Origins of inhabitants from the 16th century Sala (Sweden) silver mine cemetery – A lead isotope perspective
(2017) In Journal of Archaeological Science 80. p.1-13- Abstract
Historical documents record the operation of a silver mine from the 16th century AD located near the former village of Salberget in central Sweden. The historical record describes several categories of inhabitants, including local families, workers and miners, foreign engineers and mining specialists, as well as war captives and criminals used as forced labor in the mines. A church yard in the vicinity of the village served as a burial ground. Archaeological evidence indicates two distinct grave types (coffin and earthen) and physical anthropology documents differences in age and sex between these grave types, as well as harsh conditions of life. Strontium and oxygen isotopes have been used previously to investigate the place of origin... (More)
Historical documents record the operation of a silver mine from the 16th century AD located near the former village of Salberget in central Sweden. The historical record describes several categories of inhabitants, including local families, workers and miners, foreign engineers and mining specialists, as well as war captives and criminals used as forced labor in the mines. A church yard in the vicinity of the village served as a burial ground. Archaeological evidence indicates two distinct grave types (coffin and earthen) and physical anthropology documents differences in age and sex between these grave types, as well as harsh conditions of life. Strontium and oxygen isotopes have been used previously to investigate the place of origin of the cemetery inhabitants and clear differences among the types of graves were seen in the isotope results. Place of origin was more difficult to ascertain however. Here we utilize lead isotopes as an additional isotopic tracer to identify origins. The lead isotope investigations pinpoint several areas outside of the Sala region where some of the inhabitants originated. In addition, the study documents the benefits of using lead isotopes in human proveniencing studies.
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- author
- Price, Douglas T. ; Frei, Robert ; Bäckström, Ylva LU ; Frei, Karin Margarita and Ingvarsson-Sundstrom, Anne
- organization
- publishing date
- 2017-04-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Carbon, Isotopic proveniencing, Lead, Medieval, Mining, Mobility, Oxygen, Scandinavia, Silver, Social identity, Strontium, Sweden
- in
- Journal of Archaeological Science
- volume
- 80
- pages
- 13 pages
- publisher
- Academic Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85012059531
- wos:000400034200001
- ISSN
- 0305-4403
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jas.2017.01.013
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 6e9640aa-87de-491e-b9fa-ed6aa46bf115
- date added to LUP
- 2017-02-22 12:26:22
- date last changed
- 2024-06-09 11:12:13
@article{6e9640aa-87de-491e-b9fa-ed6aa46bf115,
abstract = {{<p>Historical documents record the operation of a silver mine from the 16th century AD located near the former village of Salberget in central Sweden. The historical record describes several categories of inhabitants, including local families, workers and miners, foreign engineers and mining specialists, as well as war captives and criminals used as forced labor in the mines. A church yard in the vicinity of the village served as a burial ground. Archaeological evidence indicates two distinct grave types (coffin and earthen) and physical anthropology documents differences in age and sex between these grave types, as well as harsh conditions of life. Strontium and oxygen isotopes have been used previously to investigate the place of origin of the cemetery inhabitants and clear differences among the types of graves were seen in the isotope results. Place of origin was more difficult to ascertain however. Here we utilize lead isotopes as an additional isotopic tracer to identify origins. The lead isotope investigations pinpoint several areas outside of the Sala region where some of the inhabitants originated. In addition, the study documents the benefits of using lead isotopes in human proveniencing studies.</p>}},
author = {{Price, Douglas T. and Frei, Robert and Bäckström, Ylva and Frei, Karin Margarita and Ingvarsson-Sundstrom, Anne}},
issn = {{0305-4403}},
keywords = {{Carbon; Isotopic proveniencing; Lead; Medieval; Mining; Mobility; Oxygen; Scandinavia; Silver; Social identity; Strontium; Sweden}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{04}},
pages = {{1--13}},
publisher = {{Academic Press}},
series = {{Journal of Archaeological Science}},
title = {{Origins of inhabitants from the 16th century Sala (Sweden) silver mine cemetery – A lead isotope perspective}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2017.01.013}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.jas.2017.01.013}},
volume = {{80}},
year = {{2017}},
}