Antlers far and wide: biomolecular identification of Scandinavian hair combs from Ribe, Denmark, 720-900 CE ...

• Main Authors: Rey-Iglesia, Alba, de Jager, Deon, Presslee, Samantha, Skytte Qvistgaard, Sarah, Sindbæk, Søren, Lorenzen, Eline
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Zenodo 2023
• Subjects: ZooMS, Viking combs, aDNA; Combs; Alces alces; Rangifer tarandus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7665569; https://zenodo.org/record/7665569

We used biomolecular methods to identify the faunal species present in hair combs and associated workshop debris discovered at the site Posthustorvet in the trading town of Ribe, Denmark, in contexts dated 720-900 CE. The comb finds included four unusual items that have an uncommon but geographically characteristic Scandinavian style. These four early ‘Scandinavian-type’ combs, crafted from antler, were found in contexts 720-740 CE, and were identified as moose (Alces alces) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) using a combination of peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS) and ancient DNA analysis. Our study provides the first confirmed use of moose antler combs in Denmark in the Late Iron Age/Viking Age. Neither moose or reindeer occurred naturally at that time in Denmark, and their closest habitats in the eighth century were on the Scandinavian Peninsula. Based on DNA, the comb identified as moose belonged to the western European mitogenomic group, which has been identified in contemporary samples from Scandinavia ...