Biomolecular evidence reveals mares and long-distance imported horses sacrificed by the last pagans in temperate Europe
Horse sacrifice and deposition are enigmatic features of funerary rituals identified across prehistoric Europe that persisted in the eastern Baltic. Genetic and isotopic analysis of horses in Balt cemeteries [1st to 13th centuries CE (Common Era)] dismantle prevailing narratives that locally procure...
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American Association for the Advancement of Science
2024
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Online Access: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/169022/ https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado3529 https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/169022/1/French2024BONEZ.pdf |
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ftunivcardiff:oai:https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk:169022 2024-06-23T07:52:44+00:00 Biomolecular evidence reveals mares and long-distance imported horses sacrificed by the last pagans in temperate Europe French, Katherine M. Musiał, Adrianna D. Karczewski, Maciej Daugnora, Linas Shiroukhov, Roman Ropka-Molik, Katarzyna Baranowski, Tadeusz Bertašius, Mindaugas Skvortsov, Konstantin Szymański, Paweł Mellin-Wyczółkowska, Izabela Gręzak, Anna Wyczółkowski, Dariusz Pluskowski, Aleksander Andersen, Morten Millet, Marc-Alban Inglis, Edward Madgwick, Richard 2024-05-17 application/pdf https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/169022/ https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado3529 https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/169022/1/French2024BONEZ.pdf en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/169022/1/French2024BONEZ.pdf French, Katherine M., Musiał, Adrianna D., Karczewski, Maciej, Daugnora, Linas, Shiroukhov, Roman, Ropka-Molik, Katarzyna, Baranowski, Tadeusz, Bertašius, Mindaugas, Skvortsov, Konstantin, Szymański, Paweł, Mellin-Wyczółkowska, Izabela, Gręzak, Anna, Wyczółkowski, Dariusz, Pluskowski, Aleksander, Andersen, Morten https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/view/cardiffauthors/A22456968.html orcid:0000-0002-3130-9794 orcid:0000-0002-3130-9794, Millet, Marc-Alban https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/view/cardiffauthors/A2249319T.html orcid:0000-0003-2710-5374 orcid:0000-0003-2710-5374, Inglis, Edward https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/view/cardiffauthors/A27056028.html and Madgwick, Richard https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/view/cardiffauthors/A727624U.html orcid:0000-0002-4396-3566 orcid:0000-0002-4396-3566 2024. Biomolecular evidence reveals mares and long-distance imported horses sacrificed by the last pagans in temperate Europe. Science Advances 10 , eado3529. 10.1126/sciadv.ado3529 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado3529 file https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/169022/1/French2024BONEZ.pdf doi:10.1126/sciadv.ado3529 cc_by_4_0 CC Archaeology Article PeerReviewed 2024 ftunivcardiff https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado3529 2024-05-29T00:04:04Z Horse sacrifice and deposition are enigmatic features of funerary rituals identified across prehistoric Europe that persisted in the eastern Baltic. Genetic and isotopic analysis of horses in Balt cemeteries [1st to 13th centuries CE (Common Era)] dismantle prevailing narratives that locally procured stallions were exclusively selected. Strontium isotope analysis provides direct evidence for long-distance(~300 to 1500 kilometers) maritime transport of Fennoscandian horses to the eastern Baltic in the Late Viking Age (11th to 13th centuries CE). Genetic analysis proves that horses of both sexes were sacrificed with 34% identified as mares. Results transform the understanding of selection criteria, disprove sex-based selection, and elevate prestige value as a more crucial factor. These findings also provide evidence that the continued interaction between pagans and their newly Christianized neighbors sustained the performance of funerary horse sacrifice until the medieval transition. We also present a reference 87Sr/86Sr isoscape for the southeastern Baltic, releasing the potential of future mobility studies in the region. Article in Journal/Newspaper Fennoscandian Cardiff University: ORCA (Online Research @ Cardiff) Science Advances 10 20 |
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Open Polar |
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Cardiff University: ORCA (Online Research @ Cardiff) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcardiff |
language |
English |
topic |
CC Archaeology |
spellingShingle |
