See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222161021 The Huldremose Iron Age textiles, Denmark: an attempt to define their provenance applying the strontium isotope system Article in Journal of Archaeological Science · September 2009 DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2009.05.007 CITATIONS READS 23 279 4 authors, including: Karin Margarita Frei Irene Skals 38 PUBLICATIONS 428 CITATIONS 13 PUBLICATIONS 42 CITATIONS The National Museum of Denmark SEE PROFILE The National Museum of Denmark SEE PROFILE Margarita Gleba University of Cambridge 33 PUBLICATIONS 140 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Bronze Age Wool Economy View project All content following this page was uploaded by Margarita Gleba on 20 December 2016. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. All in-text references underlined in blue are added to the original document and are linked to publications on ResearchGate, letting you access and read them immediately. Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 1965–1971 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas The Huldremose Iron Age textiles, Denmark: an attempt to define their provenance applying the strontium isotope system Karin Margarita Frei a, b, *, Irene Skals c, Margarita Gleba a, Henriette Lyngstrøm b a The Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research, SAXO Institute, University of Copenhagen, Njalsgade 80, DK 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark SAXO Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Copenhagen, Njalsgade 80, DK 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark c National Museum of Denmark, Conservation Department, IC Modewegvej, Brede, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark b a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Received 16 February 2009 Received in revised form 5 May 2009 Accepted 17 May 2009 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 87 Sr/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. Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Strontium isotopes Wool Plant fibre Provenance Textiles Huldremose Iron Age 1. Introduction New methods and new approaches to the investigation of archaeological textiles are evolving into an important field of textile research. Archaeological textile studies address issues ranging from aesthetics and style to gender, from technological development to production and trading (Good, 2001). Recently we developed a new method using strontium (Sr) isotopes, to study the provenance of wool in archaeological textiles (Frei et al., 2009). The Sr isotope system has already proven to be a good provenance indicator, especially suitable for defining human and animal migration routes (Ericson, 1985; Hoppe et al., 1999; Price et al., 2001; Ezzo and Price, 2002; Grupe et al., 2003; Montgomery et al., 2003; Hodell et al., 2004; Hobson, 2005; Knudson et al., 2005; Bentley, 2006; Evans et al., 2006). In this paper we present the results of the first case study applying Sr isotopes to ancient textiles using the new method presented by Frei et al. (2009). Here we choose important and well preserved textiles from two obvious * Corresponding author. SAXO Institute, Department of Archaeology, University of Copenhagen, Njalsgade 80, DK 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark. Tel.: þ45 39665423. E-mail address: kmfrei@hum.ku.dk (K.M. Frei). 0305-4403/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.05.007 finds from the Danish Iron Age (500 BC–AD 800) site Huldremose in north-eastern Jutland. The primary aim was to study the variability of Sr isotopes within a single large garment and thereby to investigate the system’s potential use for provenance definition. In particular, we were interested in whether the well preserved and completely intact Iron Age female costume was made from local or imported wool. Furthermore we wanted to see whether the two Huldremose textile finds are somehow linked with respect to their wool provenance. In order to answer the question regarding the homogeneity of the raw material, we conducted a parallel study of modern sheep wool from a single animal. As in migration studies, the question of contamination at the site by e.g. percolating fluids or diagenetic transformations is a crucial one (Price et al., 1992, 2001; Bentley, 2003, 2006; Grupe et al., 2003; Schweissing and Grupe, 2003). In order to tackle this problem we sampled additional material from the Huldremose Woman’s body to characterize the peat bog environment. This was necessary because the Huldremose bog was cleared at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century for fuel purposes. In addition to peat remnants we discovered textile plant fibre remains during the re-examination of the bog body and we also included them in our Sr isotopic investigation. 