Papers by Helene Agerskov Rose
In: Beyond Urnfields – New Perspectives on Late Bronze Age – Early Iron Age Funerary Practices in Northwest Europe, edited by H. A. Rose, L. Christensen and A. J. Louwen, 2023
Urnfields were archaeologically recognised in Denmark in the late 19th century and the definition... more Urnfields were archaeologically recognised in Denmark in the late 19th century and the definition of the Pre-Roman Iron Age was largely based on these. Aarupgaard urnfield in southern Jutland was first registered in the 1890s, but it was not until 1947 that the first small archaeological excavation of the site was carried out, and in 1970–1972 the majority of the 60,000 m2 urnfield was excavated. The urnfield is orientated approximately north-south with a large Bronze Age mound as initiation point, and it contains up to 1,500 urn graves dating to the Pre-Roman Iron Age (c. 500– 100 BC). Individual urn graves were covered by small barrows within a circular ditch with two to six interruptions. Well-preserved barrows were found to be further demarcated by kerbstones or wooden posts. Besides ceramic urns, approximately one third of the 1,200 recovered graves contained burial goods connected to the personal dress attire, mostly pins and belt equipment of iron. This paper reports on the research history of Aarupgaard and on a new initiative to register and digitalise the vast archaeological find material and excavation documentation. We conclude that Aarupgaard urnfield holds a great research potential and offers unique insights into the population of southern Jutland in the Pre-Roman Iron Age.
PLOS ONE, 2024
Chronological frameworks based on artefact typologies are essential for interpreting the archaeol... more Chronological frameworks based on artefact typologies are essential for interpreting the archaeological record, but they inadvertently treat transitions between phases as abrupt events and disregard the temporality of transformation processes within and between individual phases. This study presents an absolute chronological investigation of a dynamic material culture from Early Iron Age urnfields in Denmark. The chronological framework of Early Iron Age in Southern Scandinavia is largely unconstrained by absolute dating, primarily due to it coinciding with the so-called 'Hallstatt calibration plateau' (c.750 to 400 cal BC), and it is difficult to correlate it with Central European chronologies due to a lack of imported artefacts. This study applies recent methodological advances in radiocarbon dating and Bayesian chronological modelling, specifically a statistical model for wood-age offsets in cremated bone and presents the first large-scale radiocarbon investigation of regional material culture from Early Iron Age in Southern Jutland, Denmark. Dated material is primarily cremated bone from 111 cremation burials from three urnfields. The study presents absolute date ranges for 16 types of pottery and 15 types of metalwork, which include most of the recognised metalwork types from the period. This provides new insights into gradual change in material culture, when certain artefact types were in production and primary use, how quickly types were taken up and later abandoned, and distinguishing periods of faster and slower change. The study also provides the first absolute chronology for the period, enabling correlation with chronologies from other regions. Urnfields were introduced at the Bronze-Iron Age transformation, which is often assumed to have occurred c.530-500 BC. We demonstrate that this transformation took place in the 7 th century BC, however, which revives the discussion of whether the final Bronze Age period VI should be interpreted as a transitional phase to the Iron Age.
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 2024
This study presents the first extensive radiocarbon dating programme of Bronze Age material from ... more This study presents the first extensive radiocarbon dating programme of Bronze Age material from northern Germany, and it combines radiocarbon dates, relative typo-chronological date ranges, and stratigraphic data within a Bayesian chronological framework. We estimate the cemetery complex at Mang de Bargen (Bornhöved, distr. Segeberg, Schleswig-Holstein) to be in use for more than two millennia, which is exceptionally long in northern Germany and in a wider European context. The site provides a unique insight into the dynamic nature of burial monuments and associated burial practices, from the Late Neolithic and into the Pre-Roman Iron Age (c. 2500-50 BC). The barrow building tradition lasted around a millennium (c. 2350-1300 BC), with several barrows in concurrent use. The barrows were persistently re-used as burial ground, both within 'living memory' of the primary graves, but also long after. The burial intensity varied over the cemetery's use-life, with distinct peaks in the Late Neolithic, when the first barrows were erected; in the Older Bronze Age when more barrows were erected; in the Younger Bronze Age, when secondary cremation graves were added to existing barrows; and finally in the Pre-Roman Iron Age, with the addition of an urnfield. The funerary rituals vary considerably over the period: from inhumation to cremation, and from primary and secondary graves in barrows to flat graves. Cremation was introduced in the 14th century BC but inhumation and cremation were used in parallel for around a century before the former ritual was abandoned c. 1300 BC. The study provides absolute chronological distributions of the grave types present at Mang de Bargen and shows them to be comparable to other sites at a regional and over-regional scale, successfully demonstrating how new types were quickly adopted across large parts of northwestern Europe.
