Antlers far and wide: biomolecular identification of Scandinavian hair combs from Ribe, Denmark, 720-900 CE
We used biomolecular methods toidentify thefaunal 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...
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ftzenodo:oai:zenodo.org:7665569 2024-09-15T17:36:17+00:00 Antlers far and wide: biomolecular identification of Scandinavian hair combs from Ribe, Denmark, 720-900 CE Rey-Iglesia, Alba de Jager, Deon Presslee, Samantha Skytte Qvistgaard, Sarah Sindbæk, Søren Lorenzen, Eline 2023-03-30 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7665569 unknown Zenodo https://zenodo.org/communities/zooms https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7665568 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7665569 oai:zenodo.org:7665569 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode Journal of Archaeological science, 153, (2023-03-30) ZooMS Viking combs aDNA info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2023 ftzenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.766556910.5281/zenodo.7665568 2024-07-25T11:26:25Z We used biomolecular methods toidentify thefaunal 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 and Poland, and in one early Holocene sample from Germany. Comparison with other comb finds and extensive workshop debris from the Posthustorvet site reflect a range of different comb-types and raw materials at the site. Our ZooMS and DNA findings, in the context of the absence of associated workshop debris of moose or reindeer during the early phases of the site, support that the four early ‘Scandinavian-type’ combs were brought to the site as finished items by travellers. Our results confirm that visitors from the Scandinavian Peninsula were present in Ribe, a place of trade at the southern edge of the North Sea, in the early eighth century, half a century before the maritime expansion of the Viking Age. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Rangifer tarandus Zenodo |
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ZooMS Viking combs aDNA |
spellingShingle |
ZooMS Viking combs aDNA Rey-Iglesia, Alba de Jager, Deon Presslee, Samantha Skytte Qvistgaard, Sarah Sindbæk, Søren Lorenzen, Eline Antlers far and wide: biomolecular identification of Scandinavian hair combs from Ribe, Denmark, 720-900 CE |
topic_facet |
ZooMS Viking combs aDNA |
description |
We used biomolecular methods toidentify thefaunal 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 and Poland, and in one early Holocene sample from Germany. Comparison with other comb finds and extensive workshop debris from the Posthustorvet site reflect a range of different comb-types and raw materials at the site. Our ZooMS and DNA findings, in the context of the absence of associated workshop debris of moose or reindeer during the early phases of the site, support that the four early ‘Scandinavian-type’ combs were brought to the site as finished items by travellers. Our results confirm that visitors from the Scandinavian Peninsula were present in Ribe, a place of trade at the southern edge of the North Sea, in the early eighth century, half a century before the maritime expansion of the Viking Age. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Rey-Iglesia, Alba de Jager, Deon Presslee, Samantha Skytte Qvistgaard, Sarah Sindbæk, Søren Lorenzen, Eline |
author_facet |
Rey-Iglesia, Alba de Jager, Deon Presslee, Samantha Skytte Qvistgaard, Sarah Sindbæk, Søren Lorenzen, Eline |
author_sort |
Rey-Iglesia, Alba |
title |
Antlers far and wide: biomolecular identification of Scandinavian hair combs from Ribe, Denmark, 720-900 CE |
title_short |
Antlers far and wide: biomolecular identification of Scandinavian hair combs from Ribe, Denmark, 720-900 CE |
title_full |
Antlers far and wide: biomolecular identification of Scandinavian hair combs from Ribe, Denmark, 720-900 CE |
title_fullStr |
Antlers far and wide: biomolecular identification of Scandinavian hair combs from Ribe, Denmark, 720-900 CE |
title_full_unstemmed |
Antlers far and wide: biomolecular identification of Scandinavian hair combs from Ribe, Denmark, 720-900 CE |
title_sort |
antlers far and wide: biomolecular identification of scandinavian hair combs from ribe, denmark, 720-900 ce |
publisher |
Zenodo |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7665569 |
genre |
Alces alces Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Alces alces Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
Journal of Archaeological science, 153, (2023-03-30) |
op_relation |
https://zenodo.org/communities/zooms https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7665568 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7665569 oai:zenodo.org:7665569 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.766556910.5281/zenodo.7665568 |
_version_ |
1810488444941500416 |