Osteological Markers of Nutritional Stress on the Swedish Island of Öland: Physiological Effects of Environmental Fluctuations during the Scandinavian Iron Age
(2020) ARKM21 20201Archaeology
- Abstract
- The shift to agriculture as the main form of subsistence practice allowed past peoples the freedom and potential to exploit their natural and man-made environment for personal and societal gain. Decades of archaeological excavations conducted on the Swedish island of Öland have amassed a wealth of information regarding the subsistence and settlement patterns of Iron Age societies. This thesis aims to contextualize the compiled Iron Age osteological material within a reconstructed environment in order to understand the nutritional and general physiological stressors faced by people at the time. The Old World Drought Atlas (OWDA) was utilized to isolate drought/pluvial data pertaining to the relative geography of Öland in order to generate a... (More)
- The shift to agriculture as the main form of subsistence practice allowed past peoples the freedom and potential to exploit their natural and man-made environment for personal and societal gain. Decades of archaeological excavations conducted on the Swedish island of Öland have amassed a wealth of information regarding the subsistence and settlement patterns of Iron Age societies. This thesis aims to contextualize the compiled Iron Age osteological material within a reconstructed environment in order to understand the nutritional and general physiological stressors faced by people at the time. The Old World Drought Atlas (OWDA) was utilized to isolate drought/pluvial data pertaining to the relative geography of Öland in order to generate a reconstruction of soil-moisture trends from 0-1050AD. When compared to OWDA data from the Baltic region, the analysis indicates that the climate of Öland was typically drier than within the greater Baltic area. Rates of skeletal pathologies were calculated and compared to the climatic fluctuations on Öland, to determine whether periods of overly wet or dry conditions may have had physiological affects upon the local population. The osteological analysis indicates periods of no (or relatively few) skeletons with recorded pathologies or accurate dating, leaving a period of roughly 300 years without any osteological record. While this thesis was unable to accredit these periods to any specific environmental extremes, it is noteworthy that this timeframe encapsulates two hypothesized incidences of societal crisis on Öland. The analysis also indicates several periods of increased frequencies in skeletal pathologies, following years of climate fluctuations from dry to wet. Further analyses concluded that a dietary shift occurred within the population over the Iron Age, perhaps as a cause of shifting climate or heavier reliance on agriculture and animal husbandry. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) was run to highlight possible relationships between the osteological variables, indicating potential relationships between 1. stature and linear enamel hypoplasia and stature, 2. the two dietary isotopes, and 3. porotic hyperostosis (PH), cribra orbitalia (CO) and trauma. Ultimately, further research is required to determine the exact effects of climate fluctuations upon Öland and how subsistence practices and nutrition intake was associated with the dry Öland climate. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9036302
- author
- Callahan, Claire Maeve LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- ARKM21 20201
- year
- 2020
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Old World Drought Atlas, Dendroclimatology, Nutrition, Osteology, Multiple Correspondence Analysis, Skeletal Pathology, Dietary Isotopes, Environmental Reconstructions, Historic Climate, Iron Age, Sweden, Baltic Region
- language
- English
- id
- 9036302
- date added to LUP
- 2021-10-01 10:47:41
- date last changed
- 2021-10-01 10:47:41
@misc{9036302,
abstract = {{The shift to agriculture as the main form of subsistence practice allowed past peoples the freedom and potential to exploit their natural and man-made environment for personal and societal gain. Decades of archaeological excavations conducted on the Swedish island of Öland have amassed a wealth of information regarding the subsistence and settlement patterns of Iron Age societies. This thesis aims to contextualize the compiled Iron Age osteological material within a reconstructed environment in order to understand the nutritional and general physiological stressors faced by people at the time. The Old World Drought Atlas (OWDA) was utilized to isolate drought/pluvial data pertaining to the relative geography of Öland in order to generate a reconstruction of soil-moisture trends from 0-1050AD. When compared to OWDA data from the Baltic region, the analysis indicates that the climate of Öland was typically drier than within the greater Baltic area. Rates of skeletal pathologies were calculated and compared to the climatic fluctuations on Öland, to determine whether periods of overly wet or dry conditions may have had physiological affects upon the local population. The osteological analysis indicates periods of no (or relatively few) skeletons with recorded pathologies or accurate dating, leaving a period of roughly 300 years without any osteological record. While this thesis was unable to accredit these periods to any specific environmental extremes, it is noteworthy that this timeframe encapsulates two hypothesized incidences of societal crisis on Öland. The analysis also indicates several periods of increased frequencies in skeletal pathologies, following years of climate fluctuations from dry to wet. Further analyses concluded that a dietary shift occurred within the population over the Iron Age, perhaps as a cause of shifting climate or heavier reliance on agriculture and animal husbandry. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) was run to highlight possible relationships between the osteological variables, indicating potential relationships between 1. stature and linear enamel hypoplasia and stature, 2. the two dietary isotopes, and 3. porotic hyperostosis (PH), cribra orbitalia (CO) and trauma. Ultimately, further research is required to determine the exact effects of climate fluctuations upon Öland and how subsistence practices and nutrition intake was associated with the dry Öland climate.}},
author = {{Callahan, Claire Maeve}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Osteological Markers of Nutritional Stress on the Swedish Island of Öland: Physiological Effects of Environmental Fluctuations during the Scandinavian Iron Age}},
year = {{2020}},
}