1966 K.M. Frei et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 1965–1971 2. Huldremose finds At the Huldremose bog, located in the north-eastern part of Jutland, Denmark, textiles were recovered on two occasions. The first one was in 1879 when the bog body of a woman (Lab. No. K-1396; Sellevold et al., 1984) was found by peat diggers (Brøndsted, 1963; Glob, 1965; Sellevold et al., 1984; van der Plicht et al., 2004). The body (today on display at the National Museum of Denmark and hereafter referred to as Huldremose I find) was lying on its back with the head oriented towards west and feet to the east. Her legs were drawn up and the right arm was severed from the body, her left arm was bent across the chest and tied to the torso (Brøndsted, 1963; Glob, 1965; Van der Sanden, 1966). The Huldremose Woman was wearing several pieces of clothing, consisting of a chequered skirt, a chequered scarf, and two skin capes. The find has been recently 14C re-dated to 350–341 BC (Mannering et al., submitted for publication), and wool textile fibres were analyzed for the potential contents of dyestuffs. The latter study only revealed the presence of rhamnetin in some of the tested fibres, which is thought to be of local provenance (Vanden Berghe et al., in press). Another object was recovered seventeen years later, only a few meters away from where the Huldremose Woman’s bog body was previously found. This wool textile is known in the literature as the Huldremose peplos (hereafter referred to as Huldremose II find) because of its peculiar cylindrical shape (Hald, 1980; Mannering and Gleba, in preparation). The Huldremose II wool garment has recently been 14C dated to 350–330 BC (Mannering et al., submitted for publication) and studies aimed at identifying potential dyestuffs were negative (Vanden Berghe et al., in press). Both Huldremose finds therefore date to the Scandinavian Pre-Roman Iron Age (500 BC–0). 3. Sampling 3.1. Modern wool samples For the purpose of controlling the natural homogeneity of the Sr isotopic composition of hair from a single animal, we collected wool samples from a male sheep from a herd kept at the Lejre Archaeological Experimental Centre, Denmark. The site is particularly suited for this study because it is kept isolated from the surroundings, within a protected unfertilized area. The sheep belongs to a rare sheep breed, the Gotland type, which is part of the ‘‘northern short tail’’ breed-grouping that is biologically closer to more primitive ancient sheep (Walton, 1988). We collected a total of five samples from different parts of the animal. A portion of wool was removed ca. 2 cm from the root at the beginning of autumn 2008, when the fleece had reached its full length. Samples were taken from the following body areas: the right upper part of the back leg (BB), the right flank (HS), the lowest part of the back (BD), the upper neck (ØN), and finally the top of the head (H) (see Table 1) where Gotland sheep have a characteristic hair growth (Hatting, 1993). 3.2. Archaeological samples The archaeological samples belong to the two Huldremose finds. From the Huldremose I find, we sampled a small piece of wool weft thread from the chequered scarf (National Museum of Denmark, Inv. No. C 3474). In addition, three textile plant fibres adhering to the bog body were sampled and analyzed. The first two samples (National Museum of Denmark, Inv. Nos. M 18862 and M 50465) were collected from the Huldremose Woman’s bog body in 1977 by B.B. Christensen and in 1988 by D. Robinson, respectively. Both scientists were unaware of the fact that the material they sampled contained textile threads made of plant fibre, since their aim was to collect peat for palynological analyses. The third plant textile fibre sample (P) was taken by the first author in winter 2007 from the Huldremose Woman’s bog body at the Conservation Department, Brede, National Museum of Denmark. We also analyzed a piece of skin from the stomach area (S) of the Huldremose Woman’s bog body, which was removed in previous examinations for physical anthropological studies (Brothwell et al., 1990). Finally, two peat samples (T1 and T2) were collected from the Huldremose woman’s bog body from body parts which were flexed (from the detached arm part and from between the legs) and therefore preserved some of the original peat which surrounded the body when is was found. From the Huldremose II find, the large tubular textile, a total of 11 pieces of wool thread, including both warp and weft (National Museum of Denmark, Inv. No. D 3505), were collected in winter 2007 at the Conservation Department, Brede, National Museum of Denmark. 