The early mediaeval period in Croatia is rarely mentioned in historical sources. The development of society during this period was greatly influenced by formation of communities, within which there ...were many inequalities. The social group one belonged to and its ordinance were the main factors in the material and spiritual life of mediaeval man.
Within Croatia, during the Early Middle Ages the process of social disintegration and the formation of social groups/strata varied from area to area. However, it can be deduced that this process was the quickest and most complete in the most socially-developed area – the Eastern Adriatic coast. The basic hypothesis of this paper is that people who belonged to different social groups also had different living conditions, which was reflected in their health, quality of life and lifespan.
An individual's social status was assessed using the archaeological context, i.e. form of burial. The assumption was made that differences in status were reflected in the manner of the burial. The criteria used to determine social status were grave architecture and quantity and quality of grave finds and goods. In order to assess the health of the individuals anthropological methods were used. These methods included the assessment of age and sex, as well as the analyses of pathologies that leave traces on dry bones. Multivariate statistical methods showed that even though there were social inequalities in the early mediaeval society, the individuals belonging to higher-ranking groups had neither better health, nor lived longer. The results of the analyses carried out in the course of this work show that even though social stratification did exist in the early mediaeval society, biological sex was a much more important factor in life expectancy and quality of life than which social group an individual belonged to.
Razdoblje ranog srednjeg vijeka gotovo se uopće ne spominje
u povijesnim izvorima. Društvena zajednica imala je vrlo bitnu ulogu u razvoju
ranosrednjovjekovnog društva u Hrvatskoj. Unutar svake zajednice postojalo je
mnoštvo razlika, a način i vrsta zajednice ovisili su o mnogo čimbenika.
Pripadnost društvenoj grupi i njene staleške karakteristike bile su glavne
odrednice u materijalnom i misaonom životu srednjovjekovnog čovjeka. Proces
raslojavanja i stvaranja socijalnih grupa u Hrvatskoj u razdoblju ranog
srednjeg vijeka bio je višestruko neujednačen, a najbrži i najpotpuniji je bio
na društveno najrazvijenijem području, odnosno istočnoj obali Jadrana. U radu
su prikazani rezultati antropološke analize zdravlja i kvalitete života
starohrvatske populacije pokopane na nalazištu Nin – Ždrijac, u kontekstu
socijalnog statusa. Temeljna pretpostavka jest da su osobe koje su pripadale različitim
socijalnim grupama unutar zajednice uživale i različite životne prilike, što se
onda odražavalo i na njihovo zdravlje i kvalitetu života, u smislu doživljene
starosti. Socijalni status pokojnika određivao se pomoću arheološkog konteksta,
odnosno karakteristika ukopa, a pod pretpostavkom da se socijalni status
pokojnika odražavao i u načinu ukopa. Kriteriji koji su se pritom koristili su
grobna arhitektura, te količina i vrsta grobnih priloga i nalaza. Kako bi se
odredilo zdravstveno stanje pokojnika korištene su antropološke metode, što je
uključivalo analize spola i starosti, te patologija koje ostavljaju traga na
kostima. Za određivanje korelacija parametara koji određuju biološko zdravlje s
parametrima koji određuju socijalni status korištene su multivarijatne
log-linearne analize.
This paper presents an archaeozoological dataset listing numbers of identified fragments for domestic cattle, sheep/goat, pig and horse from archaeological sites in the Netherlands dating from the ...Bronze Age to the Early Medieval period (c. 2000 BC – AD 1050) 1. In addition to fragment numbers per species, the geo-referenced dataset includes chronological information, site descriptions, and bibliographic references. Data were collected from tables listing numbers of bone fragments per animal species as found in published and unpublished reports.
Number of identified bone fragments per animal species form the most basic archaeozoological information. They can be used to reconstruct animal husbandry and human dietary practices in the past. The dataset can therefore be used in spatio-temporal studies of animal use and management across c. 3000 years.
•An iron tool was identified as a draw-plate for silver wire.•Dating to the 6th-8th c., it is one of the oldest confirmed draw-plates.•The tool was found in a workshop next to Old Uppsala’s royal ...hall.
