Opportunities and Features of the Palynological Analysis Application on Various Types of Archaeological Sites

A wide variety of archaeological sites associated with various human activity has led to the emergence of a wide range of problems solved by archaeological palynology. On the example of the palynological materials accumulated in the Laboratory of Nature Sciences of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the opportunities and features of the palynological analysis application are considered both on classical objects for Russian archaeopalynology (cultural layer, buried soils, defensive ramparts, burial mounds, etc.) and on non-traditional ones (latrines, vessels, funerary objects, ceramics, etc.). It is shown that the reconstruction of the natural environment, generally accepted for palynology, is mainly possible for the materials from long timed sites of shepherds in caves and rock shelters and cultural layers of sites, settlements, hillforts. Materials obtained from other objects (ancient and medieval arable lands, storage pits, latrines, the contents of ritual objects, vessels, and the gastrointestinal tract of the buried) give an idea of very local and short-term environmental conditions or events usually associated with economic and/or daily activities of a person, with his food, funerary rites and traditions. In this regard, the possibilities of the palynological method and the purposes will be different for each specific research. Recommendations for the sampling for palynological analysis are given for each specific case.

Reconstructing the Gerdrup Grave –

In 1981, a double burial from the 9th century was excavated at Gerdrup north of Roskilde. In the grave was a woman and a man. The woman was buried with a spear, while the man had apparently been killed before the burial. The tomb has been perceived as a ‘Master and Slave burial’, which was placed on a desolate site, perhaps because the buried were seen as pariahs. However, hitherto unpublished excavation data combined with new 14C analyzes show that the burial was part of a small multi-period burial site placed near a group of older burial mounds. Topographic analyses indicate that the burial was also located at a central ford, and thus had a prominent location. Not least, new DNA analyzes surprisingly show that the two buried have a parent-offspring relation; they are mother and son. The previous perception of the Gerdrup grave is thus challenged. This article intends to present the relevant excavation data and to discuss it in the light of the new analyzes.

THE COMPOSITION OF THE POPULATION BURIED AT THE SCYTHIAN AGE CEMETERY NEAR SVITLOVODSK CITY (ACCORDING TO CRANIOLOGY)

The anthropological composition of the population buried at the cemetery of the Scythian Age near Svitlovodsk city (Kirovograd region) is analyzed in the paper. The burial ground is located on the border of the Forest-Steppe and Steppe Zones of the Right Bank of the Dnieper. The anthropological material under study comes from cemetery without mounds. Archaeologists date the main massif of burials to the 4th century BC. The anthropological composition of the population that was buried at this burial ground was not homogenous. The male series of skulls is characterized by a long, medium-wide, high, dolichocranic skull. The face is of medium size, it is mesognathic. The horizontal profile of the face at the upper level is medium, but with a tendency to the sharp; at the middle level, the face is strongly profiled. The orbital and nasal indexes are medium. The bones of the nose are moderately protruding. The average characteristics of the male population fit into the range of variations of the Scythian series. The male series belongs morphologically and statistically to the circle of the steppe Scythian groups. The male group from the burial ground near the city of Svitlovodsk is close to the series from the Nikolaevka burial ground on the Dnister River, the group of skulls from the burial mounds near the village of Shirokoe (Left Bank of the Dnieper River), the group of skulls from the burial mounds near the village of Vyshchetarassivka, a series of skulls from the Mykhailivka burial ground. Of the forest-steppe series, only the combined group of skulls from the Trypillya region is somewhat close to it. All these statistically and morphologically similar groups originate from different territories. This illustrates the specifics of the settlement and demonstrates the mobility of the Scythian groups. The female series from the burial ground is characterized by a long, narrow, medium-high skull, mesocranic in shape. The size of the face is small, it is mesognathic. The horizontal profile of the face at the upper level is moderate, at the zygomaxilar level it belongs to the category of sharp, but with a tendency to moderate. The orbital index is medium, the nasal index belongs to the large category. The bones of the nose are medium protruding. The female series from Svitlovodsk burial ground turns out to be the most gracile among the Scythian series in Ukraine. For this reason, it differs significantly from the entire massif of the steppe Scythian series. The closest to the Svitlovodsk series is a group from mounds near Nikopol.

