Dating bog bodies by means of 14C-AMS

We have made efforts to date a substantial number of bodies from northwest European peat bogs by means of ¹⁴C. In our research, we compared materials such as skin, hair, bone, textile, leather and wood where available. Most of the bodies we investigated were found to date from the Late Iron Age/Roman period (c. 2nd century BC–4th century AD). Our data set shows that bog bodies in general can indeed be successfully dated by means of ¹⁴C analysis. Our results contradict comments in the literature (e.g. C.S. Briggs, Did they fall or were they pushed? Some unresolved questions about bog bodies, in: R.C. Turner, R.G. Scaife (Eds.), Bog Bodies—New Discoveries and New Perspectives, British Museum Press, London, 1995, pp. 168–182) to the effect that ‘peat bogs can age corpses so as to distort completely the usefulness of Radiocarbon’.     

Holocene climatic change and past Irish societal response

The extent to which North Atlantic Holocene climatic perturbations influenced past human societies is an area of considerable uncertainty and fierce debate. Ireland is ideally placed to help resolve this issue, being occupied for over 9000 yr and located on the eastern Atlantic seaboard, a region dominated by westerly airflow. Irish bog and lake tree populations provide unambiguous evidence of major shifts in surface moisture through the Holocene similar to cycles recorded in the marine realm of the North Atlantic, indicating significant changes in the latitude and intensity of zonal atmospheric circulation across the region. To test for human response to these cycles we summed the probabilities of 465 radiocarbon ages obtained from Irish archaeological contexts and observe enhanced archaeological visibility during periods of sustained wet conditions. These results suggest either increasing density of human populations in key, often defensive locations, and/or the development of subsistence strategies to overcome changing conditions, the latter recently proposed as a significant factor in avoiding societal collapse. Regardless, we demonstrate environmental change is a significantly more important factor in influencing human activity in the landscape than has hitherto been acknowledged.     

Characterization of dyestuffs in ancient textiles from Xinjiang

Extraordinarily well-preserved organic remains from mortuary and settlement sites, including mummified bodies, are scattered along the outer, oasis-laden rim of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang Province, China, ranging in date from about 1400 BC to the late first millennium BC. Specimens of textile finds from Chärchän, dated at about 1000 BC were selected for dye analysis using newly developed protocols employing high performance liquid chromatography with spectrophotometric and mass spectrometric detection. A single blue (from an indigo plant), a red (from madder, a Rubia species) and two yellow dyes were detected, although the exact plant source for none of them could be identified with certainty. This research offers new insights in the interpretation of textile finds from prehistoric Xinjiang, and more generally, of early Bronze Age Eurasia.     

Towards the identification of dyestuffs in Early Iron Age Scandinavian peat bog textiles

A large systematic dye investigation of prehistoric Danish and Norwegian bog textiles was carried out using high performance liquid chromatography with photo diode array detection. After the selection of the most suitable protocol for dye extraction and HPLC analysis for this specific group of archaeological samples, the second part included the characterisation of the dyes detected in the whole series of the Early Iron Age textiles and the interpretation of the dyeing technology. Natural organic dyes were found from the three main categories of natural dyes, hence throwing new light on the use of biological dye sources in Early Iron Age Scandinavia. The results clearly indicate that most Scandinavian peat bog textiles originally were dyed and that already during the 1st millennium BC, the populations in Scandinavia were familiar with the dyeing technology.     

Some reflections on the study of iron age burial customs in Norway

A reappraisal of the material from Norwegian grave finds is necessary, with the primary object of throwing light on the burial custom itself. The study should be based on a minimum of uniform criteria. This will allow direct comparison between the various parts of the country and the different periods.

Those surveys of Norwegian burial customs published to date are no longer in agreement with existing facts.

If such studies are not undertaken, the stagnation evident in the research into the Norwegian Iron Age will only increase.     

