age north-west Europe. New finds of walrus bone and ivory in early Viking Age contexts in Iceland are concentrated in the south-west, and suggest extensive exploitation of nearby walrus for meat, hide and ivory during the first century of settlement. In Greenland, archaeofauna suggest a very different specialized long-distance hunting of the much larger walrus populations in the Disko Bay area that brought mainly ivory to the settlement areas and eventually to European markets. New lead isotopic analysis of archaeological walrus ivory and bone from Greenland and Iceland offers a tool for identifying possible source regions of walrus ivory during the early Middle Ages. This opens possibilities for assessing the development and relative importance of hunting grounds from the point of view of exported products.

This paper follows the path forged by Kristian Kristiansen in his scholarship on ‘Travels, Transmissions and Transformations’.
Specifically, this investigation into Bronze Age textiles, skins, tools and techniques from Denmark, which also incorporates the strontiumisotope tracing system and textual evidence from the Mediterranean and Near East, adds the textile dimension to his impressive scholarly contribution. The various aspects of textiles highlight and demonstrate both similarities and differences in the archaeological record in the areas investigated. Even if it is not possible to make direct comparisons between southern and northern Europe in the Bronze Age, the various results clearly inspire and provide significant new insights into the production and consumption of textiles and the rise of Bronze Age societies.

Textile research has become an important field of archaeology. Although the established analytical methods are often viewed as specialized, their integration with other interdisciplinary approaches allows us to deal with broader archaeological issues and provides the interpretational base for much more comprehensive investigation of textiles in ancient times. Analyses of fibres, dyes, archaeobotanical and archaeozoological remains, as well as palaeoenvironmental and geochemical investigations, provide information about available resources, while tool studies, experimental testing, and visual grouping are approaches that explore the technology and techniques. Together, these approaches can provide new knowledge about textile production and consumption and, thereby, about people and society in ancient times.

The use of wool derived from sheep (Ovis aries) hair shafts is widespread in ancient and historic textiles. Given that hair can represent a valuable source of ancient DNA, wool may represent a valuable genetic archive for studies on the domestication of the sheep. However, both the quality and content of DNA in hair shafts are known to vary, and it is possible that common treatments of wool such as dyeing may negatively impact the DNA. Using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we demonstrate that in general, short fragments of both mitochondrial and single-copy nuclear DNA can be PCR-amplified from wool derived from a variety of breeds, regardless of the body location or natural pigmentation. Furthermore, although DNA can be PCR-amplified from wool dyed with one of four common plant dyes (tansy, woad, madder, weld), the use of mordants such as alum or iron leads to considerable DNA degradation. Lastly, we demonstrate that mtDNA at least can be PCR-amplified, cloned and sequenced from a range of archaeological and historic Danish, Flemmish and Greenlandic wool textile samples. In summary, our data suggest that wool offers a promising source for future ancient mitochondrial DNA studies.