Mads Kähler Holst

Comparison of the composition of iron pans in Danish burial mounds with bog iron and spodic material

Abstract Excavations of Danish burial mounds dated to the South Scandinavian Early Bronze Age (1700–1000 BC) occasionally show thin iron pans encapsulating the interior of the mounds. When strongly cemented these pans can be classified as placic horizons. The encapsulated core was often wet and anaerobic and in Jutland well-preserved oaken log coffins with remnants of organic artefacts and human beings were discovered. Various theories for the development of these pans have been proposed. The chemical composition of the cement of two iron pans in burial mounds is compared with that from a bog iron deposit and a spodic horizon. This shows that the cement from the iron pans is similar to that in bog iron and not to the spodic material.

DATING OF PREHISTORIC BURIAL MOUNDS BY 14 C ANALYSIS OF SOIL ORGANIC MATTER FRACTIONS

Dating of prehistoric anthropogenic earthworks requires either excavation for archaeological artifacts or macroscopic organic matter suitable for (super 14) C analysis. Yet, the former, in many cases, is undesirable and the latter is difficult to obtain. Here we present a soil science procedure, which has the potential to overcome these problems. It includes careful sampling of buried former soil surfaces, acid-alkali-acid fractionation of soil organic matter (SOM), and subsequent (super 14) C AMS dating. To test the procedure, soil from one of the largest known burial mounds in Scandinavia, Hohoj, and 9 other Danish burial mounds were sampled. The (super 14) C dates from extracted SOM fractions were compared to reference ages obtained by other methods. We show that humic acid fractions in 7 of the 10 mounds had the same age as the reference, or were, at maximum, 280 yr older than the reference ages. The best age estimates were derived from an organic-rich layer from the upper cm of buried soil or sod. Differences among SOM fraction ages probably indicate the reliability of the dating. Hohoj dated to approximately 1400 BC and, thus, was up to 500 yr older than other dated Scandinavian mounds of comparable size. The remaining investigated burial mounds were dated to between 1700 and 1250 BC. We conclude that combined sampling of buried soil surfaces, SOM fractionation, and (super 14) C analysis allows for dating of archaeological earthworks when minimal disturbance is required, or if no macroscopic organic remains are found.

The South Scandinavian barrows with well-preserved oak-log coffins

Recent archaeological and pedological research on South Scandinavian Bronze Age barrows reveals that the remarkable conditions of preservation in a number of mounds are the result of particular construction techniques or special activities during construction. Augerings indicate that the phenomenon is concentrated within specific groups of barrows with central positions in a hypothetical Bronze Age communication system.

Improved Geoarchaeological Mapping with Electromagnetic Induction Instruments from Dedicated Processing and Inversion

Increasingly, electromagnetic induction methods (EMI) are being used within the area of archaeological prospecting for mapping soil structures or for studying paleo-landscapes. Recent hardware developments have made fast data acquisition, combined with precise positioning, possible, thus providing interesting possibilities for archaeological prospecting. However, it is commonly assumed that the instrument operates in what is referred to as Low Induction Number, or LIN. Here, we detail the problems of the approximations while discussing a best practice for EMI measurements, data processing, and inversion for understanding a paleo-landscape at an Iron Age human bone depositional site (Alken Enge) in Denmark. On synthetic as well as field data we show that soil mapping based on EMI instruments can be improved by applying data processing methodologies from adjacent scientific fields. Data from a 10 hectare study site was collected with a line spacing of 1–4 m, resulting in roughly 13,000 processed soundings, which were inverted with a full non-linear algorithm. The models had higher dynamic range in the retrieved resistivity values, as well as sharper contrasts between structural elements than we could obtain by looking at data alone. We show that the pre-excavation EMI mapping facilitated an archaeological prospecting where traditional trenching could be replaced by a few test pits at selected sites, hereby increasing the chance of finding human bones. In a general context we show that (1) dedicated processing of EMI data is necessary to remove coupling from anthropogenic structures (fences, phone cables, paved roads, etc.), and (2) that carrying out a dedicated full non-linear inversion with spatial coherency constraints improves the accuracy of resistivities and structures over using the data as they are or using the Low Induction Number (LIN) approximation.

