| 1. |
- Boethius, Adam, et al.
(author)
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Advances and prerequisites for strontium isotope analyses through laser ablation in an aquatic context – Targeting Mid-Neolithic Baltic Sea harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) mobility and breeding grounds
- 2024
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In: Quaternary Science Reviews. - 0277-3791. ; 331
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Harp seals (Phoca groenlandicus), once present in the Baltic Sea, now stand extinct. During the Middle Neolithic period, they held significant dietary importance for the Pitted Ware Culture hunter-fisher-gatherers in Scandinavia. Because they are no longer available for ecological studies, little is known about their specific behavioural intricacies, such as diet, mobility, and reproductive strategies. Because of the seal's pivotal role in these human societies and because they provide an interesting ecological case study on post-isolation ecological adaptation to new environmental conditions, a comprehensive investigation into Baltic Sea harp seal behaviour is warranted. In this pursuit, we employ sequential analysis of strontium isotope ratios (87Sr/86Sr) in harp seal teeth sourced from archaeological contexts across three study regions. This data is harmonized with osteometric analyses from fifteen archaeological sites from the Baltic Sea area, establishing a methodological framework for comprehending the Sr isotopic pathway in a brackish water inland sea. By adopting this approach, we unveil breeding and mobility patterns of the long-extinct Baltic Sea harp seals, approximate specific breeding areas connected to each group of seals and delve into the ontogenic temporal frame governing these observed patterns. This endeavour culminates in an enriched understanding of the adaptive behaviours exhibited by Baltic Sea harp seals and equips us with the insights necessary to decipher the lifestyle of the human societies intricately intertwined with them.
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| 2. |
- Boethius, Adam, et al.
(author)
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Mobility among the stone age island foragers of Jettböle, Åland, investigated through high-resolution strontium isotope ratio analysis
- 2024
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In: Quaternary Science Reviews. - 0277-3791. ; 328
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The input of strontium from aquatic resources in an omnivorous diet has been researched to a lesser degree than that of terrestrial sources, which, in specific sociocultural settings, complicates the study of provenance and mobility. To address this lack of research and to investigate forager mobility in an archipelago environment, where access to terrestrial resources was limited and earlier studies have indicated a dependence on marine resources, we targeted the mid-Neolithic hunter-fisher-gatherers from the site Jettböle on the Åland Islands. Using laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, we analysed the 87Sr/86Sr ratios in the enamel of human and dog teeth and contextualized the data with bioavailable Sr measurements from various water and animal enamel sources. The results show that utilization and consumption of aquatic resources have had a major impact on the Sr ratios of both humans and dogs from Jettböle. The data indicate significant differences from the local terrestrial bioavailable Sr ratios, even if the studied individuals likely grew up in the area. Our results suggest that investigations of Sr isotope ratios may be especially challenging for PWC individuals and other coastal living groups. By comparing both Sr ratios and the sequential measurement pattern from the investigated subjects to other human groups and animals it has, nevertheless, been possible to offer a tentative interpretation of both the origin and mobility patterns of humans and dogs from Jettböle. Most of the individuals may be suggested to have originated, and subsided on a diet, from within the Åland archipelago. It is also possible that some of the studied individuals moved there from different regions.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Gustavsson, Rudolf, et al.
(author)
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IDENTITIES IN TRANSITION IN VIKING AGE ALAND?
- 2014
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In: Viking Age in Aland. - HELSINKI : ACADEMIA SCIENTIARM FINICA. - 9789514110986 - 9514110986 ; , s. 159-186
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)
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| 5. |
- Hennius, Andreas, phd, 1871-, et al.
