Late Roman Iron Age Research Articles

Flavours of Pictish life: using starch grains and phytoliths to trace late Roman and early medieval culinary traditions

Understanding the seasonal and daily aspects of late Roman and early medieval life in northern Britain has been hugely challenging due to a dearth of excavated sites and poor preservation of settlement features where identified. This problem has been compounded by a very limited historical record for this era and region. But a new generation of archaeological data has begun to illuminate the Picts, a group first mentioned in late Roman sources and one that went on to become the dominant kingdom of early medieval northern Britain. These new datasets include innovative microbotanical analyses that can shed light on Pictish foodways, including culinary traditions, and specific plant foods consumed. This study employs non-destructive microbotanical analysis of pot sherds from Pictish settlement contexts and human teeth from Pictish burials, examining the presence of starch grains and phytoliths from six prominent sites spanning the Pictish period (AD∼300 – 900). Our research confirms that cereals such as oats and barley were the primary plants cultivated, cooked, and consumed in northeast Scotland during the late Roman Iron Age and early medieval period. These microbotanical residues add detailed evidence to previous studies of isotopic, pollen, and trace macrobotanical proxies, but also offer fresh insights into the potential composition of specific Pictish meal types. The approaches outlined here have greatly expanded and enriched our understanding of the dietary habits and lifestyle of the Picts, an important, but under-researched group.

Cemetery Considerations

Finnish cairn sites are typically defined through the concepts of ‘grave’ or ‘cemetery’, their main purpose being associated with burials. However, when one examines cemetery-related contexts in Iron Age Finland, they exhibit a great deal of variation with regard to the existence of interments, how they can be identified, and how they correlate with other finds. The case study, a re-examination of Cairn 4 at Nokia Viik, excavated in 1986–1987, illustrates some of these issues. With a focus on understanding the chronology, osteology, formation, and more detailed spatial character of the cairn, it is revealed that the monument has been accumulated over several centuries and includes elements that cannot easily be explained as individual burials or even cremation remains in a collective grave context. The site’s timespan extends from the Late Roman Iron Age and the Migration Period to the Merovingian Period and the Viking Age, where especially the latter periods seem to include deposited materials not related to any actual or distinguishable funerals. One major issue addressed is how to interpret complex structures, where distinct burials are difficult to define, and human remains only occur as one component.

An Iron Age Magnate Farm at Odarslöv – a local centre in the realm of Uppåkra

In this article, a newly excavated Iron Age farm with an associated gravefield and its surrounding landscape outside the city of Lund is examined, discussed, analysed and placed in its context. The biography of the farm spans about 400 years, from the Late Roman Iron Age to the Early Vendel Period. Through all phases, the farm remains on a restricted plot and shows both stability and prosperity. It is argued that the farm, based on its size, the number and types of buildings and the find material, can be considered a magnate farm. As magnates, the farm owners must have played an important role in the local community during a time when society underwent change and transition. The farm and the farm owners’ relation to Uppåkra and the rulers of the central place are discussed.

Rich weapon burial from the Late Roman Iron Age at Veldbæk, Denmark –

During two campaigns in 1997 and 1999, archaeologists from Esbjerg Museum excavated a spectacular Late Roman Iron Age weapon burial at Veldbæk in Esbjerg, Denmark. In addition to full weaponry, the deceased was buried with magnificent grave goods such as gilded fittings for a military belt, gaming pieces, a gold finger ring, a silver animal fibula, a red carnelian intaglio, and a copper-alloy-clad wooden bucket. The assemblage dates the grave to the transition between periods C1b and C2 of the Late Roman Iron Age, which is to say ca. AD 250 or shortly thereafter. The grave is a crucial new piece in the puzzle to understand how power was distributed in southern Jutland during the Late Roman Iron Age.

