Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages.
Funder: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Mediaeval walrus hunting in Iceland and Greenland-driven by Western European demand for ivory and walrus hide ropes-has been identified as an important pre-modern example of ecological globalization. By contrast, the main origin of walrus ivory...
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The Royal Society
2022
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ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/335820 2023-10-29T02:34:33+01:00 Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages. Barrett, James H Khamaiko, Natalia Ferrari, Giada Cuevas, Angélica Kneale, Catherine Hufthammer, Anne Karin Pálsdóttir, Albína Hulda Star, Bastiaan 2022-04-06T09:00:13Z application/pdf text/xml https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/335820 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.83256 en eng The Royal Society Proc Biol Sci https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/335820 doi:10.17863/CAM.83256 Palaeobiology Research articles ecological globalization ancient DNA stable isotopes historical ecology Middle Ages Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus Article 2022 ftunivcam https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.83256 2023-10-05T22:20:13Z Funder: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Mediaeval walrus hunting in Iceland and Greenland-driven by Western European demand for ivory and walrus hide ropes-has been identified as an important pre-modern example of ecological globalization. By contrast, the main origin of walrus ivory destined for eastern European markets, and then onward trade to Asia, is assumed to have been Arctic Russia. Here, we investigate the geographical origin of nine twelfth-century CE walrus specimens discovered in Kyiv, Ukraine-combining archaeological typology (based on chaîne opératoire assessment), ancient DNA (aDNA) and stable isotope analysis. We show that five of seven specimens tested using aDNA can be genetically assigned to a western Greenland origin. Moreover, six of the Kyiv rostra had been sculpted in a way typical of Greenlandic imports to Western Europe, and seven are tentatively consistent with a Greenland origin based on stable isotope analysis. Our results suggest that demand for the products of Norse Greenland's walrus hunt stretched not only to Western Europe but included Ukraine and, by implication given linked trade routes, also Russia, Byzantium and Asia. These observations illuminate the surprising scale of mediaeval ecological globalization and help explain the pressure this process exerted on distant wildlife populations and those who harvested them. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Greenland greenlandic Iceland Odobenus rosmarus walrus* Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcam |
language |
English |
topic |
Palaeobiology Research articles ecological globalization ancient DNA stable isotopes historical ecology Middle Ages Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus |
spellingShingle |
Palaeobiology Research articles ecological globalization ancient DNA stable isotopes historical ecology Middle Ages Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus Barrett, James H Khamaiko, Natalia Ferrari, Giada Cuevas, Angélica Kneale, Catherine Hufthammer, Anne Karin Pálsdóttir, Albína Hulda Star, Bastiaan Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages. |
topic_facet |
Palaeobiology Research articles ecological globalization ancient DNA stable isotopes historical ecology Middle Ages Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus |
description |
Funder: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research Mediaeval walrus hunting in Iceland and Greenland-driven by Western European demand for ivory and walrus hide ropes-has been identified as an important pre-modern example of ecological globalization. By contrast, the main origin of walrus ivory destined for eastern European markets, and then onward trade to Asia, is assumed to have been Arctic Russia. Here, we investigate the geographical origin of nine twelfth-century CE walrus specimens discovered in Kyiv, Ukraine-combining archaeological typology (based on chaîne opératoire assessment), ancient DNA (aDNA) and stable isotope analysis. We show that five of seven specimens tested using aDNA can be genetically assigned to a western Greenland origin. Moreover, six of the Kyiv rostra had been sculpted in a way typical of Greenlandic imports to Western Europe, and seven are tentatively consistent with a Greenland origin based on stable isotope analysis. Our results suggest that demand for the products of Norse Greenland's walrus hunt stretched not only to Western Europe but included Ukraine and, by implication given linked trade routes, also Russia, Byzantium and Asia. These observations illuminate the surprising scale of mediaeval ecological globalization and help explain the pressure this process exerted on distant wildlife populations and those who harvested them. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Barrett, James H Khamaiko, Natalia Ferrari, Giada Cuevas, Angélica Kneale, Catherine Hufthammer, Anne Karin Pálsdóttir, Albína Hulda Star, Bastiaan |
author_facet |
Barrett, James H Khamaiko, Natalia Ferrari, Giada Cuevas, Angélica Kneale, Catherine Hufthammer, Anne Karin Pálsdóttir, Albína Hulda Star, Bastiaan |
author_sort |
Barrett, James H |
title |
Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages. |
title_short |
Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages. |
title_full |
Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages. |
title_fullStr |
Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages. |
title_sort |
walruses on the dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of greenlandic ivory in the middle ages. |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/335820 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.83256 |
genre |
Arctic Greenland greenlandic Iceland Odobenus rosmarus walrus* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Greenland greenlandic Iceland Odobenus rosmarus walrus* |
op_relation |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/335820 doi:10.17863/CAM.83256 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.83256 |
_version_ |
1781057176936120320 |