DOCSLIB.ORG

Stable Isotope Evidence from a Wielbark Population (2Nd C. AD)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Stable Isotope Evidence from a Wielbark Population (2Nd C. AD) Isotopic paleodiet analysis at 2nd c AD Rogowo, PL Laurie J. Reitsema and Tomasz Kozłowski ANTHROPOLOGICAL REVIEW • Vol. 76 (1), 1–22 (2013) Diet and society in Poland before the state: stable isotope evidence from a Wielbark population (2nd c. AD) Laurie J. Reitsema1, Tomasz Kozłowski2 1Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, 250 Baldwin Hall, Jackson St., Athens, Georgia, 30602, USA 2 Department of Anthropology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, ul. Lwowska 1, 87-100, Toruń, Poland ABSTRACT: The 1st–4th c. AD Wielbark culture of Eastern Europe is relatively understudied bioarchaeolog- ically due to the fragmentary nature of its cemeteries. Here, we report the first stable isotope analysis of Wielbark diet using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures from both collagen and carbonate of 30 individuals from Rogowo, a 2nd c. Wielbark cemetery in North-Central Poland. Diet at Rogowo was pri- marily based on terrestrial foods and included millet, a C4 plant cultivated by many Slavic populations in Europe. Anadromous fish likely supplemented the diet, which is clarified when considering collagen and carbonate data in tandem. Stable isotope differences between the sexes indicate that men and women may have consumed different foods, although there is a possibility that women immigrated to Rogowo from an isotopically different region of Europe. No significant differences are noted in δ13C or δ15N of women with and without grave goods, suggesting little social differentiation within the Wielbark culture, at least in terms of daily food access. Reconstructing human diet in Europe through stable isotope analysis is problematic because of the relative isotopic homogeneity in this region of the world. This study further demonstrates the utility of using both carbonate and collagen stable isotope data in tandem to reconstruct past European diet. KEY WORDS: paleodiet, Roman era, Wielbark culture, isotopes, Poland Introduction riod of Roman influence or the Roman The archaeological culture known era by archaeologists, although the ge- as the Wielbark occupied regions of ographic regions of modern-day Poland North-Central Europe between the 1st were never incorporated into the Roman and 4th centuries AD (Barford 2001). Empire. Initially settled in the areas sur- This time period is referred to as the pe- rounding the Vistula River in Pomera- Original Article: Received September 13, 2013; Accepted for publication October 21, 2013 DOI: 110.2478/anre-2013-0010 © 2013 Polish Anthropological Society 2 Laurie J. Reitsema and Tomasz Kozłowski nia (Wołgiewicz 1981, Godłowski and Two archaeological trademarks of the Kozłowski 1985), the Wielbark culture Wielbark culture are bi-ritual cemeteries expanded during the first half of the 2nd that include both inhumation and crema- c. AD to Southeast Poland and Wielko- tion burials, and a characteristic lack of polska (Kozak-Zychman 1996). Origins weapons and tools as grave goods (Go- of the Wielbark culture are uncertain. It dłowski and Kozłowski 1985). Wielbark may have developed indigenously from settlements are generally open and un- the Oksywie culture in and around the fortified. A degree of social differenti- Vistula River basin (e.g., Godłowski ation is manifest in the facts that some and Kozłowski 1985; Dąbrowski 2006), graves are cremations whereas some but some believe it may represent im- are inhumations, and that ornaments migrant populations of Germanic Goths and jewelry grave goods are present in and Gepids from Scandinavia (Czeka- burials. However, in general, Wielbark nowski 1955; Godłowski and Kozłowski populations appear to have been rela- 1985; Heather 1996; Kozak-Zychman tively egalitarian (Gieysztor et al. 1979). 