Arkæologi i Slesvig / Archäologie in Schleswig, volume 19 (2022), pp. 155-165, 2023
Aarupgaard urnfield is situated in Southern Jutland, between Gram and Ribe, and visitors can stil... more Aarupgaard urnfield is situated in Southern Jutland, between Gram and Ribe, and visitors can still today catch a glimpse of the largest barrows in the tall grass. The urnfield was discovered in the late 19th century and although minor excavations were carried out over the years, it was excavated almost in its entirety by Erik Jørgensen from Museum Sønderjylland in 1970 – 1972. The excavations revealed c. 1300 well-preserved urnfield graves, making Aarupgaard the largest known urnfield in Denmark. Aarupgaard urnfield has the potential to become a cornerstone in our understanding of Early Iron Age societies, but although many years have passed since its excavation and the material has been included in more projects over the years, the site has never been fully published. A working group was therefore established in 2018, with the aim of preparing Aarupgaard urnfield for publication. Digital registration of the archival material alone is a onsiderable task, but this is hopefully not the last we hear of Aarupgaad urnfield.
Eisenzeitliche Erinnerungskulturen. Zum Umgang eisenzeitlicher Gemeinschaften mit Relikten der Vergangenheit, edited by R. Schumann, M. Augstein, J. Fries-Knoblach, S. Gentner, M. Kirchmayr, M. Kohle and H. Wendling, 2023
Absolute dating in the Hallstatt period is limited by the scarcity of dendrochronological dates a... more Absolute dating in the Hallstatt period is limited by the scarcity of dendrochronological dates and the perception that 14C dating is futile, due to the calibration plateau between c.750 and 400 cal BC. We present the results of new AMS 14C dates from a stratified burial sequence at Dietfurt an der Altmühl ”Tennisplatz”. This sequence is situated entirely on the ‘Hallstatt plateau’, but by combining 14C dating with taphonomic and horizontal as well as vertical stratigraphic information, we provide an absolute estimate for the Ha C-Ha D transition and for burials with characteristic metal grave-goods. At Dietfurt the Ha C– Ha D transition probably occurred before 650 cal BC, and defining objects for Ha D1 like a fibula with loop (Schlangenfibel S4) date well before 620 BC, the currently accepted start of Ha D. We discuss three scenarios for this remarkable result: 1) human errors during excavation, sampling etc.; 2) regional differences in start of Ha D across the Hallstatt world; 3) an earlier overall start of Ha D than currently assumed. While we exclude systematic errors (scenario 1), scenarios 2 and 3 both seem possible.
Arkæologi i Slesvig / Archäologie in Schleswig 19 · 2022 , 2023
Aarupgaard urnfield is situated in Southern Jutland, between Gram and Ribe, and visitors can stil... more Aarupgaard urnfield is situated in Southern Jutland, between Gram and Ribe, and visitors can still today catch a glimpse of the largest barrows in the tall grass. The urnfield was discovered in the late 19th century and although minor excavations were carried out over the years, it was excavated almost in its entirety by Erik Jørgensen from Museum Sønderjylland in 1970 – 1972. The excavations revealed c. 1300 well-preserved urnfield graves, making Aarupgaard the largest known urnfield in Denmark.
Aarupgaard urnfield has the potential to become a cornerstone in our
understanding of Early Iron Age societies, but although many years have passed since its excavation and the material has been included in more projects over the years, the site has never been fully published. A working group was therefore established in 2018, with the aim of preparing
Aarupgaard urnfield for publication. Digital registration of the archival material alone is a considerable task, but this is hopefully not the last we hear of Aarupgaard urnfield.
