Sex Determination and Isotopic Analysis of the Nivåfjord Mesolithic Burials, Zealand, Denmark
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/dja.v12i1.136939Keywords:
Denmark, Middle Mesolithic, Late Mesolithic, Proteomic analysis, Stable isotope analysis, Human remainsAbstract
Since 1992 the prehistoric Nivåfjord in northeast Zealand, Denmark, has yielded an appreciable number of inhumation burials and cremations dating to the Mesolithic, especially the sites of Nivå 10 and Nivågård. Unfortunately, the micro-region is characterised by poor organic preservation, restricting the successful application of biomolecular techniques to human remains, including large-scale radiocarbon dating programmes as well as both stable isotope and ancient DNA analyses. Here, we apply an alternative technique, an acid etch peptide-based method, to determine the sex of eight individuals from Nivå 10 as well as the Nivågård child. Moreover, we revisit the utility of stable carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N) and sulfur (δ34S) isotope analysis of human tissues to reconstruct the life histories and diets of 10 individuals from Nivå 10 as well as the Nivågård child. To contextualise further, we sampled 14 Capreolus capreolus and three Sus scrofa from the Nivågård site for stable isotope analysis. We demonstrate that sex can successfully be determined from contexts susceptible to poor organic preservation, and show that the Nivågård child spent a proportion of its life outside a sea spray-influenced environment, and consumed significant quantities of marine protein as demonstrated by its δ13C and δ34S values.
References
Albrethsen, S.-E. and Brinch Petersen, E., 1976. Excavation of a Mesolithic Cemetery at Vedbæk, Denmark. Acta Archaeologica 47, 1-28.
Alexandersen, V., Meiklejohn, C. and Brinch Petersen, E., 1998. Nivågård-barnet. Hørsholm Egns Museum Årbog 1998, 22-28.
Ambrose, S.H. and DeNiro, M.J., 1986. Reconstruction of African human diet using bone collagen carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios. Nature 319, 321-324. https://doi.org/10.1038/319321a0
Arneborg, J., Heinemeier, J., Lynnerup, N., Nielsen, H.L., Rud, N. and Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Á.E., 1999. Change of diet of the Greenland Vikings determined from stable carbon isotope analysis and 14C dating of their bones. Radiocarbon 41(2), 157-168. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200019512
Beaumont, J., Gledhill, A., Lee-Thorp, J. and Montgomery, J., 2013. Childhood diet: a closer examination of the evidence from dental tissues using stable isotope analysis of incremental human dentine. Archaeometry 55(2), 277-295. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4754.2012.00682.x
Brinch Petersen, E., 2015. Diversity of Mesolithic Vedbæk. Acta Archaeologica 86, 1-202. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0390.2015.12048.x
Bronk Ramsey, C., 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1), 337-360. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033822200033865
Buikstra, J.E. and Ubelaker, D.H., 1994. Standards for data collection from human skeletal remains. Fayetteville: Arkansas Archaeological Survey (Arkansas Archeological Survey Research Series 44).
Byers, S.N., 2008. Introduction to forensic anthropology, 3rd edition. Boston: Pearson Education.
Chrisensen, C., 1995. The Littorina transgressions in Denmark. In: A. Fischer, ed. Man and sea in the Mesolithic. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 15-22.
DeNiro, M.J., 1985. Postmortem preservation and alteration of in vivo bone collagen isotope ratios in relation to palaeodietary reconstruction. Nature 317, 806-809. https://doi.org/10.1038/317806a0
Enghoff, I.B., 2011. Regionality and biotope exploitation in Danish Ertebølle and adjoining periods. Scientia Danica. Series B. Biologica. Vol. 1. København: Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab.
Fahy, G.E., Deter, C., Pitfield, R., Miszkiewicz, J.J. and Mahoney, P., 2017. Bone deep: variation in stable isotope ratios and histomorphometric measurements of bone remodelling within adult humans. Journal of Archaeological Science 87, 10-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2017.09.009
Fischer, A. and Olsen, J., 2021. The Nekselø fish weir and marine reservoir effect in Neolithization period Denmark. Radiocarbon 63(3), 805-820. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2021.14
Fischer, A., Olsen, J., Richards, M., Heinemeier, J., Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Á.E. and Bennike, P., 2007. Coast-inland mobility and diet in the Danish Mesolithic and Neolithic: evidence from stable isotope values of humans and dogs. Journal of Archaeological Science 34(12), 2125-2150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2007.02.028
Gowland, R., Stewart, N.A., Crowder, K.D., Hodson, C., Shaw, H., Gron, K.J. and Montgomery, J., 2021. Sex estimation of teeth at different developmental stages using dimorphic enamel peptide analysis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 174(4), 859-869. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24231
Gron, K.J. and Rowley-Conwy, P., 2017. Herbivore diets and the anthropogenic environment of early farming in southern Scandinavia. The Holocene 27(1), 98-109. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683616652705
Gron, K., Andersen, S.H. and Robson, H.K., 2015. Bone fragmentation as a tool for quantification and identification of taphonomic processes and their effects: the case study from Havnø, a stratified Danish “Køkkenmødding.” In: N. Bicho, C. Detry, T.D. Price and E. Cunha (eds). Muge 150th: The 150th anniversary of the discovery of Mesolithic shellmiddens Volume 2. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 189-206.