1996; Wołgiewicz 1981). The issue of Although linked to the Roman world by Wielbark origins and relationships with trade, Slavic populations in Antiquity other Roman era European populations are scarcely described in written records; remains unresolved. After their appear- thus, it falls to archaeology to illuminate ance in North-Central Poland, Wielbark the daily lives of modern-day Poland’s settlements eventually shift further populations in the early centuries AD. south, replacing the Przeworsk culture In terms of the subsistence econo- in Southern Poland, and apparently de- my, wheat, millet, rye and barley were veloping into the Černjachov culture in the most commonly grown crops by the modern-day Ukraine and surrounding Wielbark culture (Pyrgała 1975). Cattle areas. The relationship between the were the most common domesticated Wielbark culture and later, medieval animal in Roman era Poland, comprising Slavic populations from the Oder and approximately 50 to 80% of the total ar- the Vistula rivers basins is also incom- chaeozoological assemblages (Gładykow- pletely defined (c.f., Kozak-Zychman ska-Rzeczycka et al. 1997; Makowiecki 1996; Dąbrowski 2006). Anthropologi- 2006; Reitsema et al. 2013). Land was cal examinations of skull and tooth mor- tilled on a household level but was prob- phology suggest biological continuity ably collectively owned during the tribal between Antiquity and the early medie- period (Gieysztor et al. 1979). For this val period (Piontek et al. 2008). Recent reason, little within-group dietary differ- preliminary aDNA analyses of a small entiation based on status may be expect- number of Iron Age and medieval skel- ed at this time. etons from Poland suggest genetic dis- Because most Wielbark cemeteries continuity between these times (Juras comprise cremains and fragmented skel- 2012). Although inconclusive thus far, etal remains, only a limited number of bi- contributions from biological anthro- oarchaeological investigations contribute pology, such as these recent examples, to our understanding of these peoples are desirable to clarify the Wielbark cul- (e.g., Dąbrowski 2006; Kozak-Zychman ture’s relationship to other European 1996, Krenz-Niedbala and Kozłowski populations. 2013; Piontek et al. 2006; Segeda et al. Isotopic paleodiet analysis at 2nd c AD Rogowo, PL 3 2007; Smrćka et al. 2000). Here we pres- tios (δ15N) are reported according to the ent the first stable isotope evidence of equation Wielbark diet from Rogowo, a cemetery [δ=(Rsample – Rstandard)/Rstandard x1000]. with unusually complete skeletal materi- Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope als, in Kujavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship ratios provide differing information of North-Central Poland. In addition to about human diet. δ13C variation in the reconstructing diet of this Wielbark pop- plant kingdom exists due to differences ulation, we consider relationships be- in photosynthetic pathways used to me- tween diet and sex, age, and presence/ tabolize atmospheric carbon (Park and absence of grave goods to better under- Epstein 1960; Smith and Epstein 1971). stand the dual influences of cultural and δ13C ratios in human tissues therefore biological variables in influencing diet of reflect the local ecosystem, identifying this tribal population. which types of plants were consumed and the influence of environmental pa- 13 Stable Isotope Background rameters on plant δ C values (DeNiro and Epstein 1978; Heaton 1999). The Analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen δ13C values of fish often (though not al- isotopes from human bones is an effec- ways) fall outside the typical ranges of tive tool in archaeology for reconstruct- terrestrial foods, and can in many cases ing individual diets of past populations be identified isotopically in diet as a re- (c.f., Katzenberg 2008; Schoeninger sult (Chisholm et al. 1982; Dufour et al. 2011). Plants and animals exhibit sys- 1999; Grupe et al. 1999; Schoeninger and tematic isotopic variation due to differ- DeNiro 1984). ences in their environments, physiolo- Stable carbon isotope ratios can be gies and diets (Ambrose 2000; Park and measured from either bone collagen or δ13 Epstein 1961; Schoeninger and Moore apatite (referred to henceforth as Ccoll δ13 1992; van Klinken et al. 2000). Stable and Cap, respectively). Because