4. Sample preparation and analysis Our sample analytical protocol essentially follows, though with some modifications regarding the acid exposure time during the pretreatment, the one recently presented by Frei et al. (2009) for wool fibres. In the following we only summarize the individual treatment processes and refer to the above cited study for details. 4.1. Pretreatment Wool, plant fibre and skin samples (usually few mg; Tables 1–3) were exposed to dilute (20%) HF for 30–120 min in a 7 ml Teflon beaker (SavillexÔ) placed in an ultrasonic bath at room temperature. Subsequently the wash from the residual material (the material of interest) was pipetted off and the sample was rinsed twice with 1 ml of deionised water (MilliQÔ). The combined rinsing solution was transferred into a new Teflon beaker and analyzed separately to allow for an isotopic comparison of the removed Sr fraction with the residual material. Slightly different precleaning was applied to the two peat samples. There the samples were rinsed in dilute (0.05 N) HNO3 for 1 h. 4.2. Dissolution and ion chromatographic procedures Prior to attacking the residual materials and drying down the rinsing solutions, we added a highly enriched Sr spike (abundance 84 Sr ¼ 94%) to both respective subsets, with the exception of the two peat samples. The residual wool, plant fibre and skin samples were dissolved in a 1:1 mixture of 30% HNO3 (Seastar) and 30% H2O2 (Seastar). The samples typically decomposed within 15–30 min, after which the solutions were dried down on a hotplate at 80  C. The residues were then taken up in a few drops of 3N HNO3 and loaded on glass extraction columns with a 0.2 ml stem volume charged with intensively pre-cleaned mesh 50–100 SrSpecÔ (Eichrome Inc.) resin. The elution recipe essentially followed that by Horwitz et al. (1992), but scaled to our needs. Sr was eluted by pure deionised water and then the elute was dried on a hotplate. Organic compounds essentially passed through the resin during the 3 N HNO3 rinsing steps, but some of them also stained the resin (slight brown colouring of the initially white resin). However, during elution of the Sr fraction with deionised water, the organic compounds were essentially retained on the resin. Peat samples were exposed for 1 h to 5 ml of 0.05 N HNO3 at room temperature in an ultrasonic bath, a procedure which in modified form has been adopted from studies attempting to extract 1967 K.M. Frei et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 1965–1971 Table 1 87 Sr/86Sr ratios of modern wool samples. 87 2SE (abs.) 4.61 9.04 0.71595 0.72780 0.00001 0.00005 32.27 32.27 3.92 2.60 0.71495 0.72992 0.00001 0.00005 Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 60 min 32.58 32.58 6.65 2.24 0.71222 0.73150 0.00001 0.00006 Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 60 min 31.50 31.50 6.50 0.99 0.70984 0.72631 0.00001 0.00003 Lej H Lej H Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 60 min 32.06 32.06 4.18 1.38 0.70985 0.72597 0.00001 0.00001 Lej BB Lej BB Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 120 min 31.86 31.86 4.63 13.63 0.71894 0.73044 0.00001 0.00006 Lej HS Lej HS Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 120 min 32.83 32.83 3.10 3.83 0.71014 0.72656 0.00001 0.00002 Lej BD Lej BD Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 120 min 31.24 31.24 6.91 3.21 0.70994 0.72657 0.00001 0.00002 Sample Material Description Weight (mg) Lej BB Lej BB Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 60 min 31.78 31.78 Lej HS Lej HS Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 60 min Lej BD Lej BD Wool Wool Lej ØN Lej ØN bio-available (soluble) trace elements from soils (Yoshida and Muramatsu, 1997; Martin and McCulloch, 1999; Fu et al., 2001; Aubert et al., 2004). The solutions were centrifuged, pipetted off and dried down. Sr was separated from these leaches using the same chromatographic recipe as for the other samples. 