Archaeol Anthropol Sci, 2022
This study is first attempt to refine Early Iron Age absolute chronology, specifically the timing... more This study is first attempt to refine Early Iron Age absolute chronology, specifically the timing of the Hallstatt C-D transition in southern Germany, using Bayesian chronological modelling of radiocarbon (14 C) dates. The Hallstatt period (c.800-450 BC) marks the transition from prehistory to proto-history in Central Europe. The relative chronological framework for Hallstatt burials developed by the mid-twentieth century is still used today, but absolute dating is limited by the scarcity of dendrochronological dates and the perception that 14 C dating in the Hallstatt period (HaC-HaD) is futile, due to the calibration plateau between c.750 and 400 cal BC. We present new AMS 14 C dates on 16 HaC-HaD burials from a stratified sequence at Dietfurt an der Altmühl 'Tennisplatz' (Bavaria, Germany). This sequence is situated entirely on the 'Hallstatt plateau', but by combining 14 C dating with osteological, stratigraphic, and typological information, we demonstrate that the plateau is no longer the 'catastrophe' for archaeological chronology once envisaged. Taking into account dendrochronological dating elsewhere, we show that at Dietfurt, the HaC-HaD transition almost certainly occurred before 650 cal BC, and most likely between 685 and 655 cal BC (68.3% probability), several decades earlier than usually assumed. We confirm the accuracy and robustness of this estimate by sensitivity testing. We suggest that it is now possible, and essential, to exploit the increased precision offered by AMS measurement and the IntCal20 14 C calibration curve to re-evaluate absolute chronologies in Early Iron Age Europe and equivalent periods in other regions.
Radiocarbon, 2020
Experimental studies have shown that significant carbon exchange occurs between bone-apatite and ... more Experimental studies have shown that significant carbon exchange occurs between bone-apatite and the pyre atmosphere during cremation, which can cause a calendar date offset between the radiocarbon (14C) event and the date of cremation. There are limited empirical data available to assess the magnitude of such wood-age offsets, but the aim of this paper is to test if they can be modeled statistically. We present new 14C dates on modern bone cremated in realistic open-air experiments and on archaeological samples of cremated bone and associated organic material. Experimental results demonstrate a wide range of carbon exchange with a mean of 58.6 ± 14.8%. Archaeological results indicate that the wood-age offsets have an approximately exponential distribution. We test whether the default Charcoal Outlier_Model in OxCal v4.3, developed to reduce the impact of wood-age offsets in dates of charcoal, is appropriate for cremated bone, but find that it slightly underestimates apparent offsets. To counter the intrinsic age of both pyre fuel and unburned bio-apatite, we instead propose a bespoke Cremation Outlier_Model, which combines an exponential distribution of calendar age offsets with a minimum offset, and provides better estimates of the actual dates of cremations.
The Holocene, 2019
Long-held ideas concerning early Neolithic Linearbandkeramik (LBK) settlements in central Europe ... more Long-held ideas concerning early Neolithic Linearbandkeramik (LBK) settlements in central Europe have been thoroughly challenged in recent years, for example regarding their internal organization (Rück, 2013) or the use-life of individual houses (Schmidt et al., 2006). These topics have now also been addressed with the help of large radiocarbon (14 C) datasets (Jakucs et al., 2016; Jakucs et al., 2018; Oross et al., 2013 (2016)-b). In the light of this discussion, we present findings of our ongoing research at Vráble in southwestern Slovakia. Intensive prospection by fieldwalking, geophysics and sedimentology, complemented by targeted excavations and archaeobotanical investigations, aims to unravel social and temporal relationships between three adjacent LBK settlements. Twenty-three of the c.300 houses revealed by geophysical prospection have been dated. Bayesian chronological modelling of this dataset, comprising 109 14 C ages from 104 samples, indicates that the three LBK settlements at Vráble coexisted, and that overall the LBK settlement lasted for c.200-300 years. Our results imply a 'short' use-life for individual houses (median c.20-30y), suggesting that relatively few houses were inhabited simultaneously. Our data suggest that the overall LBK population at Vráble might have increased over the course of occupation, but probably never exceeded 200-300 individuals, based on the number of houses that could have been occupied contemporaneously. We compare the Vráble evidence to Bayesian chronologies for other LBK sites, and
Radiocarbon, 2019
Radiocarbon (14 C) results on cremated bone are frequently published in high-ranking journals, bu... more Radiocarbon (14 C) results on cremated bone are frequently published in high-ranking journals, but 14 C laboratories employ different pretreatment methods as they have divergent perceptions of what sources of contaminants might be present. We found pretreatment protocols to vary significantly between three laboratories (Brussels [RICH], Kiel [KIA], and Groningen [CIO]), which all have a long history of dating cremated bone. We present a case study of 6 sets of replicate dates, to compare laboratory pretreatment protocols, and a further 16 sets of inter-laboratory replicate measurements, which compare specific steps of the conversion and measuring process. The 14 C results showed dates to be reproducible between the laboratories and consistent with the expected archaeological chronology. We found that differences in pretreatment, conversion to CO 2 and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurement to have no measurable influence on the majority of obtained results, suggesting that any possible diagenesis was probably restricted to the most soluble ≤5% of each sample, as this proportion of the sample mass was removed under all laboratory protocols.