collagen isotope signatures are incorporated is formed from amino acids, it primari- into consumer tissues, including bones, ly reflects protein in the diet ( Ambrose which come to represent a composite of and Norr 1993; Tieszen and Fagre 1993). the stable isotope signatures of foods Apa tite is formed from dissolved bicarbo- eaten in life. By measuring stable iso- nate in the bloodstream which contains tope ratios of ancient bones and com- carbon from all macronutrients; thus, paring the signatures to known ratios carbonate from apatite better reflects en- of various food types, it is possible to ergy sources in diet (i.e., carbohydrates). estimate the types of foods a person typ- Collagen and carbonate provide different ically consumed on a daily basis. Stable and complementary information about isotope values are expressed as a permil foods consumed and when used togeth- (‰) ratio of one of an element’s iso- er, have been shown to be highly effec- topes to another in relation to a stand- tive for reconstructing diet (e.g., Kellner ard of known abundance: Vienna Pee and Schoeninger 2007). Dee Belemnite (VPDB) for δ13C and the The δ13C values of consumers are not Ambient Inhalable Reservoir (AIR) for identical to the values of foods. Rather, δ15N. Both stable carbon isotope ratios there are systematic diet-tissue spacing (δ13C) and stable nitrogen isotope ra- relationships that can be considered in 4 Laurie J. Reitsema and Tomasz Kozłowski order to backtrack from the stable iso- the use of manure or other methods used tope ratios of a consumer to those of to improve soils (ploughing; burning) on δ13 its foods. In general, collagen Ccoll is which domestic animals were grazed. For approximately 5‰ higher in consum- δ13C, the wild/domestic animal difference ers than in the bulk protein diet (van likely represents variations in canopy der Merwe and Vogel 1978). The rela- cover on forage lands, with forest plants δ13 tionship between Cap and diet is less and animals exhibiting lower values due well-established. Controlled laboratory to the “canopy effect” (for more informa- experiments reveal the diet-to-apatite tion on the canopy effect in Europe, see space for δ13C to be approximately 9.5‰ Bocherens and Drucker (2003)).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Torsten Riese
    FOLIA PRAEHISTORICA POSNANIENSIA T. XII - 2004 INSTYTUT PRAHISTORII. U AM POZNAŃ - ISBN 83-7177-345-5 ISSN 0239-8524 DIE SCHILDFIBELN AUS DEM BEREICH DER DĘBCZYNO-GRUPPE SHIELD FIBULAE FROM THE TERRITORY OF THE DĘBCZYNO GROUP Torsten Riese Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas (GWZO), Luppenstr. IB, D-04 177 Leipzig, Germany ABSTRACT. Impressively decorated shield fibulae (Ger. Sehieldfibeln), used from phase C2 until phase C2/C3), belong to the most elaborated metal artifacts from the Late Roman Iron Age. They have been used by communities living in Scandinavia, on the Elbe lowlands as well as by society of the Dębczyno group in Pomerania and the Cecele phase of the Wielbark culture. The paper is an attempt of a thorough chronological analysis of these fibulae from the Dębczyno group along with the burial assemblages in which they had been found. It is suggested that these adornments were an element of the women dress decoration as they have been found mostly in rich burials. It is argued that presence of the shield fibulae on this territory is indicative of wide contacts of the Late Roman Iron Age elite with Scandinavia and the Elbe lowland region. EINLEITUNG UND QUELLENLAGE Bei der Analyse des jüngerkaiserzeitlichen Fundstoffes aus dem Verbreitungsgebiet der Dębczyno-Gruppe fallen mehrere Exemplare sogenannter „Schildfibeln” auf, fìir die eine separate Betrachtung gerechtfertigt scheint1. Leider handelt es sich bei diesen Stücken im wesentlichen um Zufallsfunde aus der Zeit vor dem 1. Weltkrieg. Der alteste Fibelkomplex wurde bereits im Jahre 1826 in Wlodarka/Voigtshagen geborgen2. Dies bedeutet, daB teilweise nicht nur grundlegende Informationen zu Funden und Befunden fehlen, sondem mit einiger Wahrscheinlichkeit auch nicht alle Funde eines Grabes entdeckt oder abgeliefert worden sind.