The Nature and Dynamics of Pre-Roman Iron Age and Roman Iron Age Reclamation Settlements in the (Former) Peat and Clay-On-Peat Area of Friesland (The Netherlands)

ABSTRACT Recent research into Pre-Roman Iron Age and Roman Iron Age peat reclamations in Friesland has made clear that the margins of the peat area were intensively inhabited during both periods. This same research also provided insights into the local environmental circumstances under which the settlements were founded, the shapes these settlements took, and the way they functioned in a changing landscape. Although growing problems with peat subsidence, which increased the local water table, eventually forced the settlers to leave their settlements and settle on newly reclaimed peat land, this did not necessarily mean the end for the old sites. The old reclamations silted up, which raised the land surface and reversed the effect of the subsidence, thereby, in time, making the old reclamations once again attractive for habitation. In the Late Roman Iron Age all reclaimed areas were abandoned, as were most of the salt marshes.

Arkeologi mellom oppdagelse og glemsel Forståelse av et funn i en sprekk i virkeligheten

Archaeology between discovery and forgettingThe article examines an unexpected discovery of human skeletons in a hidden cave in Bølekointa at Bøle in Flatanger in mid-Norway, and focuses on how a discovery becomes archaeology, and the lifespan of archaeological finds from discovery to our oblivion. Does an archaeological find always end up as archaeology, and what is the end of an archaeological find?While climbing a gorge in a mountain at Bøle in April 1987, an auxiliary teacher at Drageid School Camp discovered the entrance to a large cave. Lacking a torch, he fumbled his way in the darkness and literally stumbled upon a human skeleton crouched by a campfire. Contrary to the view of every archaeologist concerned, the discovery was not treated as an archaeological find. The remains were in such good condition that the police launched an investigation into what they assumed was a murder case. Two human skeletons, showing signs of violent death, were removed for forensic examination. German prison records from World War II archives led historians to identify the two men as escaped Russian prisoners of war, a theory confirmed by local people. Archaeologists nevertheless insisted on a radiocarbon analysis, which dated the find to the Late Roman Iron Age and Migration period.
 The establishment of the find as prehistoric also marked the end of archaeological research into the discovery, and the material was stored away for 17 years. The sudden bloom of interest in1987 withered to nothing. In an attempt to bring the skeletons out of the cupboard: how do we neglect, and forget, our discoveries and the things we find?

Where Different Waters Met: Aspects on the Apollo Grannus vase and its position near Sagån in the province of Västmanland

At some time during the Late Roman Iron Age, an originally provincial-Roman vessel called the Apollo Grannus vase was used as a burial urn in a stone-setting at Fycklinge in the province ofVästmanland, on the bank of Sagån by the small rapids where this stream met the sea. In an attempt to understand why this particular vessel was used in this way at this particular place, the author discusses the characteristics ofthe area, of certain vessels and their associations with rebirth/regeneration, the provincial-Roman god Apollo Grannus (associated with fertility and water), the process of creolization, and cremation as part of a process of transformation.

Stone Enclosures —Linking Time and Guiding Space

From the late Roman Iron Age, stone enclosures and houses with a stone foundation have been built on Gotland. Stone enclosures have generally been interpreted as fences between the infields and the outlying land. I will argue that this explanation is insufficient and that we also have to consider the enclosures' symbolic and social significance. The stone enclosures were part of people's everyday practice as they moved through the landscape, and the enclosures structured the reality. The stone enclosures can be seen as both linking and separating, and one interpretation put forward is that the enclosures "embody" the social structure.

Käringsjön. A Fertility Sacrificial Site from the Late Roman Iron Age in South-west Sweden

In the beginning of the 1940s the sacrificial site at Käringsjön, in Halland, south-west Sweden, was investigated by Holger Arbman and Erik Floderus. Some years later the archaeological results were presented by Arbman in an exhaustive publication. Since then the site has been regarded as a typical example of the sacrificial sites used by the peaceful agrarian populations in the practice of the fertility cult. In this paper Käringsjön is brought up to renewed discussion. This is done i.a. by means of a structural analysis, in which is shown a very conscious use of the site. The sacrificial depositions are seen to closely correspond to the annual changes of the sun's movement in the sky when rising and setting on the horizon. It is here suggested that the sacrifices took place not only during different seasons but also at different times during the twenty-four hour day. Finally, the paper also deals with the questions of whether Käringsjön should be seen as a sacrificial site of local or of regional importance, and why the site was suddenly abandoned around 400 A.D.

