In the footsteps of Ohthere: biomolecular analysis of early Viking Age hair combs from Hedeby (Haithabu)

TY - JOUR

T1 - In the footsteps of Ohthere

T2 - biomolecular analysis of early Viking Age hair combs from Hedeby (Haithabu)

AU - Muñoz-Rodriguez, Mariana

AU - Presslee, Samantha

AU - Mcgrath, Krista

AU - Hausmann, Niklas

AU - Hilberg, Volker

AU - Kalmring, Sven

AU - Holmquist, Lena

AU - Hendy, Jessica

AU - Ashby, Steven Paul

N1 - Funding Information: This project has received funding from the European Union's EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 under Marie Curie Actions Grant Agreement No. 676154. Funding Information: We thank Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen, Schloß Gottorf, for permission to sample the Hedeby combs, and the York Centre of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry at the University of York for the use of the Ultraflex III MALDI-ToF/ToF instrument. The centre was created thanks to a major capital investment through Science City York, supported by Yorkshire Forward with funds from the Northern Way Initiative, and subsequent support from EPSRC (EP/K039660/1; EP/M028127/1). We thank the anonymous reviewers for invaluable comments and feedback. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.

PY - 2023/8/22

Y1 - 2023/8/22

N2 - Hedeby was the largest town in the Viking North. Investigations have identified imports at the site from central and northern Scandinavia revealing long-distance connections. The chronology of this trade, however, is unclear. Here, the authors use a typological-biomolecular approach to examine connections during the early Viking Age. The application of ZooMS to an assemblage of antler combs, stylistically dated to the ninth century AD, reveals nearly all were made of reindeer antler. As most craft production waste from Hedeby comprises red deer antler, it is argued that these combs were manufactured elsewhere, perhaps hundreds of kilometres further north. The results have implications for understanding of production and regional connectivity in early medieval Scandinavia.

AB - Hedeby was the largest town in the Viking North. Investigations have identified imports at the site from central and northern Scandinavia revealing long-distance connections. The chronology of this trade, however, is unclear. Here, the authors use a typological-biomolecular approach to examine connections during the early Viking Age. The application of ZooMS to an assemblage of antler combs, stylistically dated to the ninth century AD, reveals nearly all were made of reindeer antler. As most craft production waste from Hedeby comprises red deer antler, it is argued that these combs were manufactured elsewhere, perhaps hundreds of kilometres further north. The results have implications for understanding of production and regional connectivity in early medieval Scandinavia.

KW - antler combs

KW - connectivity

KW - reindeer

KW - Scandinavia

KW - trade network

KW - Viking Age

KW - ZooMS

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85169565502&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.15184/aqy.2023.118

DO - 10.15184/aqy.2023.118

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85169565502

SN - 0003-598X

VL - 97

JO - Antiquity

JF - Antiquity

IS - 395

ER -