CC Archaeology French, Katherine M. Musiał, Adrianna D. Karczewski, Maciej Daugnora, Linas Shiroukhov, Roman Ropka-Molik, Katarzyna Baranowski, Tadeusz Bertašius, Mindaugas Skvortsov, Konstantin Szymański, Paweł Mellin-Wyczółkowska, Izabela Gręzak, Anna Wyczółkowski, Dariusz Pluskowski, Aleksander Andersen, Morten Millet, Marc-Alban Inglis, Edward Madgwick, Richard Biomolecular evidence reveals mares and long-distance imported horses sacrificed by the last pagans in temperate Europe |
topic_facet |
CC Archaeology |
description |
Horse sacrifice and deposition are enigmatic features of funerary rituals identified across prehistoric Europe that persisted in the eastern Baltic. Genetic and isotopic analysis of horses in Balt cemeteries [1st to 13th centuries CE (Common Era)] dismantle prevailing narratives that locally procured stallions were exclusively selected. Strontium isotope analysis provides direct evidence for long-distance(~300 to 1500 kilometers) maritime transport of Fennoscandian horses to the eastern Baltic in the Late Viking Age (11th to 13th centuries CE). Genetic analysis proves that horses of both sexes were sacrificed with 34% identified as mares. Results transform the understanding of selection criteria, disprove sex-based selection, and elevate prestige value as a more crucial factor. These findings also provide evidence that the continued interaction between pagans and their newly Christianized neighbors sustained the performance of funerary horse sacrifice until the medieval transition. We also present a reference 87Sr/86Sr isoscape for the southeastern Baltic, releasing the potential of future mobility studies in the region. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
French, Katherine M. Musiał, Adrianna D. Karczewski, Maciej Daugnora, Linas Shiroukhov, Roman Ropka-Molik, Katarzyna Baranowski, Tadeusz Bertašius, Mindaugas Skvortsov, Konstantin Szymański, Paweł Mellin-Wyczółkowska, Izabela Gręzak, Anna Wyczółkowski, Dariusz Pluskowski, Aleksander Andersen, Morten Millet, Marc-Alban Inglis, Edward Madgwick, Richard |
author_facet |
French, Katherine M. Musiał, Adrianna D. Karczewski, Maciej Daugnora, Linas Shiroukhov, Roman Ropka-Molik, Katarzyna Baranowski, Tadeusz Bertašius, Mindaugas Skvortsov, Konstantin Szymański, Paweł Mellin-Wyczółkowska, Izabela Gręzak, Anna Wyczółkowski, Dariusz Pluskowski, Aleksander Andersen, Morten Millet, Marc-Alban Inglis, Edward Madgwick, Richard |
author_sort |
French, Katherine M. |
title |
Biomolecular evidence reveals mares and long-distance imported horses sacrificed by the last pagans in temperate Europe |
title_short |
Biomolecular evidence reveals mares and long-distance imported horses sacrificed by the last pagans in temperate Europe |
title_full |
Biomolecular evidence reveals mares and long-distance imported horses sacrificed by the last pagans in temperate Europe |
title_fullStr |
Biomolecular evidence reveals mares and long-distance imported horses sacrificed by the last pagans in temperate Europe |
title_full_unstemmed |
Biomolecular evidence reveals mares and long-distance imported horses sacrificed by the last pagans in temperate Europe |
title_sort |
biomolecular evidence reveals mares and long-distance imported horses sacrificed by the last pagans in temperate europe |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/169022/ https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado3529 https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/169022/1/French2024BONEZ.pdf |
genre |
Fennoscandian |
genre_facet |
Fennoscandian |
op_relation |
https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/169022/1/French2024BONEZ.pdf French, Katherine M., Musiał, Adrianna D., Karczewski, Maciej, Daugnora, Linas, Shiroukhov, Roman, Ropka-Molik, Katarzyna, Baranowski, Tadeusz, Bertašius, Mindaugas, Skvortsov, Konstantin, Szymański, Paweł, Mellin-Wyczółkowska, Izabela, Gręzak, Anna, Wyczółkowski, Dariusz, Pluskowski, Aleksander, Andersen, Morten https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/view/cardiffauthors/A22456968.html orcid:0000-0002-3130-9794 orcid:0000-0002-3130-9794, Millet, Marc-Alban https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/view/cardiffauthors/A2249319T.html orcid:0000-0003-2710-5374 orcid:0000-0003-2710-5374, Inglis, Edward https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/view/cardiffauthors/A27056028.html and Madgwick, Richard https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/view/cardiffauthors/A727624U.html orcid:0000-0002-4396-3566 orcid:0000-0002-4396-3566 2024. Biomolecular evidence reveals mares and long-distance imported horses sacrificed by the last pagans in temperate Europe. Science Advances 10 , eado3529. 10.1126/sciadv.ado3529 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado3529 file https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/169022/1/French2024BONEZ.pdf doi:10.1126/sciadv.ado3529 |
op_rights |
cc_by_4_0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ado3529 |
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Science Advances |
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10 |
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