Bronze Age and Early Iron Age house and settlement development at Forsandmoen, south-western Norway

The ambition of this monograph is to analyse a limited number of topics regarding house types and thus social and economic change from the extensive material that came out of the archaeological excavation that took place at Forsandmoen (“Forsand plain”), Forsand municipality, Rogaland, Norway during the decade 1980–1990, as well as the years 1992, 1995 and 2007. The excavation was organised as an interdisciplinaryresearch project within archaeology, botany (palynological analysis from bogs and soils, macrofossil analysis) and phosphate analysis, conducted by staff from the Museum of Archaeology in Stavanger (as it was called until 2009, now part of the University of Stavanger). A large phosphate survey project had demarcaded a 20 ha settlement area, among which 9 ha were excavated using mechanical topsoil stripping to expose thehabitation traces at the top of the glaciofluvial outwash plain of Forsandmoen. A total of 248 houses could be identified by archaeological excavations, distributed among 17 house types. In addition, 26 partly excavated houses could not be classified into a type. The extensive house material comprises three types of longhouses, of which there are as many as 30–40 in number, as well as four other longhouse types, of which there are only 2–7 in number. There were nine other house types, comprising partly small dwelling houses and partly storage houses, of which there were 3–10 in number. Lastly, there are 63 of the smallest storage house, consisting of only four postholes in a square shape. A collection of 264 radiocarbon dates demonstrated that the settlement was established in the last part of the 15th century BC and faded out during the 7th–8th century AD, encompassing the Nordic Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. As a number of houses comprising four of the house types were excavated with the same methods in the same area by the same staff, it is a major goal of this monograph to analyse thoroughly the different featuresof the houses (postholes, wall remains, entrances, ditches, hearths, house-structure, find-distribution) and how they were combined and changed into the different house types through time. House material from different Norwegian areas as well as Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands is included in comparative analyses to reveal connections within the Nordic area. Special attention has been given to theinterpretation of the location of activity areas in the dwelling and byre sections in the houses, as well as the life expectancy of the two main longhouse types. Based on these analyses, I have presented a synthesis in 13 phases of the development of the settlement from Bronze Age Period II to the Merovingian Period. This analysis shows that, from a restricted settlement consisting of one or two small farms in the Early BronzeAge, it increases slightly throughout the Late Bronze Age to 2–3 solitary farms to a significantly larger settlement consisting of 3–4 larger farms in the Pre-Roman Iron Age. From the beginning of the early Roman Iron Age, the settlement seems to increase to 8–9 even larger farms, and through the late Roman Iron Age, the settlement increases to 12–13 such farms, of which 6–7 farms are located so close together that they would seem to be a nucleated or village settlement. In the beginning of the Migration Period, there were 16–17 farms, each consisting of a dwelling/byre longhouse and a workshop, agglomerated in an area of 300 x 200 m where the farms are arranged in four E–W oriented rows. In addition, two farms were situated 140 m NE of the main settlement. At the transition to the Merovingian Period, radiocarbon dates show that all but two of the farms were suddenly abandoned. At the end of that period, the Forsandmoen settlement was completely abandoned. The abandonment could have been caused by a combination of circumstances such as overexploitation in agriculture, colder climate, the Plague of Justinian or the collapse of the redistributive chiefdom system due to the breakdown of the Roman Empire. The abrupt abandonment also coincides with a huge volcanic eruption or cosmic event that clouded the sun around the whole globe in AD 536–537. It is argued that the climatic effect on the agriculture at this latitude could induce such a serious famine that the settlement, in combination with the other possible causes, was virtually laid waste during the ensuing cold decade AD 537–546.