WIGGLE-MATCH DATING OF A FLOATING OAK CHRONOLOGY FROM AN EARLY IRON AGE GRAVE CONSTRUCTION (ERESZTVÉNYI FOREST, FEHÉRVÁRCSURGÓ, HUNGARY)

ABSTRACT Archaeological excavations unearthed three burial mounds between 1983 and 1986 at Fehérvárcsurgó (Hungary). Based on the archaeological determination the site was dated to the Early Iron Age. A complex wooden architecture was observed in the largest tumulus containing inner and outer beam constructions separated by stone blocks. Dendrochronological and radiocarbon (14C) analyses were performed on conserved logs (n=5) to constrain the felling date of the timber, identified as oak, and the construction period of the tumuli. The four longest ringwidth series were synchronized providing a 153-yr-long floating chronology. Five blocks were removed from the cross sections and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C analysis was performed on the separated α-cellulose. A wiggle-matching procedure was employed as the 14C ages were in agreement with their relative position in the tree-ring sequence and concurred with the expected archaeological period. The calibrated age range of the last extant ring is 747–707 cal BC (95.4%). The earliest possible felling date of the trees used in the construction was between 735 and 695 BC considering the missing sapwood. This is the first 14C dated tree-ring width chronology from the Early Iron Age in Hungary providing a valuable reference for dendroarchaeological studies along the eastern border of the Hallstatt Culture.

What Makes a Mound? Earth-Sourced Materials in Late Iron Age Burial Mounds

The interpretation of Late Iron Age burial mounds often focuses exclusively on the discovered contents, the social identity or role of the interred and the economic and political implications that can be extracted. This article considers the mound itself as a basis for archaeological interpretation, and attempts to place substantial late Iron Age burial mounds within the landscape they are made of. Within these burial mounds internal references to time, place and the transformations and imbued associations within the earth-sourced materials are purposeful and significant. This is illustrated via comparable examples from southern Norway, and to add contrast, cases from the Viking Age Isle of Man will be explored. This article will outline why the selected mounds should be seen as closely related to each other in the references they contain, and how the materials used can be seen as a purposeful link to the land itself.

Culture Moves Like an Octopus: Aspects on Archaeological Regions and Boundaries

The graves in the interior of central Norrland in northern Sweden exhibit a wide range of forms throughout the Iron Age. Burial mounds and stonesettings of various forms also occur in different environmental contexts. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the spatial and cultural significance of the Iron Age graves in the provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen. The point at issue is what the distribution of so-called lake graves and burial mounds represent with respect to the general discussion of archaeological regions and cultural traditions. It is here suggested that the concept of region, when it is applied to material culture, represents one of the many aspects of cultural configurations, but as we are dealing here with a longterm perspective the cultural world is continuously in motion, which makes regional boundaries hard to grasp.

Op de schouders van reuzen. De archeologie van Noordwest-Europa

On the shoulders of giants: the archaeology of northwestern Europe. From its founding in 1918, the Biologisch-Archaeologisch Instituut has carried out research on stone-age hunter-gatherers, the start and the development of prehistoric farming communities, burial mounds and settlements on the sandy soils, and the occupation of the terp-mound district. This article presents the highlights of a century-long research history and identifies current developments.

New Pre-Scythian Burials from the Volgograd Region. Interpretation Problems

The article is devoted to the publication and analysis of new burial materials of the pre-Scythian period (9th – 7th centuries BC), obtained as a result of excavations of several burial mounds in the Volgograd region. The work was carried out by the expedition of Volgograd State University from the end of the past to the beginning of the present century. The burial mounds were located on the coastal terraces of the Don river and some of its tributaries, as well as on the steppe watersheds associated with the Don basin. The sample includes seven pre-Scythian burials, the burial rite and clothing material of which allows us to correlate them with the previously discovered monuments of the Chernogorovskaya Culture of the southern Russian steppes and date them within the boundaries of the initial stage of the early Iron Age. According to archaeological and anthropological data, various components were involved in the formation of this culture in the Lower Volga region and the neighbouring Don and the Volga-Ural regions. The basis was autochthonous substrates of the Late Bronze Age, as well as cultural formations derived from them at the final stage of the Late Bronze Age. The combination of local and imported cultural traditions is also reflected in the grave inventory of the studied series, especially in the ceramic complex, which shows technological and typological features of various origin. The variety of elements of the funeral rite and the mixed nature of the accompanying inventory of the presented burial series reflect the complex processes of cultural genesis in the Lower Volga region in the pre-Scythian period during transition to a nomadic economy.