‘SPROUTING LIKE COCKLE AMONGST THE WHEAT’: THE ST BRICE'S DAY MASSACRE AND THE ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS OF HUMAN BONES FROM ST JOHN'S COLLEGE,OXFORD

The recent discovery in St John's College of a mass burial of mostly young adult males with severe perimortem blade trauma has prompted the suggestion that these may be related to the St Brice's Day Massacre in Oxford on 13th November AD 1002. Three radiocarbon determinations suggest that a date in the tenth century is more likely. We have nevertheless undertaken an isotopic study of the bone collagen (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) and dental enamel (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) in an attempt to answer the question ‘were these individuals of Danish descent?’ Our conclusion is somewhat ambiguous, but the bone collagen suggests a diet more like other Scandinavian populations than that of local groups, and the enamel isotopes point towards a Scandinavian rather than a lowland English origin. Comparison with Oxford Archaeology's recently excavated Weymouth Ridgeway mass burial suggests, however, that the execution of a captured raiding party is more likely than the slaughter of Oxford inhabitants of Danish descent.     

THE IRON AGE URNFIELD TRADITION OF SOUTHWESTERN JUTLAND,DENMARK

This study examines two urnfields, their development, burial rituals, grave goods and the cremated remains in a renewed analysis of the Danish Urnfield Tradition. The osteological investigation reveals a very high proportion of children's graves in these communal burial sites. Individual expression and demonstration of status are muted in burial rituals adhering to strict norms, although differences between age categories show through variations in the size of a burial monument. The use of CT scans and a detailed analysis of all artefacts provide evidence of the ritualized breaking of urns and the retrieval of bones from graves. Such retrieval of bones together with the layout and development of urnfields demonstrate the importance placed on the ancestors in the Early Pre-Roman Iron Age. The inconspicuous burials, together with the incorporation of all age categories, suggest that the focus of these burial communities is on a relational rather than individual identity.     

A multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental investigation of the findspot of an Iron Age bog body from Oldcroghan,Co. Offaly,Ireland

In 2003, the remains of an Early Iron Age bog body, known as ‘Oldcroghan Man’, were recovered during the cutting of a drainage ditch in a bog in the Irish Midlands. Only some fingernails and a withe fragment remained undisturbed in situ in the drain face, providing the sole evidence for the original position of the body. A detailed reconstruction of the depositional context of the body has been undertaken through multi-proxy analyses of a peat monolith collected at the findspot. The palynological record shows that the surrounding area was the focus of intensive human activity during the Later Bronze Age, but was largely abandoned during the Bronze Age–Iron transition in the mid-first millennium BC. In the mid-4th century BC, a bog pool developed at the site, evidenced in the stratigraphic, plant macrofossil, testate amoebae and coleopteran records. Plant macrofossil and pollen analysis of peat samples associated with the fingernails suggests that the body was deposited in this pool most likely during the 3rd century BC. The absence of carrion beetle fauna points to complete submergence of the body within the pool. Deposition occurred shortly before or around the time that the surrounding area again became the focus of woodland clearance, as seen in the extended pollen record from the peat monolith. This period corresponds to the Early Iron Age in Ireland, during which renewed cultural connections with Britain and continental Europe can be seen in the archaeological record and widespread forest clearance is recorded in pollen records from across Ireland. The palaeoenvironmental results indicate, therefore, that the demise of Oldcroghan Man took place at a pivotal time of socio-economic and perhaps political change.     

Burial offerings in intramural tombs at Middle Bronze Age Megiddo

Tel Megiddo is a major type-site for the Middle Bronze in the Levant. During this period a new burial custom appeared in which the dead were interred beneath occupied houses. This tradition is well attested in Area K at the site. Area H, near the palatial complex, revealed a monumental masonry-constructed chamber tomb. This article presents the results of residue analysis conducted on ceramic vessels placed in these tombs as burial offerings. Hundreds of intramural Middle Bronze tombs with ceramic offerings were excavated in the Levant, but this is the first time the content of the vessels is revealed.     

