Sebbersund: Isotopes and mobility in an 11th-12th c. AD Danish churchyard

T.D. Price; J.N. Nielsen; K.M. Frei; Niels Lynnerup

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.06.015

Sebbersund: Isotopes and mobility in an 11th-12th c. AD Danish churchyard

T.D. Price, J.N. Nielsen, K.M. Frei, Niels Lynnerup

Unit of Forensic Anthropology

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The important Viking Age and early Medieval site of Sebbersund in northern Jutland, Denmark, contains a large churchyard from the 11th-12th century AD. Sebbersund was an important trading center in this period and the location of one of the first churches in Denmark, perhaps an entry point for the introduction of Christianity to the country. Excavations have exposed almost 500 graves of an estimated 700 individuals in the cemetery. Here we report on the analysis of strontium isotopes in human tooth enamel from burials in the cemetery as a signal of place of birth. Some 19 samples have been measured and at least three non-local outliers identified. Futhermore, six archaeological fauna samples had been analyzed in order to define the local bioavailable strontium isotope baseline range and these values were compared to the more general bioavailable baseline range values for Denmark. The burials are evaluated in light of the available archaeological, chronological, anthropological, and isotopic information.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Archaeological Science
Volume	39
Issue number	12
Pages (from-to)	3714-3720
Number of pages	7
ISSN	0305-4403
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.06.015
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2012

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10.1016/j.jas.2012.06.015

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title = "Sebbersund: Isotopes and mobility in an 11th-12th c. AD Danish churchyard",

abstract = "The important Viking Age and early Medieval site of Sebbersund in northern Jutland, Denmark, contains a large churchyard from the 11th-12th century AD. Sebbersund was an important trading center in this period and the location of one of the first churches in Denmark, perhaps an entry point for the introduction of Christianity to the country. Excavations have exposed almost 500 graves of an estimated 700 individuals in the cemetery. Here we report on the analysis of strontium isotopes in human tooth enamel from burials in the cemetery as a signal of place of birth. Some 19 samples have been measured and at least three non-local outliers identified. Futhermore, six archaeological fauna samples had been analyzed in order to define the local bioavailable strontium isotope baseline range and these values were compared to the more general bioavailable baseline range values for Denmark. The burials are evaluated in light of the available archaeological, chronological, anthropological, and isotopic information.",

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AU - Frei, K.M.

AU - Lynnerup, Niels

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Sebbersund: Isotopes and mobility in an 11th-12th c. AD Danish churchyard

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