Gron, K.J., Meiklejohn, C., Pedersen, K.B., Stewart, N.A., Alexandersen, V., Sørensen, L. and Montgomery, J., 2022. Sex and gender in the Mesolithic: adults and children from the Strøby Egede burial, Køge Bugt, Denmark. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 88, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1017/ppr.2022.7
Guiry, E., Noël, S. and Fowler, J., 2021a. Archaeological herbivore δ13C and δ34S provide a marker for saltmarsh use and new insights into the process of 15N-enrichment in coastal plants. Journal of Archaeological Science 125, 105295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105295
Guiry, E.J., Kennedy, J.R., O’Connell, M.T., Gray, D.R., Grant, C. and Szpak, P., 2021b. Early evidence for historical overfishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Science Advances 7(32), eabh252. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abh2525
Heaton, T.J., Köhler, P., Butzin, M., Bard, E., Reimer, R.W., Austin, W.E.N., Bronk Ramsey, C., Grootes, P.M., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., Reimer, P.J., Adkins, J., Burke, A., Cook, M.S., Olsen, J. and Skinner, L.C., 2020. Marine20 – The marine radiocarbon age calibration curve (0–55,000 cal BP). Radiocarbon 62(4), 779-820. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2020.68
Lamb, A.L., Chenery, C.A., Madgwick, R. and Evans, J.A., 2023. Wet feet: developing sulfur isotope provenance methods to identify wetland inhabitants. Royal Society Open Science 10, 230391. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.230391
Lass Jensen, O., 2001. Kongemose- og Ertebøllekultur ved den fossile Nivåfjord. In: O. Lass Jensen, S.A. Sørensen and K.M. Hansen, eds. Danmarks Jægerstenalder – status og perspektiver. Hørsholm: Hørsholm Egns Museum, 115-129.
Lass Jensen, O., 2003. A sunken dwelling from the Ertebölle site Nivå 10, eastern Denmark. In: L. Larsson, H. Kindgren, K. Knutsson, D. Loeffler and A. Åkerlund, eds. Mesolithic on the move. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 230-238.
Lass Jensen, O., 2009. Dwellings and graves from the Late Mesolithic site of Nivå 10, eastern Denmark. In: S. McCartan, R. Schulting, G. Warren and P. Woodman, eds. Mesolithic Horizons. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 465-472.
Lass Jensen, O.L., 2016. Double burials and cremations from the Late Mesolithic site of Nivå 10, eastern Denmark. In: J.M. Grünberg, B. Gramsch, L. Larsson, J. Orschiedt and H. Meller, eds. Mesolithic burials – rites, symbols and social organisation of early postglacial communities. International Conference Halle (Saale), Germany, 18th-21st September 2013. Halle: Tagungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle, 95-107.
Lass Jensen, O. and Møller Hansen, K., 1998. Barnegraven fra Nivågård. Hørsholm Egns Museum Årbog 1998, 7-21.
Lewis, M., 2011. The osteology of infancy and childhood: misconceptions and potential. In: M. Lally and A. Moore, eds. (Re)Thinking the little ancestor: new perspectives on the archaeology of infancy and childhood. Oxford: Archaeopress (BAR International Series 2271), 1-13
Longin, R., 1971. New method of collagen extraction for radiocarbon dating. Nature 230, 241-242. https://doi.org/10.1038/230241a0
Masseti, M., 2007. The economic role of Sus in early human fishing communities. In: U. Albarella, K. Dobney, A. Ervynck and P. Rowley-Conwy, eds. Pigs and humans. 10,000 years of interaction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 156-170. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199207046.003.0017
McArdle, N., Liss, P. and Dennis, P., 1998. An isotopic study of atmospheric sulfur at three sites in Wales and at Mace Head, Eire. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 103(D23), 31079-31094. https://doi.org/10.1029/98JD01664
Meiklejohn, C., Brinch Petersen, E. and Alexandersen, V., 1998. The later Mesolithic population of Sjælland, Denmark, and the Neolithic transition. In: M. Zvelebil, L. Domanska and R. Dennell, eds. Harvesting the sea, farming the forest: the emergence of Neolithic societies in the Baltic Region. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 203-212.
