Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BONEZ (Baltic Paganism, Osteology, and New Examinations of Zooarchaeological Evidence)
Reporting period: 2021-01-01 to 2022-12-31
Between the 5th and 14th centuries CE, communities in the Eastern Baltic region were transformed from loosely affiliated pagan tribes realigning themselves in a post-Roman world to consolidated Christian states. Throughout this period, one of the most ostentatious and well-known cultural practices was the public sacrifice of horses at cemetery sites. Archaeologists have intensively studied these horse deposits but paid little attention to ritual uses of other animal species. The “Baltic Paganism, Osteology and New Evidence from Zooarchaeology” (BONEZ) project researched how Eastern Baltic communities came together for communal ritual practice and how the allocation of resources for these types of rituals may have changed over time, especially during times of increased stress and interactions with neighboring Christian communities.
Our research combines established and vanguard techniques operating at the macroscopic, microscopic, and molecular level to reconstruct where, how, why, and with whom animals were deposited. These data show how public rituals changed over time as the performing communities themselves evolved. The project includes data from sites in northeastern Poland, the Kaliningrad region of Russia, and Central Lithuania ranging from the Roman to the Early Medieval periods.
The BONEZ project sampled horse teeth and/or recorded faunal assemblages from nine sites (Figure 1). Horse remains were recorded then sampled for strontium isotope and genetic analysis. The aDNA work was completed by project partners at the National Research Institute of Animal Production, Balice, Poland. Other species were recorded and some sampled for ZooMS analysis conducted as part of the project secondment at the McDonald Institute of Archaeological Science, University of Cambridge. Finally, Dr. French identified a feline ulna from the Roman period site of Paprotki to send to project partners at the University of Warsaw for aDNA and radiocarbon dating. This specimen is likely one of the oldest domesticated cat remains in Poland (pending C14 dating results).
The projects main objectives are:
1. Understanding the life histories, place of origin and the sex of sacrificed horses and whether these ritual choices were stable or changing over time.
2. Understanding what other animals were used in funerary and non-funerary rituals that occurred in cemeteries. Were these ritual choices were stable or changing over time.
3. Understanding how different types and scales of osteological methods, from the macroscopic to biomolecular, can be integrated to produce a more holistic of an archaeological deposit – whether that is a sacrificial deposit, burial, or rubbish pit.
Our research combines established and vanguard techniques operating at the macroscopic, microscopic, and molecular level to reconstruct where, how, why, and with whom animals were deposited. These data show how public rituals changed over time as the performing communities themselves evolved. The project includes data from sites in northeastern Poland, the Kaliningrad region of Russia, and Central Lithuania ranging from the Roman to the Early Medieval periods.
The BONEZ project sampled horse teeth and/or recorded faunal assemblages from nine sites (Figure 1). Horse remains were recorded then sampled for strontium isotope and genetic analysis. The aDNA work was completed by project partners at the National Research Institute of Animal Production, Balice, Poland. Other species were recorded and some sampled for ZooMS analysis conducted as part of the project secondment at the McDonald Institute of Archaeological Science, University of Cambridge. Finally, Dr. French identified a feline ulna from the Roman period site of Paprotki to send to project partners at the University of Warsaw for aDNA and radiocarbon dating. This specimen is likely one of the oldest domesticated cat remains in Poland (pending C14 dating results).
The projects main objectives are:
1. Understanding the life histories, place of origin and the sex of sacrificed horses and whether these ritual choices were stable or changing over time.
2. Understanding what other animals were used in funerary and non-funerary rituals that occurred in cemeteries. Were these ritual choices were stable or changing over time.
3. Understanding how different types and scales of osteological methods, from the macroscopic to biomolecular, can be integrated to produce a more holistic of an archaeological deposit – whether that is a sacrificial deposit, burial, or rubbish pit.
BONEZ researcher Dr. Katherine French has sampled animal remains from nine cemetery sites throughout the Eastern Baltic region (see map). 115 teeth from 80 horses were sampled for strontium analysis, as well as 76 samples submitted for genetic analysis. Three horse deposits from the cemetery at Marvelė were radiocarbon dated. 56 unidentifiable animal bones were identified by protein signatures using a method known as Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS), analysis conducted at the McDonald Institute of Archaeological Science, University of Cambridge. Results of these analyses will be shared in forthcoming academic journal publications, including supplemental raw data available open source.
The major achievements of BONEZ research include: identifying the first long-distance imported horses sacrificed in the Eastern Baltic region beginning in the Viking Age; demonstrating through genetic analysis that approximately a third of all sacrificed horses were mares, whereas previous studies reported all male horses in sacrificial deposits; and producing the first bioavailable strontium mapping for northeastern Poland, a vital component to modern archaeological studies of past mobility.
Project methods and results have been presented at five international conferences with a sixth planned for April 2024. Two project publications are currently in peer-review in leading academic journals. Three additional publications are in draft stage, also for submission to leading academic journals.
The major achievements of BONEZ research include: identifying the first long-distance imported horses sacrificed in the Eastern Baltic region beginning in the Viking Age; demonstrating through genetic analysis that approximately a third of all sacrificed horses were mares, whereas previous studies reported all male horses in sacrificial deposits; and producing the first bioavailable strontium mapping for northeastern Poland, a vital component to modern archaeological studies of past mobility.
Project methods and results have been presented at five international conferences with a sixth planned for April 2024. Two project publications are currently in peer-review in leading academic journals. Three additional publications are in draft stage, also for submission to leading academic journals.
MSCA-recipient Dr Katherine French received substantive laboratory and research skill training during the fellowship, including comprehensive strontium isotope analysis training at CELTIC laboratory (Cardiff), comprehensive histotaphonomy training at CUBA laboratory (Cardiff), and a ZooMS secondment at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Science (University of Cambridge).
Impact and communicating archaeological findings to the public was a vital component of the BONEZ project. A project Instagram (@theBONEZproject) and bilingual (English/Polish) website (www.theBONEZproject.co.uk) pushed project information and the info/addresses were shared in all project communications. With the media team from Cardiff, I recorded and disseminated a project information video using university channels (https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2665945-hoofing-it-uncovering-the-mystery-of-baltic-graves-holding-horses-and-humans-over-a-millennia). Dr. French developed and executed a full-day training workshop on applied bone histological analysis for the University of Sheffield. She also planned and facilitated the family-friendly Archaeology Day as part of the city-wide Cardiff Science Festival, and an adult-focused, sold-out Archaeology Night for the 2023 Pint of Science festival. In addition to presenting her results at five international conferences, Dr. French also gave a public-facing lecture at the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA) in Schleswig, Germany on March 27, 2023. Co-authors on conference presentations and peer-review articles include 26 different individuals from seven countries.
Impact and communicating archaeological findings to the public was a vital component of the BONEZ project. A project Instagram (@theBONEZproject) and bilingual (English/Polish) website (www.theBONEZproject.co.uk) pushed project information and the info/addresses were shared in all project communications. With the media team from Cardiff, I recorded and disseminated a project information video using university channels (https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/2665945-hoofing-it-uncovering-the-mystery-of-baltic-graves-holding-horses-and-humans-over-a-millennia). Dr. French developed and executed a full-day training workshop on applied bone histological analysis for the University of Sheffield. She also planned and facilitated the family-friendly Archaeology Day as part of the city-wide Cardiff Science Festival, and an adult-focused, sold-out Archaeology Night for the 2023 Pint of Science festival. In addition to presenting her results at five international conferences, Dr. French also gave a public-facing lecture at the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA) in Schleswig, Germany on March 27, 2023. Co-authors on conference presentations and peer-review articles include 26 different individuals from seven countries.