Settlement, landscape and land-use change at a Pictish Elite Centre: Assessing the palaeoecological record for economic continuity and social change at Rhynie in NE Scotland

The first millennium AD was a transformative period when many of the medieval kingdoms of Europe began to take shape, but despite recent advances in palaeoecological and archaeological research there remains a shortage of interdisciplinary collaborative research targeting this period. For some regions we know relatively little about the societies who lived during this formative period. This current investigation focusses on an early medieval elite centre near to Rhynie in NE Scotland; an important power-centre during the fourth–seventh centuries AD as evidenced by a remarkable series of Class I Pictish symbol stones, fortified enclosures at Cairn more, Tap o’ Noth and the Craw-Stane, as well as high status metal-working and a range of continental imports from the Craw-Stane enclosure. However, by the end of the seventh century AD, elite focus appears to have shifted elsewhere with the Craw-Stane and Cairn More enclosures all being abandoned. By combining paleoenvironmental analysis with available historical and archaeological archives this paper provides new insights into societal change during the first Millennium AD, with focus on the economic, social and environmental impacts caused by the rise and subsequent abandonment of elite nodes of power. A calibrated age of AD 260–415, near the base of the core, coincides with the earliest dates for the Craw-Stane complex and pre-dates the construction of the nearby Cairn More enclosure. The results provide a rare snapshot of the Late Roman Iron Age to Medieval environment of Northeast Scotland. This centre appears to have been supported by a rich agricultural landscape, with evidence of pastoral and arable farming, and potential metal working. One of the most significant findings of this study has revealed that despite abandonment of these elite enclosed sites by the seventh century AD, people continued to utilise the surrounding landscape and available resources right through until modern times.

Meadow, marsh and lagoon: Late Holocene coastal changes and human–environment interactions in northern Denmark

This paper presents a study of past coastline dynamics and their consequences for prehistoric societies living in the glacio‐isostatically uplifted central Limfjord area, northern Denmark. The consequences of the gradual relative sea level (RSL) changes have been investigated to develop a local RSL curve, study settlement patterns on newly exposed marine foreland, and estimate changes in the area and quality of grazing and forage for livestock. This was achieved by a multidisciplinary approach involving existing regional and local beach ridges dated by optically stimulated luminescence, a comprehensive database of archaeological finds, and extrapolation based on a digital elevation model. The beach‐ridge dates suggested a near‐linear local RSL change in the study area of ~1.2±0.2 m per 1000 years for the last 3000 years. Based on this, a palaeo‐coastline development model was produced that correlated well with a comprehensive database of archaeological finds. The model indicates that (i) few human settlements moved to the newly exposed marine foreland prior to modern times, though clusters of burial mounds (barrows) suggest that some of the new lands were colonized during the Late Roman Iron Age until 400 CE, (ii) winter‐flooded marine foreland with high‐quality livestock grazing increased steadily until c. 750 CE and then remained stable at approximately 150 km2, and (iii) due to high salinity of the inundating water, the palaeo‐Limfjord probably had Wadden Sea‐like fertile saltmarshes until c. 1 CE. The improved chronologies yield a better understanding of the spatial and temporal prehistoric human–nature interactions in the study area. The findings highlight the need for accurate local RSL curves in order to interpret concomitant terrestrial environment drivers and trajectories, and thereby understand causal relationships and consequences for prehistoric human–environment interactions in coastal areas.

