Micromorphological and chemical investigation of late-Viking age grave fills at Hofstaðir, Iceland

TY - JOUR

T1 - Micromorphological and chemical investigation of late-Viking age grave fills at Hofstaðir, Iceland

AU - Burns, Annika Lynn

AU - Pickering, Matt

AU - Green, Kimberley Ann

AU - Pinder, Adam Phillip

AU - Gestsdóttir, Hildur

AU - Usai, Maria-Raimonda

AU - Brothwell, Don Reginald

AU - Keely, Brendan John

N1 - © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details

PY - 2017/11/15

Y1 - 2017/11/15

N2 - Grave fills from seven human burials from a late-Viking age - early medieval cemetery at Hofstaðir, Mývatnssveit (Iceland) were examined by soil micromorphology and organic chemical analysis. Detailed analysis of the weathering of the mineral constituents of the grave fills demonstrates a relationship between the extent of weathering of volcanic silicates within the fills and the presence of buried human remains. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) of extracts from the fills and controls of two graves revealed organic signatures dominated by plant-derived organic matter, with no evidence of degradation products of the body tissues. Transformation of n-alkanes into n-alkan-2-ones provides evidence for microbial activity within the fills. GC–MS analysis of the organic extract from under one of the skulls and pyrolysis gas chromatography of wood fragments found in that grave provide compelling evidence for the former presence of a conifer wood coffin. The use of this non-native wood in the burial provides evidence for either the import of foreign lumber or the utilisation of driftwood, most likely originating from Russia/Siberia.

AB - Grave fills from seven human burials from a late-Viking age - early medieval cemetery at Hofstaðir, Mývatnssveit (Iceland) were examined by soil micromorphology and organic chemical analysis. Detailed analysis of the weathering of the mineral constituents of the grave fills demonstrates a relationship between the extent of weathering of volcanic silicates within the fills and the presence of buried human remains. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) of extracts from the fills and controls of two graves revealed organic signatures dominated by plant-derived organic matter, with no evidence of degradation products of the body tissues. Transformation of n-alkanes into n-alkan-2-ones provides evidence for microbial activity within the fills. GC–MS analysis of the organic extract from under one of the skulls and pyrolysis gas chromatography of wood fragments found in that grave provide compelling evidence for the former presence of a conifer wood coffin. The use of this non-native wood in the burial provides evidence for either the import of foreign lumber or the utilisation of driftwood, most likely originating from Russia/Siberia.

KW - Abietane and pimarane diterpenoids

KW - Coffin wood

KW - Grave fills

KW - Human burials

KW - Micromorphology

KW - Organic residues

KW - Post-depositional processes

KW - Tephra

KW - Weathering

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85026438583&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.06.021

DO - 10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.06.021

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85026438583

SN - 0016-7061

VL - 306

SP - 183

EP - 194

JO - Geoderma

JF - Geoderma

ER -