Zentrum für Baltische und Skandinavische Archäologie. Jahresbericht, 2017
Radiocarbon, 2018
Multiple burial in medieval burial grounds are often interpreted as a result of disease, but it i... more Multiple burial in medieval burial grounds are often interpreted as a result of disease, but it is difficult to test such hypotheses, as most acute infectious diseases leave no visible evidence on skeletal material. Scientific dating can potentially associate multiple burials with historically documented epidemics, but the precision required to exclude alternative explanations would normally be attainable only by dendrochronology. Here, we argue that by combining archaeological, osteological and paleodiet research in a Bayesian framework, we can exploit differences in dietary reservoir effects to refine the dates of multiple burials, and potentially date such events to within a range of <20 years. We present new radiocarbon (14C) and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) results from a medieval multiple grave at St Alban’s Odense, on the island of Funen in central Denmark. We show the ca. 150-yr spread in 14C ages of the five juveniles is compatible with differences in the amount of fish they consumed. Our chronological model, which combines marine reservoir effect correction with calendar age offsets based on osteological evidence, dates the multiple burial to cal AD 1425–1445 (95% probability), an interval in which two plague epidemics took place in Denmark.
By, marsk og geest 22, 2010
Medforfatter: Helene Agerskov Madsen.
Udgravningen på brandtomten syd for Ribe Domkirke i 2008... more Medforfatter: Helene Agerskov Madsen.
Udgravningen på brandtomten syd for Ribe Domkirke i 2008-09 gav for første gang arkæologer mulighed
for at undersøge områdets historie ved at udgrave kulturlagene på stedet. Det førte til en række sensationelle
opdagelser såsom kristne begravelser fra vikingetiden, et bykvartér i 1000-årenes Ribe, nyt om
Ribe Domkirkes stenbyggede forgænger samt et af Danmarks ældste teglstenshuse (Søvsø 2009). Men
udgravningen gav også et detaljeret indblik i områdets nyere historie, hvor domkirkens trefløjede processionsgang
lå på stedet. Gulvfladen i denne bygning var en populær begravelsesplads helt frem til nedrivningen
i 1738, og det er denne bygning og de borgere, som blev gravlagt under dens gulve, der er emnet
for den følgende artikel.
Conference Presentations by Helene Agerskov Rose
We welcome archaeologists and scientists to submit papers investigating the collective urnfield b... more We welcome archaeologists and scientists to submit papers investigating the collective urnfield burial tradition of the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in Denmark and Northern Germany. What is 'Stand der Forschung'? What are the similarities and differences across the region? What are the future perspectives for the urnfields? Papers will be published in a peer-reviewed conference proceedings.
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Papers by Helene Agerskov Rose
Aarupgaard urnfield has the potential to become a cornerstone in our
understanding of Early Iron Age societies, but although many years have passed since its excavation and the material has been included in more projects over the years, the site has never been fully published. A working group was therefore established in 2018, with the aim of preparing
Aarupgaard urnfield for publication. Digital registration of the archival material alone is a considerable task, but this is hopefully not the last we hear of Aarupgaard urnfield.