The Late Viking-Age Royal Constructions at Jelling, central Jutland, Denmark.

Abstract: Der königliche Komplex in Jelling mit seinen monumentalen Verweisen auf königliche Macht und Christianisierung ist als bedeutender Schlüsselort für die archäologische wie historische Deutung des politischen und religiösen Wandels im skandinavischen Raum am Ende der Wikingerzeit zu verstehen. In den letzten Jahren erfolgte eine Neubewertung der Denkmäler und ihrer Umgebung auf Basis neuer umfangreicher Ausgrabungen und damit auch der in einem Zeitraum von gut zweihundert Jahren akkumulierten Forschungsergebnisse. Diese jüngsten Untersuchungen erlaubten abweichende Deutungen zum bislang bekannten Charakter des Fundplatzes, konnten doch hochinteressante neue strukturelle Elemente erkannt werden, darunter ein von Palisaden umgrenztes Areal mit einer Fläche von 12,5 ha sowie Gebäuden des Trelleborg-Typs, vergleichbar mit den Hauptgebäuden der Ringburgen König Harald Blauzahns. Jene Neuentdeckungen ließen die Historie des Platzes in einem neuen Licht erscheinen, führten aber auch zu veränderten Deutungen der im 10. Jahrhundert nachweisbaren Umwandlungsprozesse im südlichen Skandinavien sowie der Rolle, die Jelling und die hiesigen Könige dabei spielten. Abstract: Le complexe royal de Jelling, avec ses références au pouvoir royal et à la christianisation, forme un site clé dans l’explication archéologique et historique des transformations politiques et religieuses du monde scandinave à la fin de l’époque des Vikings. Ces dernières années, les monuments et leurs alentours ont fait l’objet de nouvelles fouilles extensives, et les données existantes, recueillies au long de deux siècles de recherche sur ce site, ont été réévaluées. Ces investigations ont profondément modifié nos connaissances du caractère de ce complexe, car elles révèlent de nouveaux éléments architecturaux tels qu’une palissade de 12,5 ha et des bâtiments de type Trelleborg comparables aux forteresses circulaires du roi Harald Blaatand («Dent bleue»). Ces découvertes incitent à réinterpréter le développement du site, ce qui a des implications sur la discussion des processus de transformation qui eurent lieu au 10e siècle dans le sud de la Scandinavie et du rôle qu’y jouèrent les rois de Jelling. Abstract: The royal complex at Jelling with its monumental references to royal power and Christianization stands as a key site in the archaeological and historical explanation of the political and religious transformations of the Scandinavian world at the end of the Viking Age. In recent years, the monuments and their surroundings have been subject to renewed, extensive excavations and the existing data from the two-centuries-long research history of the site have been re-evaluated. These investigations have significantly altered our knowledge of the character of the monument complex as they present new structural elements including a 12.5 ha palisade enclosure and buildings of Trelleborg-type comparable to the main buildings of King Harald Bluetooth’s ring fortresses. Such findings incite reinterpretations of the development of the site which have implications for the discussion of the transformation processes that took place in 10th-century South Scandinavia and the role which Jelling and the Jelling kings played therein.

Repeating boundaries – repertoires of landscape regulations in southern Scandinavia in the Late Bronze Age and Pre-Roman Iron Age

Towards the end of the Late Bronze Age, linear boundaries such as enclosed farmsteads, field divisions, and pit zone alignments emerged and gradually permeated the landscapes of southern Scandinavia on multiple scales. This article suggests the concept of a ‘repertoire’ as a way of approaching this phenomenon. The repertoire consisted of different topological operations (e.g. plot definition, demarcation, and enclosure), constructed by different materials (e.g. fences, pit zones, and earthen banks) on different scales (e.g. farmstead, settlement, and landscape). Such linear boundaries were applied as technological solutions to the new social and economic problems that occurred at this time in prehistory. A number of chronological and regional preferences can be demonstrated within this repertoire, and during the Late Bronze Age and Pre-Roman Iron Age, a range of new applications and combinations were developed in a creative exploration of the repertoire of linear boundaries.

