Movement of agricultural products in the Scandinavian Iron Age during the first millennium AD : 87Sr/86Sr values of archaeological crops and animals in southern Sweden
(2020) In Science and Technology of Archaeological Research 6(1). p.96-112- Abstract
In this paper, we examine the exchange of crops and livestock through the application of strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope analysis on cereal grains and faunal tooth enamel from the regional center of Uppåkra and three nearby settlements in Scania, southern Sweden, dating to the first millennium AD. Around a third of the fauna have non-local 87Sr/86Sr values, indicating the import of livestock from several different regions. After cleaning, almost all of the cereal grains have non-local 87Sr/86Sr values, which is surprising given the nearby abundance of fertile agricultural soils. We therefore suggest considering non-locally grown crops to be those whose... (More)
In this paper, we examine the exchange of crops and livestock through the application of strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope analysis on cereal grains and faunal tooth enamel from the regional center of Uppåkra and three nearby settlements in Scania, southern Sweden, dating to the first millennium AD. Around a third of the fauna have non-local 87Sr/86Sr values, indicating the import of livestock from several different regions. After cleaning, almost all of the cereal grains have non-local 87Sr/86Sr values, which is surprising given the nearby abundance of fertile agricultural soils. We therefore suggest considering non-locally grown crops to be those whose 87Sr/86Sr values fall outside the normal distribution; if this approach is used, around 20% of the analyzed crop samples are interpreted as having grown non-locally. This study demonstrates the potential of combining strontium isotopic data of archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological material for gaining insights into the movement of agricultural products in prehistory.
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- author
- Larsson, Mikael LU ; Magnell, Ola LU ; Styring, Amy LU ; Lagerås, Per LU and Evans, Jane
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- agriculture, cereal grain, mobility, Scandinavian Iron Age, Strontium isotopes, tooth enamel
- in
- Science and Technology of Archaeological Research
- volume
- 6
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 17 pages
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85094960123
- ISSN
- 2054-8923
- DOI
- 10.1080/20548923.2020.1840121
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- bc626254-74cc-4329-9cf5-133ed582e27e
- date added to LUP
- 2020-11-23 08:22:34
- date last changed
- 2022-04-26 21:59:54
@article{bc626254-74cc-4329-9cf5-133ed582e27e,
abstract = {{<p>In this paper, we examine the exchange of crops and livestock through the application of strontium (<sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr) isotope analysis on cereal grains and faunal tooth enamel from the regional center of Uppåkra and three nearby settlements in Scania, southern Sweden, dating to the first millennium AD. Around a third of the fauna have non-local <sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr values, indicating the import of livestock from several different regions. After cleaning, almost all of the cereal grains have non-local <sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr values, which is surprising given the nearby abundance of fertile agricultural soils. We therefore suggest considering non-locally grown crops to be those whose <sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr values fall outside the normal distribution; if this approach is used, around 20% of the analyzed crop samples are interpreted as having grown non-locally. This study demonstrates the potential of combining strontium isotopic data of archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological material for gaining insights into the movement of agricultural products in prehistory.</p>}},
author = {{Larsson, Mikael and Magnell, Ola and Styring, Amy and Lagerås, Per and Evans, Jane}},
issn = {{2054-8923}},
keywords = {{agriculture; cereal grain; mobility; Scandinavian Iron Age; Strontium isotopes; tooth enamel}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{96--112}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Science and Technology of Archaeological Research}},
title = {{Movement of agricultural products in the Scandinavian Iron Age during the first millennium AD : <sup>87</sup>Sr/<sup>86</sup>Sr values of archaeological crops and animals in southern Sweden}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20548923.2020.1840121}},
doi = {{10.1080/20548923.2020.1840121}},
volume = {{6}},
year = {{2020}},
}