Mesolithic hunting in Denmark illustrated by bone injuries caused by human weapons

Animal skeletons from eight Danish Mesolithic settlements and 14 isolated bog finds have been investigated for injuries caused by hunters. The injuries comprise arrow-pierced limb bones, ribs and vertebrae together with healed and unhealed injuries found on shoulder blades. Special attention has been drawn to the skull lesions on Sus scrofa L. Some pathological features in the shoulder blades of the same animal are also discussed for comparison. The sizes and shapes of the injuries in some cases give an indication of the types of weapons that have been used. The proportion of unhealed to healed fractures seems to change during time. This feature may be related to the change to an increasingly stationary mode of life of the hunters.     

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF A BOG BODY ADIPOCERE

Chemical analyses were carried out on adipocere obtained from a bog body recovered from a peat bog at Meenybradden, County Donegal, Ireland. Chromatographic (thin-layer chromatography and gas chromatography) and mass spectrometric analyses, combined with microanalytical chemical transformations, have yielded detailed compositional information. An absence of intact triacylglycerols, diacylglycerols and monoacylglycerols indicates that hydrolysis is complete. Consequently the adipocere is composed mainly of fatty carboxylic acids. The high proportion of palmitic and stearic acids, together with depleted oleic acid content, indicates that extensive reduction and, possibly, β-oxidation have occurred during burial in the peat bog. Hydration of the double-bond in oleic acid has also occurred, as is shown by the formation of 10-hydroxystearic acid. The monoenoic fatty carboxylic acids that are present, composed mainly of C₁₈ and C₁₆ compounds, comprise a mixture of positional isomers. The results are compared and contrasted with those obtained from previous studies of the lipid composition of other adipoceres and cadavers of archaeological interest.     

The Huldremose Iron Age textiles,Denmark: an attempt to define their provenance applying the strontium isotope system

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.     

Publications of the Society

Abstract

By summarizing briefly the existing facts and problems relating to the dolmens in Palestine and Transjordan, an attempt was made in this paper to establish the date and purpose of this important and imposing group of ancient monuments. The very nature of the existing archaeological evidence still necessitates certain hypotheses. We concluded that the free-standing dolmens fulfilled some function in secondary burial rites—presumably serving, wholly or partly, as primary burial places—in the Chalcolithic and Proto-Urban Periods, that is, in the second half of the fourth millennium. This conclusion is based upon some datable pottery finds and is supported by the evidence of burial rites in those periods. It is also strengthened by the virtually negative results of any serious attempt to attribute them to any other, earlier or later, period.

The dolmens were erected, in our opinion, mainly by nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoral people. Their zone of distribution, the evidence of secondary burial rites that are usually practised by such people, the population represented by the pottery finds in the dolmens and many parallels as to the economy of megalithic tomb builders in other areas, all point to this conclusion.

Our conclusions, however, are not based upon sufficient data and the dolmen problem in our region undoubtedly requires further systematic research and excavations. We hope that in future investigations, our working hypotheses presented in this paper may be of some help, as they do· not appear as yet fundamentally wrong, although this possibility should never be forgotten.     

辽墓出土金属面具与网络起源的再探讨

在众多辽代墓葬中发现的随葬金属面具与网络极大地激起了人们研究的兴趣。目前学界关于契丹族金属面具与网络的随葬这种葬俗的起源还没有统一的定论,主要有以下六种学说,它们分别是萨满教说,下嫁到萧氏皇家女子专用说,佛教说,金缕玉衣说,树葬说以及东胡说。同时,笔者认为唐代西域胡人覆面缠裹的习俗对契丹葬俗形成是起了很大作用的。综上所述,辽代的金属面具与网络正是这些因素共同碰撞的产物。     

汉水中游地区史前猪骨随葬现象及相关问题

近年来的考古材料显示,汉水中游地区是我国史前猪骨随葬习俗分布的又一中心区域,它与海岱地区相比毫不逊色。雕龙碑遗址材料还表明该墓地猪骨随葬数量的多少成了衡量墓主社会地位或财富最重要甚至唯一的表征,这明显有别于海岱地区的相关模式。     