Udgravningen på brandtomten syd for Ribe Domkirke i 2008-09 gav for første gang arkæologer mulighed
for at undersøge områdets historie ved at udgrave kulturlagene på stedet. Det førte til en række sensationelle
opdagelser såsom kristne begravelser fra vikingetiden, et bykvartér i 1000-årenes Ribe, nyt om
Ribe Domkirkes stenbyggede forgænger samt et af Danmarks ældste teglstenshuse (Søvsø 2009). Men
udgravningen gav også et detaljeret indblik i områdets nyere historie, hvor domkirkens trefløjede processionsgang
lå på stedet. Gulvfladen i denne bygning var en populær begravelsesplads helt frem til nedrivningen
i 1738, og det er denne bygning og de borgere, som blev gravlagt under dens gulve, der er emnet
for den følgende artikel.
Conference Presentations by Helene Agerskov Rose
Aarupgaard urnfield has the potential to become a cornerstone in our
understanding of Early Iron Age societies, but although many years have passed since its excavation and the material has been included in more projects over the years, the site has never been fully published. A working group was therefore established in 2018, with the aim of preparing
Aarupgaard urnfield for publication. Digital registration of the archival material alone is a considerable task, but this is hopefully not the last we hear of Aarupgaard urnfield.
Udgravningen på brandtomten syd for Ribe Domkirke i 2008-09 gav for første gang arkæologer mulighed
for at undersøge områdets historie ved at udgrave kulturlagene på stedet. Det førte til en række sensationelle
opdagelser såsom kristne begravelser fra vikingetiden, et bykvartér i 1000-årenes Ribe, nyt om
Ribe Domkirkes stenbyggede forgænger samt et af Danmarks ældste teglstenshuse (Søvsø 2009). Men
udgravningen gav også et detaljeret indblik i områdets nyere historie, hvor domkirkens trefløjede processionsgang
lå på stedet. Gulvfladen i denne bygning var en populær begravelsesplads helt frem til nedrivningen
i 1738, og det er denne bygning og de borgere, som blev gravlagt under dens gulve, der er emnet
for den følgende artikel.
The urnfields have traditionally played a major role in constructing the typo-chronological frameworks of the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. In later years, the reinvestigation of urnfield materials shows the potential for in further in-depth studies of burial rites, artefacts and osteological material in the study of e.g. absolute chronology, cultural identity, networks of exchange, demography and cosmology. We invite papers that present the urnfield phenomenon in different regions, reviews of existing typo-chronological systems using relative or scientific dating methods and applications of scientific methods on urnfield material (e.g. strontium isotopes and radiocarbon dating). We especially welcome papers that ask new questions of existing urnfield collections or explore interconnectivity in Northern Europe in the last millennium BC as expressed through the urnfield burial practices.
This session is part of the network project ‘URNFIELD - The urnfield phenomenon in Denmark and Northern Germany’, funded by Interreg Deutschland-Danmark.
We present new radiocarbon and stable isotope results from a multiple grave from the High Medieval St. Alban cemetery in Odense, containing five contemporaneous individuals between the ages seven and eighteen. The site has a complicated history involving several church buildings; first built in wood in the early medieval period and later in the 11th century set in stone. Odense City Museums has directed excavation campaigns in different sections of the cemetery, most recently in 2015-16 (OBM3183, OBM9776/2), where among some 400 burials from c. AD 1100-1350, the multiple grave discussed here was found. Multiple burial is a rare but not unknown phenomenon in the medieval period in Scandinavia, but its interpretation is debatable. Five individuals were interred in grave A156; two sub-adults aged 7-9 years-at-death and three older sub-adults aged respectively 13-16 and 14-17 and 15-18 years-at-death. It was not possible to determine the sex with certainty of any individual. The five sub-adults were interred in the same grave in two layers and are archaeologically interpreted as having died within a short period of time. Given the demographic profile of this specific grave and the lack of any distinctive skeletal pathology, we propose the five individuals in question died because they had contracted an unknown re-occurring viral disease that the surviving older individuals in the society had developed immunity against. Being buried together would then primarily serve a practical purpose. We sampled dentine from the crown of a permanent first molar from each of the five individuals for AMS dating and stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S), thereby targeting the formation period 1.5-4 years-of-age. Thus, given the age-at-death estimates, the radiocarbon events embodied in these samples (the formation of dentine in each tooth) took place between 5±1.2 and 13.5±1.3 years before the date of the multiple burial. We use OxCal to create a Bayesian chronological model incorporating these constraints. To the extent that the calibrated radiocarbon results are incompatible with this model, we suggest that differences in diet between individuals will account for the apparent spread of radiocarbon ages. Applying the Bayesian mixing model FRUITS (Food Reconstruction Using Isotopic Transferred Signals) to the stable isotope data, we will then use the estimated contributions of marine and freshwater food groups to δ13C to correct the calibrated radiocarbon ages, thereby producing a more accurate combined estimate of the burial date.
