Archaeobotanical study of a late Iron Age agricultural complex at Orijärvi, Eastern Finland

Peer reviewe

Charred seeds in Mikkeli Orijärvi : A study of subsistence strategies of an Iron Age settlement in East Finland

In this study the over 350 macrofossil samples, containing over 2300 charred plant remains from an Iron Age settlement containing fossil fields in Mikkeli Orijärvi Kihlinpelto, were studied archaeobotanically. The aim was to get more information about subsistence strategies, especially agriculture and study differences in the plant combinations in the different structures and use the archaeobotanical theory to interpret these structures. The methodological question was to study the taphonomy of the charred plant material. The results gave a diverse impression of the agriculture and subsistence strategies of the settlement in Orijärvi, where barley was the most important cereal with rye, wheat and oat cultivated as minor crops. The arable weed assemblage indicates that the fields were situated in different kinds of soils and the crops were cultivated when different kind of weather conditions were prevailing. Ergot was found with the cereals, and it was growing on some of the arable crops and it also indicates wet climate. Hemp and flax were cultivated and wild plants were collected. The meadow and wetland plants found in the material derive most probably from animal fodder. Tubers of bulbous oat-grass were interesting, because they are usually found in graves. Comparison with other Iron Age settlements and graves indicates that the plant material found from the ancient field layers derives most probably from dwellings and graves, which were taken into cultivation.Tässä pro gradu -tutkielmassa käsitellään Mikkelin Orijärven Kihlinpellon rautakautiselta asuinpaikka- ja muinaispeltokohteelta tutkittua yli 350 makrofossiilinäytettä, joista löytyi yli 2300 hiiltynyttä kasvinosaa. Työn tavoitteena on saada lisää tietoa toimeentulostrategioista, etenkin maataloudesta ja vertailla eri rakenteiden makrofossiilisisältöä toisiinsa ja käyttää arkeobotaanista teoriaa näiden rakenteiden tulkitsemiseen. Metodologisena kysymyksena on tarkastella hiiltyneen kasvimateriaalin tafonomiaa. Tulosten perusteella saatiin monipuolinen kuva Orijärven asuinpaikan maataloudesta ja elinkeinostrategioista. Monilukuisin viljakasvi on ollut ohra, jonka lisäksi on viljelty myös ruista, vehnää ja kauraa. Rikkaruohojen perusteella peltojen maaperä on vaihdellut ja viljelyä on harjoitettu monenlaisissa sääolosuhteissa. Materiaalista löytyi torajyvää, jonka isäntäkasvina on ollut jokin viljakasvi ja se osoittaa että ilmasto-olosuhteet ovat olleet kosteat. Paikalla on viljelty hamppua ja pellavaa ja alueelta on keräilty kasveja. Niitty- ja kosteikkokasvien siemenet viittaavat mitä todennäköisimmin kasvien käyttöön eläinten rehuna. Heinäkauran (Arrhenatherum elatius var. bulbosum) varsimukulat olivat kiinnostavia, koska niitä löydetään yleensä haudoista. Vertailu muihin rautakautisiin asuinpaikkoihin ja hautoihin osoitti, että muinaispelloista löytynyt kasvimateriaali mitä todennäköisimmin on peräisin viljelykäyttöön otetuista asumuksista ja haudoista

Wild plant gathering in Stone Age Finland

Please cite this article in press as: Vanhanen, S., Pesonen, P.,Wild plant gathering in Stone Age Finland, Quaternary International (2015), http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.036Peer reviewe

Prehistoric cultivation and plant gathering in Finland : An archaeobotanical study