    [Show full text]
  • Reviewso G I C a C a R P a T H I C281 a Vol
    A C T A A R C H A E O L REVIEWSO G I C A C A R P A T H I C281 A VOL. XLIX, 2014 PL ISSN 0001-5229 REVIEWS Rastko Vasic, Die Halsringe im Zentralbalkan. Vojvodina, Serbien, Kosovo und Mazedonien, Prähistorische Bronzefunde 11:7, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2010, 70 Seiten, 44 Tafeln; ISBN 978-3-515-09678-2. The monograph Die Halsringe im Zentralbalkan by Rastko Vasic is already his fourth scholarly contribution, published in the now respected Prähistorische Bronzefunde (PBF) series. His earlier studies addressed the subject of sickles1, brooches2 and dress pins3. Every one of them was the first monographic study of a given type of object in the central Balkans. This is true also of the study made by Rastko Vasic of neckrings from Vojvodina, Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia. Given the extremely complicated political situation in the region and the fact that the materials, even if analysed, were published in different countries and languages, the study of neckrings must have run into quite a few obstacles. If only for this reason, the great labour put in by Rastko Vasic only to assemble his materials to this and to earlier monographs is worthy of recognition. Incidentally, the study under review is the seventh to be published in the PBF series dedicated to neckrings and neck ornaments. The earlier works concerned addressed the materials from south-western Germany4, Greece5, Slovakia6 and Poland7. Still, as noted earlier, this is the first work to discuss the materials from central Balkans. It might be more accurate to stress that this is the first contribution on some regions of the Balkans which have been overlooked here so far.
    [Show full text]
  • The Oksywie Culture on the Right-Bank Lower Vistula1
    ISSN 1392-6748 The Oksywie Culture on the Right-Bank Lower Vistula1 Milena Teska The late 3rd and early 2nd centuries BC saw major research procedure adopted by the present author is cultural changes and transformations which brought best reflected in the arrangement of the monograph. about a change in the appearance of not only the lands Volume I comprises the textual body of the thesis, i.e. of modern Poland but also of the whole of central Eu- introductory remarks and the history and state of ar- rope. The changes were precipitated by the impact chaeological research on the right-bank lower Vistula coming from the societies of the La Tène culture that prior to 1945. grew in strength, both economically and politically Next, investigations carried out there after 1945 no doubt, at that time (Godłowski, 1977, s. 111–120; are discussed. The study includes a detailed catalogue Woźniak, 1970; 1986, s. 12–13). The arrival of goods of 44 sites (Fig.), forming the source basis of the the- of a Celtic character marks thus the inception of an sis. The catalogue presents artefacts from the 23 cem- intensive La Tène influence process – a far-reaching eteries (18 archival) and 21 settlements (8 archival) impact of Celt civilization – going far beyond the area of the Oksywie Culture. It also presents the sites that of their compact settlement. The impact, in combina- have been explored under the programme of the Ar- tion with the strong traditions of the local sub-stratum, chaeological Record of Poland (AZP) (7 in all) and the caused new cultural patterns, typical of the younger finds the context of which could not be determined.
    [Show full text]
  • Jordanes and the Invention of Roman-Gothic History Dissertation
    Empire of Hope and Tragedy: Jordanes and the Invention of Roman-Gothic History Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Brian Swain Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2014 Dissertation Committee: Timothy Gregory, Co-advisor Anthony Kaldellis Kristina Sessa, Co-advisor Copyright by Brian Swain 2014 Abstract This dissertation explores the intersection of political and ethnic conflict during the emperor Justinian’s wars of reconquest through the figure and texts of Jordanes, the earliest barbarian voice to survive antiquity. Jordanes was ethnically Gothic - and yet he also claimed a Roman identity. Writing from Constantinople in 551, he penned two Latin histories on the Gothic and Roman pasts respectively. Crucially, Jordanes wrote while Goths and Romans clashed in the imperial war to reclaim the Italian homeland that had been under Gothic rule since 493. That a Roman Goth wrote about Goths while Rome was at war with Goths is significant and has no analogue in the ancient record. I argue that it was precisely this conflict which prompted Jordanes’ historical inquiry. Jordanes, though, has long been considered a mere copyist, and seldom treated as an historian with ideas of his own. And the few scholars who have treated Jordanes as an original author have dampened the significance of his Gothicness by arguing that barbarian ethnicities were evanescent and subsumed by the gravity of a Roman political identity. They hold that Jordanes was simply a Roman who can tell us only about Roman things, and supported the Roman emperor in his war against the Goths.