Ett röjningsröseområde i Farstorp – odling, begravning och ritual

This paper problematises the categories grave and clearance cairn, based on source-material from Farstorp, Småland. A central point of departure for the analysis is landuse in a long-term perspective. Parts of a clearance-cairn site, comprising clearance-cairns, graves and constructions similar to graves although less well–built, were excavated. The latter were termed complex cairns. Exterior elements were kerbs and surface layers of fire-cracked stones. Interior features resembled cremation layers with fire-cracked stones. Inside and adjacent to these, burnt animal bones and other objects, including intact pots containing food, had been deposited. The main building material was clearance stones, plausibly from surrounding arable land. Features mainly date to Late Roman Iron Age and Migration Period. Fire-cracked stones and burnt animal bones are interpreted as waste from ritual meals, consumed during spring and autumn farm work. Depositions of grinding stones support the assumption that fertility of the land was an important ritual theme. Participants of these meals might be members of the household that held the land rights. A few human bones were deposited in each grave, possibly from deceased members of the owner family who might be expected to act in favour of their living descendants, to enhance fertility in general. Such deposits may also have demonstrated and consolidated land rights.

The environmental impact of cultural change: Palynological and quantitative land cover reconstructions for the last two millennia in northern Poland

This paper presents the first quantitative past land cover reconstructions for northern Poland using the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm (LRA), interpreted alongside traditional percentage pollen data and historical sources. These data are used to evaluate the impact of cultural change on past vegetation and land-use in northern Poland during the last 2000 years. Vegetation change and land-use are apparent corresponding to the late Roman Iron Age (1st to 3rd centuries), Migration Period (4th–7th centuries), early Medieval (8th to early-13th centuries) and late medieval (early-13th to mid-15th centuries). The Roman Iron Age is characterised by significant land cover estimates for meadowland, likely part of a broad spectrum agricultural strategy. Widespread depopulation and woodland regrowth characterise the Migration Period, followed by the progressive clearance of woodland from the 7th/8th centuries corresponding to Slavic colonisation. Polish control of the region from the mid-10th century is accompanied by intensification in agricultural land-use. However, archaeological evidence for increasing settlement instability during the 11th/12th centuries is not obviously apparent in the palynological data. This likely reflects the sporadic nature and uneven impact of conflict, but also the difficulty in resolving short-term events in the palynological record. Significant woodland clearance occurred prior to the crusades, with the consequence that there is no clearly identifiable horizon of significant landscape change associated with the arrival of the Teutonic Order. However, large tracts of woodland survived in sparsely populated frontier zones and in areas with poor agricultural soils, managed as part of an extensive provisioning network covering the Teutonic Order's state.

Early Gothic numismatic [h]rustis and γουνθ/ιου

Abstract The inscriptions on two late Roman Iron Age coins conserved in the Ossolineum in Wrocław appear to record an early Gothic noun and name respectively. One, an imitation of an aureus of Severus Alexander, bears a runic text that seems best to be taken as [h]rustis ›adornment‹. The other, an aureus of Postumus, appears to feature a name Gunþeis or Gutteis scratched into it recorded in Greek letters. Both of the coins feature holes bored in them, indicating that they were formerly worn as pendants, much like the later Migration Age bracteates.

Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum Geschichte und Kultur Ostmitteleuropas (GWZO), Leipzig, Germany

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.

Barley grain at Upp\xe5kra, Sweden: evidence for selection in the Iron Age

A metric analysis on hulled barley grain from the Iron Age regional centre of Uppåkra and surrounding sites in southern Sweden has identified a variation in the size of the grain found on these archaeological sites. Large, high-quality grain was found more frequently at Uppåkra when compared to sites in the surrounding area, where smaller grain was more frequent. The observed large grain found at Uppåkra was, however, restricted to only a few house contexts, including hall-buildings, while other contexts on the site, such as areas dedicated to craft production, had barley assemblages containing smaller grain, similar to the size range found on the surrounding sites. The intra-site variation between different contexts at Uppåkra points to a degree of sorting for larger grain and that this variation between grain assemblages was the result of selection after the crop processing was completed. The distribution of grain size at Uppåkra shows a pattern that indicates that the high-quality barley grain was indented for specific individuals or households. The different contexts at Uppåkra have together produced a record spanning the first millennium ad, representing almost the whole existence of the site. The evidence for selection of larger grain can be seen in the hall-buildings throughout most of the first millennium ad, although less prominently during the Late Roman Iron Age (ad 200–400), while during the Migration Period (ad 400–550) several houses on the main site Uppåkra had assemblages of large grain size. The distribution of grain size at the regional centre Uppåkra shows a pattern that indicates that the handling of large high-quality barley grain was part of a spatial organization, and such organization is similar to other functions observed on the site. The long-term record of grain size patterns across time shows that a structure for handling grain was already in place during the early phase of the settlement and that it remained for centuries. This study indicates that the affluence otherwise seen at the regional centre Uppåkra from an abundance of high-status objects, could also include agricultural wealth, with extensive access to high-quality grain.