新疆五堡墓地出土干燥皮革文物的劣变与保护

皮革很容易劣化腐变,因此我国出土皮革文物数量很少。新疆、甘肃等北方地区出土的一些皮革文物,是研究古代人们生产生活的重要实物资料。为此,本研究探讨了出土干燥皮革文物发掘前和发掘后的劣变因素,并以新疆五堡墓地出土皮革文物的保护修复过程作为实例,对出土干燥皮革的保护方法和过程进行了阐述。在显微镜观察评估病害基础上,对皮革文物采取杀虫、加湿整形等处理。结果表明:干燥皮革劣变的内因主要是皮革本身的组成结构和鞣制方法,外因则主要是皮革出土前所处的土壤埋藏环境和出土后的大气保存环境,保护处理后的皮革恢复形状,可满足展览要求。本研究结果可为出土干燥皮革文物的保护研究提供参考。     

Notices of Certain Bronze Relics,of a Peculiar Type Assigned to the Late Celtic Period

The excavation of four hundred complete and partial in situ burials from the Hospital of St. John the Evangelist, Cambridge, represented one of the largest medieval hospital osteoarchaeological assemblages from the British Isles. The significance of the group is enhanced by the detailed investigation of a carefully maintained network of pathways associated with the cemetery, the archaeological sequence that pre- and post-dated its use and a number of contemporary properties that were situated immediately outside its bounds. This evidence allows the cemetery to be placed within its urban context in a way that is rarely possible. The overwhelming majority of the burials were extended west-east aligned supine inhumations without grave-goods. Atypical burials included examples aligned east-west and south-north, a double burial, a prone burial and individuals buried with a jet crucifix and a brooch. Other significant finds included a nearby pit with four bodies in it, an anthropomorphic bone handle and a reused cruciform horse harness pendant. The proportion of males and females in the burial population is similar, whilst individuals who died under the age of sixteen are relatively uncommon and individuals aged under five are completely absent.     

Stable isotopic evidence of diet in a Greek colonial population from the Black Sea

Archaeological and literary sources indicate that the ancient Greeks relied heavily on terrestrial resources and that their access to certain types of foods varied by sex and status. Human and faunal remains from the Greek colonial site of Apollonia (5th to 2nd century BC) on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria were analyzed for stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in order to reconstruct the diet of this population, investigate the relative importance of marine vs. terrestrial resources, and explore variations in diet with respect to age, sex, and burial type. The results of this study indicate that the colonists of Apollonia relied on a mixed diet of terrestrial and marine foods, and that there was little or no variation in diet by age, sex, or burial type. The relationship between δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N data for these samples suggests that while marine foods were an important source of nitrogen, much of the carbon used to construct amino acids came from terrestrial foods.     

Comments on Charlotte Damm (2005): Archaeology,Ethnohistory and Oral Traditions: Approaches to the Indigenous Past. Norwegian Archaeological Review 38, 73–87.

Grave finds from the late Iron Age in the district of Sogn form the point of departure in this essay. Burial customs are regarded as conditioned by the society of the living in the sense that elements in the memorials built (or not) and rites performed at the burial are assumed to symbolize social relations—roles and ranks.

It is attempted to find out how these ranks are divided between men and women and why, and tentatively, what implications this division has for our general interpretation of the society in question.     

新疆多岗墓地出土人骨的碳氮稳定同位素分析

拜城多岗墓地是新疆西部发现的墓葬数量较多的墓葬群之一,墓葬情况复杂,葬俗葬式多样,是早期铁器时代的研究资料。本文对于采集到的该墓地41具人骨进行碳氮稳定同位素分析,探讨多岗居民的饮食状况;并结合墓葬类型、随葬品种类,男女性别以及考古学分期等对不同条件人们的食物差别进行考察,为该区域早期铁器时代居民的饮食结构研究提供依据。分析结果显示,多岗居民δ15N平均值为12.56‰,表明食物中有较多的肉类;而δ13C分析平均值为-14.77‰,相应植物类食物中C4类植物为40%左右。参考周边遗址的出土遗存,其C4类植物应为粟或黍。