    [Show full text]
  • Architecture, Style and Structure in the Early Iron Age in Central Europe
    TOMASZ GRALAK ARCHITECTURE, STYLE AND STRUCTURE IN THE EARLY IRON AGE IN CENTRAL EUROPE Wrocław 2017 Reviewers: prof. dr hab. Danuta Minta-Tworzowska prof. dr hab. Andrzej P. Kowalski Technical preparation and computer layout: Natalia Sawicka Cover design: Tomasz Gralak, Nicole Lenkow Translated by Tomasz Borkowski Proofreading Agnes Kerrigan ISBN 978-83-61416-61-6 DOI 10.23734/22.17.001 Uniwersytet Wrocławski Instytut Archeologii © Copyright by Uniwersytet Wrocławski and author Wrocław 2017 Print run: 150 copies Printing and binding: "I-BIS" Usługi Komputerowe, Wydawnictwo S.C. Andrzej Bieroński, Przemysław Bieroński 50-984 Wrocław, ul. Sztabowa 32 Contents INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER I. THE HALLSTATT PERIOD 1. Construction and metrology in the Hallstatt period in Silesia .......................... 13 2. The koine of geometric ornaments ......................................................................... 49 3. Apollo’s journey to the land of the Hyperboreans ............................................... 61 4. The culture of the Hallstatt period or the great loom and scales ....................... 66 CHAPTER II. THE LA TÈNE PERIOD 1. Paradigms of the La Tène style ................................................................................ 71 2. Antigone and the Tyrannicides – the essence of ideological change ................. 101 3. The widespread nature of La Tène style ................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • On Three Spearheads with Decorated Blades from the South-Eastern Periphery of the Alps
    On three spearheads with decorated blades from the south-eastern periphery of the Alps By Andrej Gaspari and Boštjan Laharnar Keywords: Late La Tène period / Late pre-Roman Iron Age / spearheads / Slovenia / Mokronog group / Taurisci / Cimbri / Oksywie culture / Przeworsk culture / Oppida culture Schlagwörter: Spätlatènezeit / späte vorrömische Eisenzeit / Speerspitzen / Slowenien / Mokro- nog Gruppe / Taurisker / Kimbern / Oksywie Kultur / Przeworsk Kultur / Oppida Kultur Mots-clés: La Tène tardif / époque pre-romaine tardive / fers de lance / Slovénie / groupe Mokronog / Taurisci / Cimbri / culture Oksywie / culture Przeworsk / culture d'oppida Introduction The regions inhabited by the south-eastern Alpine cultural groups of the La Tène period revealed relatively rare objects that could be brought into connection with either the influence or presence of the peoples from northern Europe. They include three stray finds of spearheads with decorated blades, one found at Britof near Kranj and two in the Ljubljanica riverbed (fig. 1). These will be discussed in greater detail below by taking a closer look at how their dec- oration was executed and where to find their closest parallels, in an attempt to establish their spatial and historical context. The Britof spearhead has close similarities to finds from Pomer- ania and eastern Scandinavia, which indicates its most probable origin in the area of the Oksy- wie culture of the late part of the pre-Roman Iron Age. The two spearheads from the Ljubljan- ica are of a rare form, but similar to those in use across wide areas between the south-western edges of the Alps and the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. Both objects are most likely the products of the La Tène culture workshops, but draw their geometric and sunken scale deco- ration from the array of designs on the spearheads characteristic of the Przeworsk and Oksy- wie cultures.
    [Show full text]
  • The Gothic Invasions of the Mid-3Rd C. A.D. and the Battle of Abritus: Coins
    The Gothic invasions of the mid-3rd c. A.D. and the Battle of Abritus: coins and archaeology in east-central Barbaricum* Aleksander Bursche and Kirill Myzgin (Kирилл Мызгин) In the Numismatic Chronicle for 2013, A. Bursche put forward the proposition that the imperial treasury was seized by the Goths when in A.D. 251 they crushed the Roman army at Abritus.1 Most of the plundered Roman gold was presumably in the form of coin (ingots are neither excluded nor confirmed). This gold has now been traced with some confidence to archaeological sites of the Wielbark and the Chernyakhiv cultures, in particular to grave assemblages dated to the second half of the 3rd c. (phase C1b-C2 of the Late Roman period).2 This had even broader consequences, since the capture of an enormous amount of gold by the barbarians could have been the immediate cause of the deterioration of the aureus under Decius’ successors.3 The conclusion that the Roman imperial treasury was captured by the Goths at Abritus is based chiefly upon analysis of the evidence of coin finds, above all the aurei of Decius and his immediate predecessors recovered from barbarian contexts and then those iden- tified in museum collections. These finds evidently cluster in Pomerania, E Poland and W Ukraine, territories settled in the second quarter of the 3rd c. by people of the Wielbark culture, and in the territory of the Chernyakhiv culture. Outside this area, and includ- ing the territory of the empire itself, the same finds category is hardly recorded. Nearly all of the coins are pierced, the hole having been made from the obverse, usually above the emperor’s head, but some of them were cut up.