The Story of the Westland Cauldrons in Europe

When examining the importance of the distribution of trace elements in metal objects, for example that a Scandinavian analytical project on 500 metal artefacts from the Roman Iron Age has shown that the relationship between selected trace elements are characteristic of the different groups of artefacts - they might even be typical of different Eggers types within the same group. For instance, a ladle/strainer set from the Late Roman Iron Age (LRI), E 161, may have a significantly higher lead/antimony ratio than the older types, E 162. The verification of this principle has, firstly, shown that the scrap metal content of an artefact alloy affects the interpretation of chemical analyses much less than has hitherto been supposed. Secondly, it has shown that elemental alloy composition for the artefacts are more closely related to the raw materials. For example, the ores used have a characteristic content that is a consequence of their geochemistry. While there are always small amounts of silver, antimony and bismuth in galena, the amounts are a function of the location and geological formation of the ore. These facts are well recognized in lead isotope research where the ratio between the lead isotopes is used.The results from the interdisciplinary analytical projects mentioned above are the basis for a continuing examination of relevant artefacts from Nordic and European collections. Initially it was not expected that permission to collect foreign collections would be granted but, in the event, personal contact and a careful sampling protocol opened the doors to international cooperation. Comparative projects are currently proceeding with the Vatican Museum, the Musée Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels and Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz and Goethe University, Frankfurt a. Main among others. Glass and metal samples from the excavation of Corway Kloster have been analysed by OES in cooperation with German Universities, with fi nancial support from Volkswagenstiftung over many years. Finally, it is important that all kind of treatment of the artefacts during the study is described in detail and following the artefacts for later scientific work.Elemental analyses are a fingerprint of the alloy content. It has been possible to distinguish the various cauldron alloys from the Roman and the Migration Period. The composition of the alloy characterizes the Westland cauldron compared to other artefacts from the Roman period. The similarity between the alloy in the Scandinavian and some French and Belgian Westland cauldrons is documented, which could point to a common provenance. The alloy composition changes according to form and age. The trace element pattern and the lead isotope relations point to an origin in the Maas valley. The use of scrap metal in the alloy seems avoided for the body of the cauldrons - probably because of the complicated production of the thin walls and bottoms of the cauldrons. In conclusion, one can say that detailed studies of the alloys the ancient smiths have used are providing new knowledge of the expertise and cultural achievements of former ages. One can also assert that the chemical and metallurgical constitution of archaeological treasures is as important as their stylistic description in revealing important aspects of our cultural history.

New data regarding the question of interregional contacts in the Iron Age. Results of a surface survey in Czechy, Kraków district

Surface surveys on a newly, accidentally discovered site in Czechy, Krakow district, yielded a large series of finds associated with the Przeworsk culture settlement. Its chronology ranged from the younger Pre-Roman Iron Age all the way to the early Migration Period. The detailed surface survey revealed numerous imports from the Celtic and Dacian settlement zones, as well as items of a provincial Roman origin. The finds presented in the paper indicate that the most intensive contacts with areas south of the Carpathians might be dated to the final stage of the La Tene period and the turn of the early and late Roman Iron Age

Muldfjælsplovens tidlige historie – Fra yngre romersk jernalder til middelalder

Muldfjælsplovens tidlige historie – Fra yngre romersk jernalder til middelalder