4.3. Thermal ionization mass spectrometry Samples were dissolved in 2.5 ml of a Ta2O5–H3PO4–HF activator solution and directly loaded onto previously outgassed 99.98% single rhenium filaments. Samples were measured at 1250–1300  C in dynamic multi-collection mode on a VG Sector 54 IT mass spectrometer equipped with eight faraday detectors (Institute of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen). Five nanogram loads of the NBS 987 Sr standard gave 87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.710236  0.000010 (n ¼ 10, 2s). Errors reported in Tables 1–3 are within-run (2SE; standard error) precisions of the individual runs. 4.4. Evaluation of the sample pretreatment The removal of foreign (contaminant) Sr from archaeological material is an important and problematic issue. Particularly with respect to provenance studies, it is essential to free the samples Sr/86Sr Sr (ppm) from site-specific Sr contaminants such as dust, soil, and mobile Sr fractions which potentially can diffuse into the archaeological materials. This is also the case with wool textiles. Human and animal hair contains only trace amounts of Sr (a few ppm at most: Attar et al., 1990; Sandford and Kissling, 1994; Kolacz et al., 1999; Rosborg et al., 2003) as compared to human bones where Sr is found in larger concentrations (between 50 and 500 ppm; Bentley, 2006; and references therein). The low concentration of Sr in hair and wool makes these soft body tissues highly sensitive to contamination. The critical portion of hair for contamination has been shown to be the lipid fraction (Attar et al., 1990). Their study showed that several trace elements, including Sr, are present in relative large portions (>20%) within the lipid fraction. They also suggested that those elements largely present in the lipid fraction are the result of environmental exposure, whereas those retained in the hair fibre after lipid removal can be attributed to nutritional and clinical aspects. Thus the implication of their study is that it is essential to remove lipid-sourced Sr in hair and wool before using the Sr for isotopic origin tracing. Likewise dust and other silicate micro-particles need to be considered, since they usually have elevated Sr concentrations and consequently can mask the true nutritional Sr isotopic signature of the archaeological material. In the scarce literature on provenance studies of archaeological Table 2 87 Sr/86Sr ratios of peat, skin, plant and wool fibres from the Huldremose I find. Sr (ppm) 87 Sr/86Sr 2SE (%) 2SE (abs) 13.00 13.00 9.35 7.39 0.72440 0.72426 0.0056 0.0063 0.00004 0.00005 Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 60 min 4.45 4.45 4.96 14.13 0.72489 0.71993 0.0055 0.0109 0.00004 0.00008 Plant fibre Plant fibre Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 60 min 9.97 9.97 4.89 8.25 0.72615 0.72581 0.0151 0.0103 0.00011 0.00007 T1 bulk T1 T2 bulk T2 Peat Peat Peat Peat Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack 0.05 N HNO3 leach 1 h Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack 0.05 N HNO3 leach 1 h n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 0.71087 0.71198 0.71019 0.71090 0.0036 0.0029 0.0058 0.0029 0.00003 0.00002 0.00004 0.00002 C3474 C3474 HF Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 60 min 9.10 9.10 7.26 4.32 0.70905 0.71229 0.0042 0.0032 0.00003 0.00002 S1 S1 HF Skin Skin Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 60 min 46.54 46.54 13.36 3.02 0.71417 0.72285 0.0061 0.0045 0.00004 0.00003 Sample Material Description M18862 M18862 HF Plant fibre Plant fibre Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 60 min M50465 M50465 HF Plant fibre Plant fibre P P HF n.a. ¼ not analyzed. Weight (mg) 105.90 105.90 17.25 17.25 1968 K.M. Frei et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 1965–1971 Table 3 87 Sr/86Sr ratios of wool fibres from the Huldremose II find. 87 2SE (abs.) 4.47 2.91 0.70857 0.71442 0.00007 0.00003 5.93 5.93 2.15 2.24 0.71454 0.71419 0.00010 0.00003 Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 30 min 9.09 9.09 4.49 1.30 0.71443 0.71880 0.00006 0.00005 Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 30 min 13.55 13.55 3.56 3.02 0.71140 0.71603 0.00004 0.00003 Wa V Wa V HF Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 30 min 11.02 11.02 6.25 4.04 0.70909 0.71241 0.00004 0.00005 We I We I HF Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 30 min 6.80 6.80 8.31 5.29 0.71331 0.71149 0.00006 0.00003 We II We II HF Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 30 min 11.68 11.68 11.27 7.82 0.70958 0.70831 0.00005 0.00004 We III We III HF Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 30 min 7.86 7.86 3.81 4.75 0.72037 0.71659 0.00004 0.00005 We IV We IV HF Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 30 min 11.36 11.36 60.36 2.77 0.70819 0.71188 0.00003 0.00004 We V We V HF Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 30 min 14.89 14.89 9.83 2.63 0.70908 0.71264 0.00004 0.00003 W2 W2 HF Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 60 min 0.49 0.49 12.71 19.97 0.70931 0.70902 0.00004 0.00014 Sample Material Description Wa I Wa I HF Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 30 min 9.63 9.63 Wa II Wa II HF Wool Wool Residue HNO3–H2O2 attack HF-MQ 50:50 wash cold 30 min Wa III Wa III HF Wool Wool Wa IV Wa IV HF 5.1. Modern sheep wool