Runes from Lany (Czech Republic) - The oldest inscription among Slavs. A new standard for multidisciplinary analysis of runic bones

When Roman administration and legions gradually withdrew from the outer provinces after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, they created a power void filled by various groups. The dynamic Migration Period that followed is usually considered to have ended when the Germanic Lombards allegedly left Central Europe and were replaced by Slavs. Whether or how Slavic and Germanic tribes interacted, however, is currently disputed. Here we report the first direct archaeological find in support of a contact: a bone fragment dated to similar to 600 AD incised with Germanic runes but found in Lany, Czechia, a contemporaneous settlement associated with Slavs. We documented and authenticated this artifact using a combined approach of use-wear analysis with SEM microscopy, direct radiocarbon dating, and ancient DNA analysis of the animal bone, thereby setting a new standard for the investigation of runic bones. The find is the first older fuark inscription found in any non-Germanic context and suggests that the presumed ancestors of modern Slavic speakers encountered writing much earlier than previously thought.Když se římská správa a legie po pádu Západořímské říše postupně stáhly z vnějších provincií, vytvořilo se mocenské vakuum vyplněné různými skupinami. Dynamické období migrace, které následovalo, se obvykle považuje za ukončené v okamžiku, když germánští Longobardi údajně opustili střední Evropu a byli nahrazeni Slovany. Zda nebo jak na sebe vzájemně působily slovanské a germánské kmeny, se v současné době diskutuje. Zde publikujeme první přímý archeologický nález na podporu kontaktu: fragment kosti datovaný okolo roku 600 n.l. s vyrytými germánskými runami, který však byl nalezen v na sídlišti v Lánech (jižní Morava), na sídlišti spojeném se Slovany. Tento artefakt jsme dokumentovali a ověřili pomocí kombinace různých metod: tafonomie s mikroskopií SEM, datování radiokarbonovou metodou a analýzou aDNA zvířecí kosti, čímž jsme stanovili nový standard pro výzkum runových kostí. Nález je prvním nápisem staršího futharku nalezeným v jiném než germánském kontextu, což naznačuje, že se předkové slovansky mluvících obyvatel střední Evropy setkali s písmem mnohem dříve, než se dříve myslelo.When Roman administration and legions gradually withdrew from the outer provinces after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, they created a power void filled by various groups. The dynamic Migration Period that followed is usually considered to have ended when the Germanic Lombards allegedly left Central Europe and were replaced by Slavs. Whether or how Slavic and Germanic tribes interacted, however, is currently disputed. Here we report the first direct archaeological find in support of a contact: a bone fragment dated to similar to 600 AD incised with Germanic runes but found in Lany, Czechia, a contemporaneous settlement associated with Slavs. We documented and authenticated this artifact using a combined approach of use-wear analysis with SEM microscopy, direct radiocarbon dating, and ancient DNA analysis of the animal bone, thereby setting a new standard for the investigation of runic bones. The find is the first older fuark inscription found in any non-Germanic context and suggests that the presumed ancestors of modern Slavic speakers encountered writing much earlier than previously thought

The genomic origins of the world’s first farmers

The precise genetic origins of the first Neolithic farming populations in Europe and Southwest Asia, as well as the processes and the timing of their differentiation, remain largely unknown. Demogenomic modeling of high-quality ancient genomes reveals that the early farmers of Anatolia and Europe emerged from a multiphase mixing of a Southwest Asian population with a strongly bottlenecked western hunter-gatherer population after the last glacial maximum. Moreover, the ancestors of the first farmers of Europe and Anatolia went through a period of extreme genetic drift during their westward range expansion, contributing highly to their genetic distinctiveness. This modeling elucidates the demographic processes at the root of the Neolithic transition and leads to a spatial interpretation of the population history of Southwest Asia and Europe during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene.Open access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]