(author)
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Late Iron Age Whaling in Scandinavia
- 2023
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In: International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. - : Springer. - 1057-2414 .- 1095-9270. ; 18:1, s. 1-22
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The use of marine mammal bone as a raw material in the manufacturing of gaming pieces in the Scandinavian late Iron Age has been observed and discussed in recent years. New empirical studies have created a chronology as well as a typology showing how the design of the gaming pieces is tightly connected to different choices of raw material; from antler in the Roman and Migration periods, to whale bone in the sixth century, and walrus in the tenth century. Macroscopic examination can, however, rarely go beyond determining that the material is ‘cetacean bone’. The following article presents the taxonomic identifications of 68 samples of whale bone gaming pieces, determined using Zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry analysis. The results demonstrate the consistent use of bones from Balaenidae sp. most probably the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis). This paper presents strong evidence for active, large-scale hunting of whales in Scandinavia, starting in the sixth century. The manufacture of gaming pieces was probably not the driver for the hunt, but merely a by-product that has survived in the archaeological record. Of greater importance were probably baleen, meat, and blubber that could be rendered into oil. This oil might have been an additional trading product in the far-reaching trade networks that were developing during the period. This study supports previous studies suggesting that Iron Age and medieval trade and resource exploitation had a much more severe influence on ecosystems than previously expected. It adds additional insights into anthropogenic impact on mammal populations in prehistory.
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| 6. |
- Hennius, Andreas, et al.
(author)
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Whalebone Gaming Pieces : Aspects of Marine Mammal Exploitation in Vendeland Viking Age Scandinavia
- 2018
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In: European Journal of Archaeology. - : Cambridge University Press (CUP). - 1461-9571 .- 1741-2722. ; 21:4, s. 612-631
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Discussions of pre-Viking trade and production have for many decades focused on products made of precious metals, glass and, to some degree, iron. This is hardly surprising considering the difficulties in finding and provenancing products made of organic matter. In this article we examine gaming pieces made from bone and antler, which are not unusual in Scandinavian burials in the Vendel and Vikingperiod (c. AD 550–1050). A special emphasis is placed on whalebone pieces that appear to dominate after around AD 550, signalling a large-scale production and exploitation of North Atlantic whale products.In combination with other goods such as bear furs, birds of prey, and an increased iron and tar production, whalebone products are part of an intensified large-scale outland exploitation and indicate strong, pre-urban trading routes across Scandinavia and Europe some 200 years before the Viking period and well before the age of the emporia.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Ledoux, X., et al.
(author)
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The Neutrons for Science Facility at SPIRAL-2
- 2014
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In: Nuclear Data Sheets. - : Elsevier BV. - 0090-3752 .- 1095-9904. ; 119, s. 353-356
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Neutrons For Science (NFS) facility is a component of SPIRAL-2 laboratory under construction at Caen (France). SPIRAL-2 is dedicated to the production of high intensity Radioactive Ions Beams (RIB). It is based on a high-power linear accelerator (LINAG) to accelerate deuterons beams in order to produce neutrons by breakup reactions on a C converter. These neutrons will induce fission in U-238 for production of radioactive isotopes. Additionally to the RIB production, the proton and deuteron beams delivered by the accelerator will be used in the NFS facility. NFS is composed of a pulsed neutron beam and irradiation stations for cross-section measurements and material studies. The beams delivered by the LINAG will allow producing intense neutron beams in the 100 keV-40 MeV energy range with either a continuous or quasi-mono-energetic spectrum. At NFS available average fluxes will be up to 2 orders of magnitude higher than those of other existing time-of-flight facilities in the 1 MeV - 40 MeV range. NFS will be a very powerful tool for fundamental physics and application related research in support of the transmutation of nuclear waste, design of future fission and fusion reactors, nuclear medicine or test and development of new detectors. The facility and its characteristics are described, and several examples of the first potential experiments are presented.
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| 9. |
- Norström, Elin, et al.
(author)
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Micro-fossil analysis of Mesolithic human dental calculus, Motala, Sweden - Indications of health status and paleo-diet
- 2019
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In: Journal of Archaeological Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-409X .- 2352-4103. ; 26
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We analysed microfossil remains in human dental calculus sampled from an individual of the Mesolithic burials at Strandvägen, Motala, central Sweden. The analysis was targeted on phytoliths, diatoms and fungal spores. The composition of the phytolith assemblage suggests that plant micro-fossils found in the dental calculus partially stem from reeds of Phragmites. This suggests that the studied individual was consuming and/or manipulating reeds with his teeth. Spherical fungal spores were abundant in the calculus, possibly indicating weak health status, although it cannot be excluded that they originate from natural long-term accumulations. The diatom composition in the dental calculus was dominated by Cyclotella distinguenda, a species which is strongly linked to waters of the nearby Lake Vättern. This suggests that the studied individual primarily used water, and/or aquatic flora/fauna, from Lake Vättern.
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| 10. |
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