Viking Age garden plants from southern Scandinavia: diversity, taphonomy and cultural aspects

Plant finds recovered from archaeological sites in southern Scandinavia dated to the Viking Age reflect the diversity of useful plants that were cultivated and collected. This review presents the results of 14 investigations of deposits that are dated between AD 775 and 1050. The site types are categorized as agrarian, urban, military and burials. Garden plants are unevenly distributed, as the greatest diversity is recorded in features from urban contexts. We argue that taphonomic processes played an important role in the picture displayed. Archaeobotanical research results from neighbouring regions suggest that Viking Age horticulture has its roots in older traditions, and that the spectrum of garden plants is influenced by central and north-western European horticultural customs, which were to a great extent shaped by Roman occupation

Reviews

Reviews: Arne Skjølsvold: Slettabøboplassen. Et bidrag til diskusjonen om forholdet mellem fangst- og bondesamfunnet i yngre steinalder og bronsealder. Stavanger 1977. (by Svend Nielsen). Klaus Ebbesen: Tragtbægerkultur i Nordjylland. Nordiske Fortidsminder. Ser. B, Vol. 5, 197 8. (by P. 0. Nielsen). Birgitta Hulthen: On Ceramic Technology during the Scanian Neolithic and Bronze Age. Stockholm 1977. (by Ulla Engberg). Renate Rolle: Totenkult der Skythen I. Das Steppengebiet. Vorgeschichtliche Forschungen 18,I, I and I,2. Berlin-N.Y. 1979. (by Ole Klindt-Jensen). Werner Haarnagel: Die Grabung Feddersen Wierde. Methode, Hausbau, Siedlungs- u. Wirtschaftsformen sowie Sozialstruktur. Wiesbaden 1979. (by Steen Hvass). U. Nasman and E. Wegraeus (eds.): Eketorp. Fortification and Settlement on Öland/Sweden. The Setting. Stockholm 1979. (by Ulla Lund Hansen). Ingrid Ulbricht: Die Geweihverarbeitung in Haithabu. Die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu, Vol. 7. Neumünster 1978 . Heid Gjöstein Resi: Die Specksteinfunde aus Haithabu. Berichte über die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu, Vol. 14. Neumünster 1979. (by Hans Jørgen Madsen)

Vegetal grave goods in a female burial on Bornholm (Denmark) from the Late Roman Iron Age period interpreted in a comparative European perspective

Knowledge about the healing properties of plant substances is probably as old as humankind, and this can be demonstrated by botanical finds in archaeological contexts. Southern Scandinavia has a long tradition of supplying deceased persons with vegetal material for use in their afterlife, as shown by single seeds or processed plants in the form of foods, drinks or medicines. A wellknown example is the small container made of birch bark most probably filled with a kind of mead produced from honey, in the Egtved girl’s coffin a find which has been dated to the Early Bronze Age.Another fascinating plant discovery derives fromthe grave of the Fyrkat woman dated to the Viking Age: a handful seeds of the poisonous plant henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) was found in a small pocket fixed to the woman’s belt. Plant materials enclosed in small amulet boxes are quite common and are frequently attached to necklaces that the deceased had certainly worn during their lives. In this article, we discuss the organic finds from a newly excavated amulet box which was discovered in a woman’s grave at the Late Roman Iron Age site of Vellensby, on the island of Bornholm. The box contained two ‘chewing gum-like objects’ with dental impressions and three vegetal objects. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis was applied to one of the ‘chewing gums’ and the results show that it consists of a mixture of birch tar and plant oil. Based on their morphological characteristics, the three uncharred plant parts could be identified as cloves from a wild species of Allium, probably A. scorodoprasum (sand leek). The traditional medicinal application of sand leek is presented and the symbolic and possible principal meaning of amulet boxes is discussed within a comparative study of related discoveries from female burials throughout Europe

Textiles and environment in the showcase containing Saint Canute the Holy († AD 1086):Radiocarbon dating and chemical interactions

The cathedral in Odense, Denmark, has for nine centuries held the relics of the Danish King St Canute the Holy and his brother Benedikt. They were both murdered in the predecessor church at the site in AD 1086, and Canute was sanctified in already in AD 1100. The history of the relics has been that of turmoil at times, varying from initial worship of the Catholic believers, to being walled up and hidden away after the protestant reformation in AD 1536, and since the 19th Century on display as important heritage objects of national importance. In the present work we have characterised some of the textiles and analysed the air inside the glass showcases exhibiting the 11th Century wooden coffins holding the remains of St King Canute the Holy and his brother together with some precious textiles. Contrary to previous belief, we now prove that all the textiles analysed have the same age, which is consistent with the time of the enshrinement of the King and his brother in AD 1100. It is also shown that some of the textiles were treated with paraffin wax, most likely during attempts at conservation at the National Museum in the nineteenth century. The results of the air chemistry analyses show the problematic side of simultaneously storing of slowly decaying wood, fine textiles, and human bones in rather airtight environments. The wood continuously releases organic acids, the soaring concentrations of which are potentially harmful to the 11th Century textiles and probably also to the bones

Airway exposure to multi-walled carbon nanotubes disrupts the female reproductive cycle without affecting pregnancy outcomes in mice