Strontium isotopic data from sheep wool, together with Sr concentrations, are presented in Table 1. Rinses from all wool samples consistently show significantly elevated Sr isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.72597–0.73150) in agreement with the results from a previous study of sheep wool from the Lejre Experimental Centre (Frei et al., 2009), in which the rinses also yielded elevated Sr isotopic signatures compared to the residual hair (87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.71497–0.72114). We interpret the consistently elevated but rather heterogeneous Sr isotope composition of the wool rinses as reflecting contributions from airborne dust with generally more radiogenic Sr isotopic compositions. Results of the residues (after 60 min exposure to the HF pretreatment) show a bimodal distribution (Table 1). Three of the samples, BB, HS, and BD show higher strontium isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.71222–0.71595) compared to the two other samples, ØN and H (87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.70984–0.70985). These two samples are compatible with Sr isotopic signatures of soil acid extracts from the Lejre Experimental Centre (87Sr/86Sr w 0.709; Frei et al., 2009). We assume that the first three hair samples with elevated 87Sr/86Sr ratios in their residues were incompletely decontaminated. In order to test this, we duplicated the analyses and extended the exposure time to HF from 60 to 120 min. The results show that the prolonged HF pretreatment was more efficient, at least for two of the samples. Sample HS changed from 87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.71495 to 0.71014 and sample BD from 87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.71222 to 0.70994 (Table 1). Sample BB (plotting as an outlier in Fig. 1) still yielded a high Sr isotopic composition even after 120 min precleaning. Besides the possibility that the decontamination time of 120 min in this case was still not sufficient to have completely removed the lipid fraction of the hair, we can think of two other ways to explain the remaining elevated Sr isotopic composition of sample BB. 1) the hair from this part of the sheep body (back leg) could be thicker (having a thicker cuticle) than the hair from other body parts, which consequently would necessitate an even longer decontamination period, or 2) the hair from the back leg is likely to be more in direct contact with soil as a sheep tends to lie on the ground on this part of the body, thereby facilitating the encapsulation of micro-silicate particles. Whatever the reason may be, wool from this part of the sheep is usually of poor quality and therefore unlikely to have been used in textile production. It should be mentioned here that the HF pretreatment used in this study affected modern sheep hair less intensively compared to 0.719 Hair residues 0.717 Sr/86Sr 5. Results and discussion Sr/86Sr Sr (ppm) 0.715 0.713 87 textiles, some methods for decontamination have been reported. These include abrasive procedures accompanied by tracing Al levels in the analyte of prehistoric plant fibre textiles (Benson et al., 2006), and rehydration steps prior to ashing of Iron Age wool and leather textiles (Von Carnap-Bornheim et al., 2007). The pretreatment procedures applied herein are specifically designed for lipid-based contaminant removal of hair and wool and concomitant dissolution of adhering micro-silicate particles (discussed and outlined in detail in Frei et al., 2009). Weight (mg) 0.711 0.709 0.707 ØN H BB HS BD Fig. 1. 87Sr/86Sr ratios of residues from modern sheep wool fibres. Stippled lines denote the upper and lower limits of 87Sr/86Sr ratios defined by soils extracts from the feeding ground (Frei et al., 2009). For details see text. K.M. Frei et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 1965–1971 archaeological wool fibres. Under the same acid exposure times applied, we noticed an increased tendency of the ancient fibres to be attacked or dissolved relative to the modern hair, probably as a result of advanced crystallinity of the lipid portion of the former. Thus the precleaning procedure of archaeological wool fibres should be shorter than the one applied to modern sheep hair (see below and Tables 1–3). In summary (cf. Fig. 1), four of the five modern sheep hair samples from different body parts have statistically indistinguishable Sr isotopic signatures (range from 87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.70984– 0.71014) and reflect the signature of Sr isotopes extracted from soils from the Lejre Experimental Centre site w 0.709 (Frei et al., 2009). Although we observe some dependency of the Sr isotopic composition