    [Show full text]
  • This Pdf of Your Paper in Greek and Roman Textiles and Dress Belongs to the Publishers Oxbow Books and It Is Their Copyright
    i This pdf of your paper in Greek and Roman Textiles and Dress belongs to the publishers Oxbow Books and it is their copyright. As author you are licenced to make up to 50 offprints from it, but beyond that you may not publish it on the World Wide Web until three years from publication (December 2017), unless the site is a limited access intranet (password protected). If you have queries about this please contact the editorial department at Oxbow Books ([email protected]). ANCIENT TEXTILES SERIES VOL. 19 An offprint from GREEK AND ROMAN TEXTILES AND DRESS an Interdisciplinary Anthology edited by Mary Harlow and Marie-Louise Nosch Paperback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-715-5 Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-716-2 © Oxbow Books 2014 Oxford & Philadelphia Published in the United Kingdom in 2014 by OXBOW BOOKS 10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EW and in the United States by OXBOW BOOKS 908 Darby Road, Havertown, PA 19083 © Oxbow Books and the individual contributors 2014 Paperback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-715-5 Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-716-2 A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Greek and Roman textiles and dress : an interdisciplinary anthology / edited by Mary Harlow and Marie- Louise Nosch. pages cm. -- (Ancient textiles series ; VOL. 19) This anthology is the second volume of two which group interdisciplinary contributions to the field of textile research. The first volume is Mary Harlow, Cécile Michel & Marie-Louise Nosch (eds), Prehistoric, Ancient Near Eastern and Aegean Textiles and Dress: an interdisciplinary anthology.
    [Show full text]
  • Χρονολόγηση 1St-16Th Century
    IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ Συγγραφή : Kazanski Michel Μετάφραση : Μακρυπούλιας Χρήστος Για παραπομπή : Kazanski Michel , "Goths", Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Εύξεινος Πόντος URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=12394> Περίληψη : The Goths were a Germanic people who, according to the historian Jordanes, migrated in the first century from Scandinavia to the Vistula valley. After the third century they were divided by the river Dniester into eastern (Visigoths) and western (Ostrogoths). The Visigoths advanced as far as Spain and founded a kingdom there with its capital at Toledo, while the Ostrogoths, led by Theodoric Amal, founded a kingdom in Italy with its capital at Ravena, a kingdom destroyed by emperor Justinian I in 555. Χρονολόγηση 1st-16th century 1. The origins of the Goths The Goths represent a group of people speaking an East Germanic language, known in Roman antiquity and throughout the High Middle Ages. According to a legend reported by the historian Jordanes (sixth century), the Goths originally came from Scandinavia. In fact, this legend is rather telling the story of the charismatic Amal dynasty. In the first century A.D. the Goths, according to the testimony of Tacitus, lived in Central Europe, where archaeologist have identified as Gothic the “Wielbark culture”, in the Vistula basin and the south Baltic Sea coast. Apart from Goths, this culture also included other East Germanic people, such as Gepids, Heruls etc. 2. Expansion of the Goths During the second half of the second century/first half of the third century, the carriers of the “Wielbark culture”advanced along the Western Bug towards the territories of modern Belarus and the Ukraine.