We compare pretreatment methods by using the standard approach of duplicate dating, but also propose comparing Bayesian site chronologies. Both methods show differences in pretreatment method to have no measurable influence on the obtained results and we conclude that an acetic acid pretreatment is sufficient for cleaning this specific archaeological material. Radiocarbon dating cremated bone and comparing pretreatment methods We compare three different pretreatment methods and find them to have no measurable influence on the obtained 14C results. We conclude that the traditional acetic acid pretreatment is sufficient to clean samples from this archaeological site. We note that the results possibly only relate to material buried in carbonate-low environments, as we expect material from carbonate-rich environments will need different pretreatment.
A chronological framework is needed when investigating transformations and turning points in prehistory. In terms of settlement archaeology, the Bronze-Iron Age transition in Denmark is a continuous trend, but the introduction of urnfield cemeteries as a new burial rite indicates a change in the social and cultural system. There is a great deal of stylistic variability in cremation urns and metal objects found with cremations, partly as a function of time. Pre-Roman Iron Age chronologies for Denmark are based on traditional artefact typologies, but researchers have shown it to be difficult to harmonize metal and ceramic typologies. Because of the plateau in the radiocarbon calibration curve between 750 and 400 cal BC, there are very few absolute dates available, making it difficult to critically review the existing typo-chronologies. In order to investigate change and possible transformations in this period it is necessary to improve the chronological resolution. I present new radiocarbon dates on cremated human remains from Aarupgaard, the largest known urnfield cemetery from Denmark. There are discrepancies between the results and the relevant typo-chronologies and I will discuss different ways of relating radiocarbon dating to typology. By applying Bayesian chronological modelling to a large number of radiocarbon dates, I want to clarify whether the existing typo-chronologies need to be revised. The aim is to establish a site-specific absolute chronology for Aarupgaard, but it is also part of an ongoing project into the transition from Bronze Age to Pre-Roman Iron Age in Southern Jutland.
The chronological frameworks of Pre-Roman Iron Age in Denmark (c.500-200 BC) are based on traditional artefact typologies, but researchers have shown it to be difficult to harmonize metal and ceramic typologies, possible reflecting a differential chronological sensitivity of the material. The period coincides with a major plateau in the IntCal13 radiocarbon calibration curve c.750-400 cal BC (the so-called 'Hallstatt' plateau), resulting in long and unhelpful calibrated probability distributions. A wiggle in the curve around 350-250 BC has however proved more influential on our analyses, as it produce bi-modal solutions towards the end of the Pre-Roman Iron Age. We present a large data set of new radiocarbon dates on primarily cremated bone from Aarupgaard, Aarre and Søhale urnfield cemeteries in southern Jutland, Denmark. The cremated bone dates are corrected for wood-age offsets using formal outlier modelling. Burial dates provide an indirect date of the context associated cremation urn and metal artefacts. We combine the radiocarbon evidence with prior knowledge of site formation processes in a Bayesian chronological framework, and model a wide range of ceramic and metal artefact currencies. We investigate small-scale change: the rate at which new types are introduced and abandoned; how long types are in use; temporal overlap between types; chronological sensitivity of individual types. We use this information to identify possible periods of rapid change in the material culture, and to test if the radiocarbon evidence supports the exiting typo-chronologies. Providing calendar date ranges of transformation periods in the Danish Pre-Roman Iron Age, allow us to relate these to chronological events across Europe.