of residual modern sheep wool on the acid exposure times used for decontamination, we show that an extended pretreatment of 120 min (outliers excluded) leads to a homogeneous Sr isotopic composition, which is compatible with the soil’s bio-available Sr composition. This result allows us to propose that Sr isotopic signatures of single pieces of wool threads from an archaeological garment can be used as a sensitive indicator to discriminate between different origins (with respect to background geology) of wool. 5.2. Huldremose I finds Table 2 presents the results of Sr isotopic compositions of plant fibre textile threads, wool, peat and skin samples from the Huldremose Woman’s bog body find. These results are plotted in Fig. 2. Residues of the three textile plant fibres have strikingly similar but elevated Sr isotopic signatures (87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.72440–0.72615). The respective leachates have somewhat lower Sr isotopic compositions (Table 2). The leached peat samples (T1 and T2; Table 2) are characterized by lower Sr isotopic compositions (87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.71019–0.71087). The respective fractions leached by weak HNO3 have only slightly elevated Sr isotopic compositions, but in essence the peat signatures reflect Sr isotopic signatures that are typically extracted from Danish soils (Fig. 2; Frei et al., 2009) and thus considered to characterize the local peat bog environment. As bog finds are often soaked and impregnated by their environment, the high Sr isotopic signatures of the textile plant fibres must indicate an external, i.e. non-local, origin. The question of how Sr is incorporated into plant material (particularly into peat) 0.740 0.735 87Sr/86Sr 0.730 Plant fibre threads Peat; bulk Wool thread (C 3474) Skin 0.725 0.720 0.715 0.710 non-local local 0.705 Fig. 2. 87Sr/86Sr ratios of bulk peat, and residues of skin, plant and wool fibres from the Huldremose I find. Plant fibres define a group (encircled by an ellipse) that is characterized by non-local 87Sr/86Sr ratios. The skin sample also lies in the non-local 87 Sr/86Sr range. Peat and wool yarn fibres from the scarf of the Huldremose I find (sample C 3474) lie within the range of 87Sr/86Sr ratios that are considered local. For details see text. 1969 is difficult to assess. As burial conditions in peat sphagnum bogs are moist, oxygen deficient and characterized by a low pH, organic remains such as textiles can be preserved by natural tanning processes (Von Carnap-Bornheim et al., 2007). However the potential contamination by exogenous Sr from the peat bog environment is probably rather small as diffusion of Sr into skin and hair should be impeded by the positive charge of amino acids at low pH (Von Carnap-Bornheim et al., 2007). On this basis, and compared to the signatures of the two peat samples, the Sr isotopic compositions of the plant fibres presented here can be classified as non-local (Fig. 2). Admittedly, airborne particle contamination of a bog find is greatly enhanced by the natural uplifting of the growing bog above the water-table. However our rigorous pretreatment with HF has certainly removed this potential contamination. The residue of the wool thread (C 3474) yielded a Sr isotopic signature (87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.70905; Table 2; Fig. 2), that is lower than the rinse (87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.71229). In contrast the residual analysis of a skin piece from the bog body’s stomach area yielded a somewhat elevated Sr isotopic signature (87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.71417; Table 2; Fig. 2), with the fraction removed in the pretreatment approaching radiogenic signatures measured in the plant fibre rinses (see Table 2). The wool sample (C 3474) reacted similarly to the analytical procedure applied to other archaeological wool textiles (Frei et al., 2009), in that the pretreatment was capable of removing the fraction of Sr with elevated isotopic composition which we interpret to derive from exogenous sources, possibly airborne micro-particles. The residual composition of this sample is of typical local nature and compares well with bio-available extracts from Danish soils (Frei et al., 2009). In contrast, the 87Sr/86Sr ratio of w0.714 measured in the skin residue seems to indicate a non-local signature. However, as we have not applied our HF pretreatment to skin previously, we have to leave the option open that our pretreatment was not capable of removing all of the potential radiogenic contaminant. Additional investigations in the future are necessary and will hopefully give a more precise answer to whether or not the Huldremose Woman actually was from Denmark or ‘‘migrated’’ from a place with a geological background characterized by a more radiogenic Sr isotopic signature (e.g. Northern Scandinavia). 