Meiklejohn, C., Brinch Petersen, E. and Alexandersen, V., 2000. The anthropology and archaeology of Mesolithic gender in the Western Baltic. In: M. Donald and L. Hurcombe, eds. Gender and material culture in archaeological perspective. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 222-237.
Nehlich, O., 2015. The application of sulphur isotope analyses in archaeological research: a review. Earth-Science Reviews 142, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2014.12.002
Nehlich, O. and Richards, M.P., 2009. Establishing collagen quality criteria for sulphur isotope analysis of archaeological bone collagen. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 1, 59-75. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-009-0003-6
O’Connell, T.C. and Hedges, R.E., 1999. Isotopic comparison of hair and bone: archaeological analyses. Journal of Archaeological Science 26 (6), 661-665. https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.1998.0383
Paludan-Müller, C., 1978. High Atlantic food gathering in northwestern Zealand, ecological conditions and spatial representation. In: K. Kristiansen and C. Paludan-Müller, eds. New Directions in Scandinavian Archaeology. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 120-157.
Rasmussen, K.L., 1998. Kulstof-14 dateringen af Nivågård-barnet. Hørsholm Egns Museum Årbog 1998, 36-40.
Rasmussen, K.L., Bjerregaard, P., Gommesen, P.H. and Lass Jensen, O., 2009. Arsenic in Danish and Swedish Mesolithic and Neolithic human bones – diet or diagenesis? Journal of Archaeological Science 36(12), 2826-2834. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2009.09.019
Reimer, P.J., Austin, W.E.N., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Blackwell, P.G., Bronk Ramsey, C., Butzin, M., Cheng, H., Edwards, R.L., Friedrich, M., Grootes, P.M., Guilderson, T.P., Hajdas, I., Heaton, T.J., Hogg, A.G., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., Manning, S.W., Muscheler, R., Palmer, J.G., Pearson, C., van der Plicht, J., Reimer, R.W., Richards, D.A., Scott, E.M., Southon, J.R., Turney, C.S.M., Wacker, L., Adolphi, F., Büntgen, U., Capano, M., Fahrni, S.M., Fogtmann-Schulz, A., Friedrich, R., Köhler, P., Kudsk, S., Miyake, F., Olsen, J., Reinig, F., Sakamoto, M., Sookdeo, A. and Talamo, S., 2020. The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon age calibration curve (0-55 cal kBP). Radiocarbon 62, 725-757. https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2020.41
Stewart, N.A., Gerlach, R.F., Gowland, R.L., Gron, K.J. and Montgomery, J., 2017. Sex determination of human remains from peptides in tooth enamel. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114(52), 13649-13654. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1714926115
Sørensen, S.A., 2017. The Kongemose culture (Nordiske Fortidsminder Serie B). Copenhagen: University Press of Southern Denmark.
Tilley, C., 1996. An ethnography of the Neolithic. Early prehistoric societies in southern Scandinavia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Vang Petersen, P., 1984. Chronological and regional variation in the Late Mesolithic of Eastern Denmark. Journal of Danish Archaeology 3(1), 7-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/0108464X.1984.10589909
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Kurt J. Gron, Harry K. Robson, Nicolas A. Stewart, Peter Rowley-Conwy, Ole Lass Jensen, Janet Montgomery
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Counting from volume 11 (2022), articles published in DJA are licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). The editorial board may accept other Creative Commons licenses for individual articles, if required by funding bodies e.g. the European Research Council. With the publication of volume 11, authors retain copyright to their articles and give DJA the right to the first publication. The authors retain copyright to earlier versions of the articles, such as the submitted and the accepted manuscript.
Articles in volume 1-8 are not licensed under Creative Commons. In these volumes, all rights are reserved to DJA. This implies that readers can download, read, and link to the articles, but they cannot republish the articles. Authors can upload their articles in an institutional repository as a part of a green open access policy.
Articles in volume 9-10 are not licensed under Creative Commons. In these volumes, all rights are reserved to the authors of the articles respectively. This implies that readers can download, read, and link to the articles, but they cannot republish the articles. Authors can upload their articles in an institutional repository.