A Palisade Fit for a King: Ideal Architecture in King Harald Bluetooth’s Jelling

The royal estate in Viking Age Jelling has long been a theme for both saga and research, but has, nonetheless, lived an elusive life as far as its archaeological remains are concerned. However, recent excavations have revealed the remains of a massive wooden palisade demarcating an area of c. 125,000 m2, encircling a series of buildings and monuments. The impressive structure follows a strict architectural regularity and demonstrates a rigid concept behind the laying out of the monumental parts. The current article focuses on the construction and geometrical principles behind this layout and discusses the detailed biography of the palisade. Furthermore, preserved wood was found during the excavation of a small wetland area, thus permitting a more precise dating of the structure by dendrochronology. The resulting dates firmly link the palisade and the individual monumental parts to the royal family named on the rune stones in Jelling and in particular to the reign of King Harald Bluetooth. In addition to the structure and date of the palisade, the article will present the tentative results from a series of analyses regarding the construction, composition, function and demolition of the palisade and discuss the contemporaneous political scene.

The hydrology in huge burial mounds built of loamy tills: a case study on the genesis of perched water tables and a well in a Viking Age burial mound in Jelling, Denmark

For centuries a well was located on the top of one of the two Viking Age royal mounds in Jelling. This indicates that a perched water table had developed in the mounds. Perched water tables are well known in Bronze Age burial mounds due to the development of iron pans in the central part of the mounds, but it is unclear whether the genesis of the perched water table in the Jelling mounds is similar and due to iron pan formation or due to other soil forming processes. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explain the formation of the perched water table in the mounds and the formation of a well on top of the North Mound. In order to do so, a series of borings into the two Viking Age royal mounds was carried out in 2009 offering insight into the soil composition and hydrology of the two mounds. Two of the boreholes were used for an in situ experiment to test the formation of the perched water tables and the well. The analyses of the borings and the in situ experiment indicate that a perched water table has developed at the bottom of the bioturbation zone in both of the two mounds and that the well was formed in an unrepaired intrusion into the mound as the result of the perched water table feeding the well with water. Despite large-scale excavations, the conditions for forming a well are still present in the mounds.

Direct evidence of a large Northern European Roman period martial event and postbattle corpse manipulation

Significance Here we present direct archaeological evidence in the form of human remains of a large-scale battle in Northern Europe in the first century AD, in the wake of the northern expansion of the Roman Empire. The deposited population is estimated to 380 individuals. The relative absence of traces of healed sharp force trauma suggests that they had relatively little previous battle experience. Evidence of the systematic treatment of the human corpses, including stripping of bodies, disarticulation of bones, crushing of crania, and arrangement of body parts, points to a new form of postbattle activities, with implications for the interpretation of contemporary battlefields and later ritual traditions with regard to depositions of the spoils of war. New archaeological excavations at Alken Enge, Jutland, Denmark, have revealed a comprehensive assemblage of disarticulated human remains within a 75-ha wetland area. A minimum of 82 individuals have been uncovered. Based on the distribution, the total population is estimated to be greater than 380 individuals, exclusively male and predominantly adult. The chronological radiocarbon evidence of the human bones indicates that they belong to a single, large event in the early first century AD. The bones show a high frequency of unhealed trauma from sharp-edged weapons, which, together with finds of military equipment, suggests that the find is of martial character. Taphonomic traces indicate that the bones were exposed to animal gnawing for a period of between 6 mo and 1 y before being deposited in the lake. Furthermore, the find situations, including collections of bones, ossa coxae threaded onto a stick, and cuts and scraping marks, provide evidence of the systematic treatment of the human corpses after the time of exposure. The finds are interpreted as the remains of an organized and possibly ritually embedded clearing of a battlefield, including the physical manipulation of the partly skeletonized bones of the deceased fighters and subsequent deposition in the lake. The date places the finds in the context of the Germanic region at the peak of the Roman expansion northward and provides the earliest direct archaeological evidence of large-scale conflict among the Germanic populations and a demonstration of hitherto unrecognized postbattle practices.

Underwater archaeology and submerged landscapes in Western Australia

This research aims to explore the submerged landscapes of the Pilbara of western Australia, using predictive archaeological modelling, airborne LiDAR, marine acoustics, coring and diver survey. It includes excavation and geophysical investigation of a submerged shell midden in Denmark to establish guidelines for the underwater discovery of such sites elsewhere.