5.3. Huldremose II find The Sr isotopic compositions of 11 wool yarn pieces (few milligrams each) of the large tubular garment from the Huldremose II find are presented in Table 3. In Fig. 3 three groups of residual analyses of wool yarn can be discerned. Sample Wa IV plots between groups I and II. Group I consists of six samples (55% of all analyzed threads) with an average of 87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.70897  0.00101 (2s) and is compatible with local Danish soils. Group II, composed of three samples (27% of all analyzed threads), is characterized by an average value of 87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.71409  0.00136 (2s). Group III with only one sample (9% of all analyzed threads) has an elevated Sr isotopic composition of 87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.72037, a value which resembles the Sr isotopic composition of a contemporary textile recovered from a bog at Gerum, Sweden (Fig. 3; Frei et al., 2009). These two last groups are classified as non-local, whereas group I is a local group with Sr isotopic compositions that are compatible with Sr extracted from Danish soils and with Sr measured in tooth enamel of Viking humans from different sites in Denmark (T. D. Price, P. Bennike, pers. comm.; and our unpublished data). There is no systematic difference in Sr concentrations and Sr isotopic compositions between weft and warp fibre pieces. We interpret this to reflect a blending of various proportions of wool 1970 K.M. Frei et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 1965–1971 0.722 0.720 87Sr/86Sr 0.718 Wool from Gerum cloak Group I Group II Group III Wa IV 0.716 0.714 0.712 0.710 non-local local 0.708 0.706 Fig. 3. 87Sr/86Sr ratios of wool residue samples from a single large archaeological garment (Huldremose II find). Three provenance groups can be discerned: Group I wool threads indicate a local source of strontium, with 87Sr/86Sr ratios compatible with Danish soil extracts (Frei et al., 2009). Groups II and III comprise wool threads with elevated 87Sr/86Sr ratios implying a non-local provenance. Group III sample shows a similar 87Sr/86Sr ratio to wool from a textile find in Sweden (Gerum cloak; Frei et al., 2009). Sample Wa IV plots between group I and II. For details see text. from the three discernable sources which was spun into yarn prior to the weaving of the garment. Even though from a textile-technique and fibre-study point of view the Huldremose II find is deemed homogeneous and locally made, we conclude that it is woven with wool yarn from at least three areas with geologically different backgrounds, two of them being of non-local origin. Moreover, when we compare the Sr isotopic signature of wool from the Huldremose I and II finds, it becomes apparent that the scarf from the Huldremose Woman’s bog body (Huldremose I find, 87 Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.70905, Table 2) is identical in its composition to wool threads of group I of the Huldremose II (average 87Sr/86Sr 0.70897  0.00101 (2s); Table 3). This finding is in agreement with visual and technical analysis (Mannering and Gleba, in preparation). We also note that the skin of the Huldremose Woman (sample S; 87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.71417; Table 2) has a similar Sr isotopic composition as group II-wool threads from the Huldremose II (average 87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.71409  0.00136 (2s)). Finally, the plant fibres found on the bog body yielded elevated Sr isotopic compositions (average 87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.72515  0.00181 (2s); Table 2; Fig. 3) as did the yarn sample (group III) from the Huldremose II find (87Sr/86Sr ¼ 0.72037; Table 2; Fig. 3). Such elevated compositions are extremely unlikely to be derived from local (Danish) source areas, and have to be sought in soils developed on Precambrian basement rocks. Furthermore, there is a compositional overlap between the Sr isotopic composition of the Huldremose Woman’s skin and wool threads of group II from the Huldremose II find, particularly samples Wa II and Wa III (Tables 2 and 3). However, we would like to emphasize that more detailed investigations are necessary to address the question of the Huldremose Woman’s origin. Last not but least, the plant fibres from the Huldremose Woman’s bog body (shown in Fig. 2) are most probably derived from one and the same textile. Although almost completely disintegrated, these plant fibres must be remnants