Abstract Background The use of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) is increasing due to a growing use in a variety of products across several industries. Thus, occupational exposure is also of increasing concern, particularly since airway exposure to MWCNTs can induce sustained pulmonary acute phase response and inflammation in experimental animals, which may affect female reproduction. This proof-of-principle study therefore aimed to investigate if lung exposure by intratracheal instillation of the MWCNT NM-400 would affect the estrous cycle and reproductive function in female mice. Results Estrous cycle regularity was investigated by comparing vaginal smears before and after exposure to 67 μg of NM-400, whereas reproductive function was analyzed by measuring time to delivery of litters after instillation of 2, 18 or 67 μg of NM-400. Compared to normal estrous cycling determined prior to exposure, exposure to MWCNT significantly prolonged the estrous cycle during which exposure took place, but significantly shortened the estrous cycle immediately after the exposed cycle. No consistent effects were seen on time to delivery of litter or other gestational or litter parameters, such as litter size, sex ratio, implantations and implantation loss. Conclusion Lung exposure to MWCNT interfered with estrous cycling. Effects caused by MWCNTs depended on the time of exposure: the estrous stage was particularly sensitive to exposure, as animals exposed during this stage showed a higher incidence of irregular cycling after exposure. Our data indicates that MWCNT exposure may interfere with events leading to ovulation

Correction to: Investigations of the relics and altar materials relating to the apostles St James and St Philip at the Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli in Rome

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors identified an error in an author’s name. The incorrect name was: Erika Ribercini. The correct author name is: Erika Ribechini. The author group has been updated above and the original article [1] has been corrected

Release of lead from Renaissance lead-glazed ceramics from southern Denmark and northern Germany: Implications from acetic acid etching

Lead-glazed potsherds from archaeological excavations at six Renaissance (1536–1660 CE) sites in southern Denmark and northern Germany have been subjected to etching experiments using 4 wt% acetic acid. The extracts of 45 sherds were analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. At one site, the ducal hunting castle of Grøngaard, Pb levels in acid extracts from glazed dishes were so high (up to 29,000 µg Pb cm−2 day−1) that acute toxic effects likely occurred if the dishes were used for serving food containing vinegar. More moderate acid-etching Pb levels were found in dishes from other sites, but they still exceed the WHO critical level if used daily. Acetic acid etching experiments performed on pipkins (three-legged cooking pots with a handle) yielded somewhat lower Pb extract values, averaging ca. 25 µg Pb cm−2 day−1. Taking into account the widespread use of pipkins for cooking, they might easily have led to a higher weekly Pb intake than the use of the moderate-level dishes. The question remains whether such high levels of Pb exposure during meals led to injurious Pb intake. Prior skeletal analyses have shown that medieval to early modern individuals from the area, especially in towns, were exposed to Pb. While exposure could have come from various sources other than lead-glazed ceramics, such as cosmetics, paint, antibacterial ointments, and lead water pipes, widely distributed lead-glazed ceramics had the potential of being a main source of Pb. How the pottery was actually used is uncertain, and it certainly was not evenly distributed across all segments of society, but the etching experiment results suggest that severe poisonous effects could have resulted from the use of lead-glazed Renaissance ceramics

Investigations of the relics and altar materials relating to the apostles St James and St Philip at the Basilica dei Santi XII Apostoli in Rome

Two types of materials were sampled as part of an investigation of the relics of the Holy Catholic Church of the Apostles St Philip and St James in the Basilica dei Santi Apostoli in Rome: bone‑ and mummy‑materials and architectural samples. The analyses encompassed radiocarbon dating, thermoluminescence dating, gas and liquid chromatographic separation with mass spectrometric detection, X‑Ray fluorescence, X‑Ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results show that the samples were subjected to a number of conservational and exhibition‑related treatments. The alleged femoral bone of St James was dated between AD 214 and 340 (2σ confidence), which shows that this cannot be the bone of St James. An encrustation found in a canal in the reliquary in the high altar construction showed the presence of heavily oxidized rapeseed oil, which was radiocarbon dated between AD 267 and 539 (2σ confidence), and a ceramic shard also found in the high altar construction was TL‑dated to AD 314–746 (2σ confidence). The two latter dates are consistent with a translation of the relics following the erection of the church at the time of Pope Pelagius I in AD 556–56

Ischemic Heart Disease in Chronic Hepatitis B: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE: Data on the risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD) in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) are conflicting. Our objective was to address the rate of IHD in patients with CHB compared with individuals without CHB (control-persons) from the general population. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We conducted a cohort study of prospectively obtained data from Danish nationwide registries. We produced cumulative incidence curves and calculated the unadjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) of IHD in persons with and without CHB. The adjusted association between having CHB and developing IHD was examined using a cause-specific Cox regression model. RESULTS: In total, 6472 persons with CHB and 62,251 age- and sex-matched individuals from the general population were followed for 48,840 and 567,456 person-years, respectively, during which 103 (1,59%) with CHB and 1058 (1,70%) control-persons developed IHD. The crude IRR was 1.13 (95% CI: 0.91–1.39). CHB did not have a statistically significant effect on the rate of IHD after adjusting for several confounding factors (adjusted hazard ratio: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.76–1.21). CONCLUSION: In this nationwide cohort study, we did not find any difference between rate of IHD in persons with CHB in comparison with the general population