    [Show full text]
  • Sebastian Chrupek Studies on Cultural Changes in Pomerania in the Period from the Second Half of the 1St Century BC Until the Turn of the 1St and 2Nd Centuries AD
    Sebastian Chrupek Studies on cultural changes in Pomerania in the period from the second half of the 1st century BC until the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Genesis of Wielbark culture The area of my research includes Eastern Pomerania, West Pomerania and the Chełmno Land, where functioned the Oksywie culture in the second half of 1st century BC (A3 phase of the younger pre-Roman period), and crystallized Wielbark culture at the 1st century AD (B1 phase of the Roman Period). My research goal is to thoroughly investigate the processes that took place in the material and spiritual tradition of the Oksywie culture, leading to develop of the Wielbark culture. During the A3 phase in Pomerania, there was decrease in the number of cremation pit graves with ash-remains in favor of cremation graves without urns. Some scientists associate this occurence with migration of the Bornholm people who practiced other burial habits. At the same time, the presence of weapons in graves, characteristic feature of the Oksywie culture, also undergone a gradual reduction. On the other hand, Wielbark culture is poor in weapons and is characterized by biritual funeral rite - the participation of inhumation and cremation graves, in which burials without ashtrays were prevailed. The genesis of the inhumation funeral rite in Pomerania is currently unreadable, although the earliest skeleton graves are dated with broches typical of phase A3 (M and N type broches according to J. Kostrzewski). A bit later, in horizon of late variants of N and O type broches according to J. Kostrzewski, inhumation also appeared on the Elbe region and in Scandinavia.
    [Show full text]
  • Czarnecka “Brothers-In-Arms”? Graves from the Pre-Roman Period Furnished with a Double Set of Weaponry
    II. BARBARIAN WARRIORS FROM THE BALTIC TO THE DANUBE BROTHERS-IN-ARMS? GRAVES FROM 8 BALTICA THE PRE-ROMAN PERIOD FURNISHED WITH A DOUBLE SET OF WEAPONRY KATARZYNA CZARNECKA ARCHAEOLOGIA Abstract Graves of two warriors equipped with rich sets of weapons, emerge on the Celtic territories from the early La Tène period till the end of phase D2. Graves with double sets of weapons (one and two-edged swords) placed in metal vessels are known from the apparently Germanic cultures of northern Europe. Celtic graves are evident burials of two (or more) persons, warriors of similar status expressed by analogous weaponry. “Germanic” Oksywie Culture, and Scandinavian finds are burials of individual persons, II notable warriors, who were given special sets of weapons to show their social position. A similar situation observed at an BARBARIAN archaeological level could have had different grounds and meant different phenomena. WARRIORS FROM THE Key words: burials with weaponry, Celt’s, Pre-Roman Period. BALTIC TO THE DANUBE Weapon in grave territories, finds of graves equipped with two sets of weapons. In the Celtic environment, such burials oc- The custom of equipping the dead with weaponry ap- cur rather early, in the Hallstatt period. They are not peared first in Celtic Culture. Graves in which we find very frequent, but they have been noticed, and several more or less complete sets of weapons are interpreted elaborations have been devoted to them, recently that as the graves of warriors, and the type and amount of of M. Egg (1999) who used the term “Waffenbrüder”, weaponry allows us to infer what the possible rank of or brother-in-arms, in referring to them.
    [Show full text]
  • Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376–568
    This page intentionally left blank Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376–568 This is a major new survey of the barbarian migrations and their role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the creation of early medieval Europe, one of the key events in European history. Unlike previous studies it integrates historical and archaeological evidence and discusses Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe and North Africa, demonstrating that the Roman Empire and its neighbours were inextricably linked. A narrative account of the turbulent fifth and early sixth centuries is followed by a description of society and politics during the migration period and an analysis of the mecha- nisms of settlement and the changes of identity. Guy Halsall reveals that the creation and maintenance of kingdoms and empires was impossible without the active involvement of people in the com- munities of Europe and North Africa. He concludes that, contrary to most opinions, the fall of the Roman Empire produced the barbarian migrations, not vice versa. guy halsall is Professor of History at the University of York. His recent publications include Settlement and Social Organization (Cambridge, 1995) and Humour, History and Politics in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (Cambridge, 2002). Cambridge Medieval Textbooks This is a series of introductions to important topics in medieval history aimed primarily at advanced students and faculty, and is designed to complement the monograph series Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought. It includes both chronological and the- matic approaches and addresses both British and European topics. For a list of titles in the series, see end of book.
    [Show full text]