of another, previously unknown garment. Its inferred existence is furthermore hinted at by imprints on the Huldremose Woman’s chest. There, clear woven patterns are visible which do not appear in any of the garments found with her. The plant fibres can be interpreted as derived from some kind of ‘‘undergarment’’ worn under the wool garments. Most interestingly the radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr ratios of these fibres imply a non-local origin for this ‘‘undergarment’’. Currently, microscopic analyses of the plant fibres are being preformed by B. Holst and her group at the University of Bergen in order to define what kind of plant the textile fibres were made of. It is also important to address the question of possible dyestuffs. Recent studies aimed at identifying dyestuffs in archaeological textiles showed that, contrary to earlier thinking, most of the Iron Age Danish textiles contain residues of natural dyestuffs (Vanden Berghe et al., in press). Dyestuff therefore has to be regarded as a further possible contaminant of Sr in wool fibres. However the amount of dyes remaining on archaeological samples is usually minute (Vanden Berghe et al., in press). Dyestuff remains in the archaeological textiles are most probably retained in the lipid matter (as potential contaminants), and we consider that any remaining dyestuff would be removed by the HF pretreatment. In depth research on dyestuff Sr is needed to evaluate its potential importance for wool contamination. 6. Conclusions 1) Our study has shown the potential applicability of the Sr isotopic tracer system to wool archaeological textiles and other organic fibres as a unique method for characterizing their origin. 2) We based our studies on a test for variability of Sr isotopes in wool from a single Gotland type sheep. We show that the variability of at least four of the five samples of the sheep’s fleece is relatively small and that the Sr isotopic values of wool samples from the animal matches the geological background value at the feeding ground site. 3) Our detailed multi-thread sample study of the Huldremose II garment revealed that a specific garment was woven from wool of different origins. We identified three sources for the Huldremose II garment. While one source can be equated, using its 87Sr/86Sr ratio, with Sr from Danish soils (mixture of Cretaceous–Tertiary carbonate-derived sources and postglacial moraine components), the two other sources are non-local and probably derived from Precambrian terrains or shield areas which are typical of Northern Scandinavia (e.g. Norway or Sweden). We conclude that even though the raw material of this particular garment comes from several sources, local and non-local ones, the garment was spun and weaved most probably in Denmark (supporting previous unpublished textile-technical results of one of the co-authors (I.S.)). 4) Plant fibres recovered directly from the Huldremose bog body also have radiogenic non-local Sr isotopic compositions. Our study implies that the Huldremose Woman wore some kind of undergarment that was manufactured from plant fibres with an origin from Precambrian terrains, possibly compatible with the most radiogenic Sr isotope ratios of wool woven into the Huldremose II garment, and therefore of a non-local provenance. The existence of this undergarment was previously not known. In contrast, the wool thread from the Huldremose Woman’s scarf shows a local origin. The Huldremose Woman was thus wearing garments of both non-local and local provenance. So, either the plant fibre ‘‘undergarment’’ was a traded object or she had been abroad and brought the raw material/or undergarment with her to Denmark. There is also the possibility that the Huldremose Woman herself emigrated from outside Denmark as the skin analysis seems to show, but further analyses are needed in this field in order to verify her true origin. 5) There is an obvious link between the wool fibres from the Huldremose Woman’s scarf (Huldremose I find) and the wool from group I from the Huldremose II find. It seems as if these wool fibres all come from the same area, maybe even from the same sheep herd, and are all of local origin. K.M. Frei et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 1965–1971 6) Finally, our results imply that the raw materials (plants, wool) for the Iron Age textiles were not necessarily all locally derived (i.e. close to the recovery site) but originated from geologically different areas that were dominated by Precambrian rocks and therefore outside Denmark (Bornholm excluded). Such areas are found overwhelmingly in Northern Scandinavia, e.g. Norway and Sweden. 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