The chronology of Jäkärlä Ware : Bayesian interpretation of the old and new radiocarbon dates from Early and Middle Neolithic southwest Finland

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The chronology of Jäkärlä Ware – Bayesian interpretation of the old and new radiocarbon dates from Early and Middle Neolithic southwest Finland

The chronology of the eastern Fennoscandian Neolithic is organized with the help of pottery styles, one of which is southwestern Finnish Jäkärlä Ware. In this paper a number of new radiocarbon dates connected with Jäkärlä Ware and other relevant ceramic groups are presented and discussed. The radiocarbon dates of each group are modelled within a Bayesian chronological framework. Also, the potential reservoir effect in charred crust dates is estimated for each date based on stable carbon isotopic ratios of the crust samples and incorporated into models. Jäkärlä Ware appears to be a short-living and quite a isolated group, which had no chronological contacts with Sperrings 1–2 Wares, but with possible coexistence with Middle Neolithic Typical Comb Ware. Jäkärlä Ware is partly simultaneous with eastern Finnish asbestos-tempered Kaunissaari Ware, and forms with it a short chronological horizon in the turn of the Early and Middle Neolithic of eastern Fennoscandia.</p

Graves, landmarks, or sacrificial monuments? The human osteology and paleopathology of the Bronze Age burial cairns in Finland

During the Bronze Age (ca. 1800-500 BC), cremation became the dominant burial practice in Finland. These Bronze Age (BA) cremations have been excavated from burial cairns in Finland for more than 150 years. This work provides new information on human osteology from this previously understudied area in northeastern Europe. The results cover the earliest period in Finnish prehistory for which large-scale human osteological assemblages are available. In this article, we present a comprehensive human osteological study on the curated bone collections of the National Museum of Finland and other provincial museums, and provide new radiocarbon datings of the cairns. The results show that the cairns were most often used for single burials, without accompanying animals or artefacts. Double and multiple burials became more common in the Iron Age. Porotic hyperostosis was a common finding. Signs of osteoarthritis are more common in the central Satakunta region, where Iron Age burial practices first emerged already during the Late Bronze Age. These observed changes can be connected to changes in subsistence strategies that also enabled permanent settlements.Peer reviewe

On the chronological aspect of productive economy origin in the lower Volga region

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THE CONSTRUCTION DATE OF THE DOMINICAN CONVENT OF ST OLAF IN TURKU, FINLAND: A RE-EVALUATION

The foundation of the medieval Dominican Convent of St Olaf in Turku, South-West Finland, marked the connection of the country to an international network of contacts with the Latin West, and the establishment of taught education in Finland. However, the chronology of its construction has been a subject of scholarly debate since the early 20th century. The archaeological material from the convent is scant, and the only properly datable finds are a sample of timber from the structures and a collection of bricks recovered from the site. In this article we present the results of a wiggle-match dating of the timber, and OSL dating of eight bricks. The bricks were also analysed by pXRF. The building phase of brick masonry seems to date to the second half of the 14th century or around 1400AD

Does the age of fine root carbon indicate the age of fine roots in boreal forests?

To test the reliability of the radiocarbon method for determining root age, we analyzed fine roots (originating from the years 1985 to 1993) from ingrowth cores with known maximum root age (1 to 6 years old). For this purpose, three Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands were selected from boreal forests in Finland. We analyzed root 14C age by the radiocarbon method and compared it with the above-mentioned known maximum fine root age. In general, ages determined by the two methods (root 14C age and ingrowth core root maximum age) were in agreement with each other for roots of small diameter (<0.5mm). By contrast, in most of the samples of fine roots of larger diameter (1.5-2mm), the 14C age of root samples of 1987-89 exceeded the ingrowth core root maximum age by 1-10 years. This shows that these roots had received a large amount of older stored carbon from unknown sources in addition to atmospheric CO2 directly from photosynthesis. We conclude that the 14C signature of fine roots, especially those of larger diameter, may not always be indicative of root age, and that further studies are needed concerning the extent of possible root uptake of older carbon and its residence time in roots. Keywords: fine root age, Pinus sylvestris, radiocarbon, root carbon, ingrowth cores, tree ringPeer reviewe