Metal wire is in modern society manufactured by drawing metal rods through dies with conical holes of decreasing diameters, until the desired thickness is obtained. The history and origin of this technique remains unclear, although it was likely developed from earlier wire-making techniques such as strip-drawing and roll-drawing. Proper wire-drawing was an established technology in Europe during the High Middle Ages, and numerous draw-plates have been found at Scandinavian Viking Age trading centers. Here, we report the technical examination of an iron draw-plate found in Uppsala in central Sweden. The draw-plate was excavated in a Vendel Period fine metals workshop, located immediately next to the royal hall in Old Uppsala, the central building of the royal estate in the 6th −8th c. X-ray and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of the draw-plate revealed silver particles in the plate’s holes, indicating drawing of silver wire. The plate is dated to the 6th – 8th c., which makes it one of the oldest confirmed tools for wire-drawing so far encountered. The presence of this tool in the workshop indicates that some high-quality jewelry in this region was locally produced. Thus, the finding of this draw-plate increases our understanding of Vendel Period jewelry production, and of the social organization of this craft.
•First multi-isotope analysis on early medieval individuals in coastal Belgium.•The need for higher resolution isotopic baselines is highlighted.•Human oxygen isotopes (δ18O) values are higher than ...current baselines.•Individuals buried at Koksijde show exploitation of marine resources.
During the early medieval period (5th–9th century CE), the North Sea coastal societies were involved in long distance maritime trade relations, which resulted in a pronounced mobility of individuals throughout the North Sea area. This work presents the first isotope data from human remains on diet and mobility from early medieval Belgian coastal populations. A total of 23 out of 51 excavated individuals from the archaeological site of Koksijde, Belgium (7th–8th century AD), was selected for isotope and elemental analyses (δ13Ccol, δ15N, δ18OP, δ13Cap, δ18OC, 87Sr/86Sr and Sr). The high δ15N values of part of the individuals buried at Koksijde indicate that high trophic level ranked fish was included in their diets, suggesting an intensive exploitation of marine food sources. The δ18O values are not compatible with the predicted ‘local’ values while the strontium isotope ratios have values close to that of seawater (0.7092). Either the actual oxygen isotope values in early medieval Belgium are offset by 1 or 2‰ compared to the current meteoric water predictions, or the population came from somewhere else. Whether or not this was linked to the population’s mobility is difficult to assess based on their δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr values. Nonetheless, the study of the population at Koksijde provides new insights into the lives of the early medieval coastal Belgian societies.
Current approaches in diet-related bioarchaeological research focus on establishing major developments in ancient societies, whilst small-scale and high-resolution studies of social constituents of ...past food consumption have gained far less attention. We conducted a multiproxy study of ancient diet in the 12th–13th century AD cemetery at Kukruse, NE-Estonia, in order to address the question of socially constrained food in the past. Two different food related archaeological sources – ceramic vessels and human bones – were investigated by applying organic residue (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), bulk isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS), gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-C-IRMS)), and plant microfossil analysis for the first, and human bone stable isotope (IRMS) analysis for the latter. Results show that there was a gender and to some extent also age-specific food consumption by different community members at Kukruse: male (and some older female) diet was based on more aquatic and higher trophic level organisms, whilst younger females tend to feed on lower trophic level and potentially more herbivorous animals and their products. The paper emphasises the concept of past diet as a social phenomenon, the aspects of which can be best revealed with the help of multiproxy bioarchaeological analysis.
•Pots and human bones from cemetery context were analysed for dietary reconstruction.•Organic residue, plant microfossil and bone stable isotope analysis was conducted.•Gender-specific diet followed in lifetime and funeral rituals was revealed.
A group of nine fortified sites, similar to Roman fortlets, occur along approximately 550 km of the Middle Nile Valley of Sudan between the Fourth Cataract and the confluence of the White and Blue ...Niles. Previous research indicates that these forts were built in Late Antiquity, i.e. between the second and seventh centuries AD. This was a time of profound changes in the region that included the disintegration of the Meroitic kingdom and the development of several medieval Nubian realms. Drawing on previous research and the results of two seasons of fieldwork at three of the forts in 2018, this paper provides an answer to the questions of who and why these forts were built. Small finds and radiocarbon samples from various contexts provide insights into their history and indicate that all three of the forts investigated were erected in a short period during the second part of the sixth century, a time of conflict between the Nubian kingdoms that is described by the contemporary historian John of Ephesus.
As powerful economic and cultural centers, fortified sites played an important role in early medieval society. In Central Europe, early medieval fortified site research has been an essential topic ...for several generations. However, gradual changes in the landscape are a threat to these cultural heritage monuments. The main task of this paper was to compare the previous results from archaeological excavations with new data acquired by geophysical methods. The presented study is based on the three methods widely used in archaeology: magnetometry, ground-penetrating radar, and electrical resistivity tomography. New surveys provide information about the internal structure and the state of preservation of the fortifications in a non-destructive way. Comparison of the results encourages the evaluation of archaeological excavation and helps determine the suitability and effectiveness of geophysical methods in specific natural conditions.
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