THIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE QUESTION, who were the people who were buried at the early medievalNorth Sea emporia? Conclusions about the mercantile character of the North Sea emporia are often based on... Show moreTHIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE QUESTION, who were the people who were buried at the early medievalNorth Sea emporia? Conclusions about the mercantile character of the North Sea emporia are often based on portablematerial culture. In recognition of the fact that it is difficult to draw conclusions about the identities of people basedon finds assemblages, two pilot projects have been completed that involved bioarchaeological analyses of cemetery pop-ulations associated with these sites. The first of these, the Investigating the Dead in Early Medieval Domburg project,undertook multi-disciplinary analyses of the (very small) surviving burial population from the mostly destroyed sitesin the Domburg area (Netherlands), combining isotope analysis, radiocarbon dating, biological anthropology, dendro-chronology, and provenancing and study of previous use of coffin wood. The second, the Medieval Migrants of theNorth Sea World project, inventoried available isotopic evidence for human remains from emporia sites in England,the Netherlands and Scandinavia, alongside contextual archaeological information. This paper presents both projects,providing the detailed information from Domburg in its wider, international context, and highlighting the need for acomprehensive research agenda to fill current gaps in our understanding of early medieval emporia populations. Show less
Raemaekers, D.; Brusgaard, N.Ø.; Dreshaj, M.; Erven, J.; Dee, M.; Peeters, H. 2023
In general, the fifth millennium BCE in the Dutch wetlands and southern Scandinavia might be described in similar terms regarding the presence of ceramic hunter-gatherers who evidently had contacts... Show moreIn general, the fifth millennium BCE in the Dutch wetlands and southern Scandinavia might be described in similar terms regarding the presence of ceramic hunter-gatherers who evidently had contacts of some kind with central European farming communities. Whereas the end of this millennium saw a relatively swift transition to farming in southern Scandinavia, the Dutch wetlands seem to have taken a different route. Here, the dominant opinion is that of a gradual and earlier start of animal husbandry and cereal cultivation, albeit of a limited economic importance. This contribution will question the Dutch dataset and discuss new data on the use of ceramics and the date and scale of the start of animal husbandry and cereal cultivation. We conclude that the transition to farming (cereal cultivation and animal husbandry) occurred around 4200 BCE, predating the transition to farming in the UK and southern Scandinavia. Show less
Erdil, P.; Kuitems, M.; Berger, M.E.; Dee, M. 2021
In this article, radiocarbon dating has been used as a tool for investigating the authenticity of two Mesoamerican artefacts from the collection of the National Museum of World Cultures (Museum... Show moreIn this article, radiocarbon dating has been used as a tool for investigating the authenticity of two Mesoamerican artefacts from the collection of the National Museum of World Cultures (Museum Volkenkunde), Leiden, the Netherlands. The first artefact is a ceremonial Aztec, possibly a tecpatl, knife, and it is presumed to date to 1300–1500 CE. The second object is a decorated Mixtec skull, presumed to date to 1400–1520 CE. The efficacy of radiocarbon dating was thoroughly tested in this study, especially in regard to the tiny quantities that could be sampled from the skull. However, with the newly revamped radiocarbon facility at the University of Groningen, this was an opportune moment to attempt such research. Ultimately, a credible result could not be obtained on the skull; however, the ceremonial knife was dated reliably to the Aztec period. The article also discusses the broader issue of whether radiocarbon results can be used as a definitive proof of authenticity and examines the riskreward nature of radiocarbon testing. Show less