Better knowledge of cultivation and plant gathering enables a deeper understanding of prehistoric societies. People-plant interactions have resulted in the creation of human ecological niches and, over time, people began to increasingly gain their subsistence from productive economies. However, in Finland prehistoric cultivation and plant gathering remain poorly understood. What plants were gathered during the prehistoric period, and how would they have been used? When do the first signs of cultivation occur, and where did it originate from? How did cultivation develop after its introduction? This study reviews and expands on archaeobotanical data on cultivation and plant gathering in Finland. The aim is to provide a long-term perspective of plant-people interactions in the area. Such knowledge is valuable for scholars studying prehistoric societies, plant use and agricultural history. The primary method employed in this study is the archaeobotanical analysis of plant macrofossils. This method enables species-level identifications of plant remains found at archaeological sites. In this study, such plant remains were retrieved from flotation samples gathered at archaeological sites in Finland and Sweden. Altogether, approximately 800 samples were studied. In addition, several remains of plants were directly accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dated, thus enabling an absolute chronology for these particular remains. Secondary methods employed in the study include the anthracological analysis of wood charcoal, ethnography and geochemistry. A review of charred and waterlogged plant remains from the Stone Age in Finland show that numerous wild plants were collected. During the Holocene thermal maximum, hazel and water chestnut grew further north than today. Wild plants were used throughout Finland during the Stone Age, although the number of taxa diminished northwards. Use of starch-rich plants, such as water-lilies, appears to have decreased after the onset of agriculture. The earliest macrofossil remains of cultivated plants in Finland, naked barley and naked wheat, were found at Pitted Ware Culture sites on the Åland Islands. Radiocarbon dates show that these remains date from the years 3300–2500 cal BC. Cultivated plants occur for the first time in mainland Finland during the second millennium BC. Radiocarbon-dated plant remains indicate continuous cultivation of barley on mainland Finland since approximately 1500 cal BC. The early development of plant cultivation is, however, poorly understood. Larger assemblages of plant remains have been discovered during the first millennium AD. At Isokylä, in southern Finland, such assemblages show that barley was the main crop cultivated during the Iron Age, cal AD 200–550. Both hulled and naked barley were cultivated together with other crops. Here, the earliest find of hemp in Finland was discovered and directly dated to cal AD 258–425. The Late Iron Age can be considered as a period of agricultural expansion. The site of Orijärvi shows that permanent field cultivation, with hulled barley as the main crop, was conducted from approximately cal AD 600 onwards. The results of this study have implications especially for studies of prehistoric societies, which can be better understood with a deeper knowledge of their plant use. Plants not only provided nutrients, medicine, fuel and construction materials, but people could even construct their niches by removing or preserving certain plants in their surroundings. The active role of humans should be considered when studying past environmental changes, for example via pollen analytical studies. Cereal grains found at Pitted Ware Culture sites on Åland forces us to consider whether these hunter-gatherers could have conducted small-scale cultivation, possibly even reaching mainland Finland. Cultivation most probably originated from east-central Sweden, where it was first introduced by the Funnel Beaker Culture approximately 4000 cal BC. Later, continuous cultivation throughout the Bronze Age must have had social consequences, and the appearance of numerous cairns might well be associated with an increasing reliance on agriculture. The Iron Age find of hemp at Isokylä might indicate contacts with areas farther south. Remains of ancient fields and the archaeobotanical material at Orijärvi and other similar sites show that field cultivation was conducted in Finland at the latest since the Late Iron Age. These finds call into question whether we can consider slash-and-burn cultivation as the earliest cultivation method in Finland.Voimme ymmärtää esihistoriallisia ihmisiä paremmin, jos tiedämme mitä kasveja he viljelivät ja keräilivät. Esihistoriallista kasvien hyödyntämistä ei kuitenkaan tunneta Suomessa riittävän hyvin. Tällaisen tiedon kartuttamiseksi tutkin väitöskirjassani seuraavia kysymyksiä: Mitä kasveja ihmiset keräilivät esihistoriallisena aikana ja miten kasveja hyödynnettiin? Milloin ensimmäiset viljelykasvit ilmaantuvat ja mistä nämä ovat peräisin? Miten viljely kehittyy sen omaksumisen jälkeen? Näiden kysymysten selvittämiseksi tutkin arkeologisilta kaivauksilta löytyviä muinaisia kasvinjäänteitä, kuten pähkinänkuoria, siemeniä ja viljanjyviä. Tutkimuksen tavoite on valottaa ihmisten ja kasvien välistä vuorovaikutusta esihistoriallisena aikana. Suomessa käytettiin lukuisia eri kasveja kivikaudelta lähtien. Näistä esimerkiksi hasselpähkinöitä ja vesipähkinöitä kerättiin ravinnoksi ja ne kasvoivatkin nykyistä pohjoisempana. Kasvien keräily jatkui maanviljelyksen alettua, mutta viljat vaikuttavat korvanneen hiilihydraattipitoiset luonnonkasvit, kuten ulpukan. Esimerkiksi ahomansikan, vadelman ja katajan käyttö silti jatkui. Näitä kerättiin mahdollisesti maun ja lääkinnällisten vaikutusten vuoksi. Maanviljely levisi Lähi-Idästä Eurooppaan muuttavien väestöjen mukana. Matkan aikana maanviljelijäkulttuurit muuttivat muotoaan. Metsästäjä-keräilijät vaikuttivat DNA:han, esinekulttuuri muutti muotoaan ja viljelykasvien määrä väheni siirryttäessä pohjoista kohti. Löysin tutkimuksessa Suomen varhaisimmat ohran ja vehnän jyvät Ahvenanmaalta. Ensimmäiset jyvät osoittautuivat noin 5000 vuotta vanhoiksi. Tällöin saarille muutti Tukholman alueelta kuoppakeraamisen kulttuurin hylkeenpyyntiin erikoistuneita metsästäjä-keräilijöitä. He olivat ilmeisesti omaksuneet maanviljelyn 6000 vuotta sitten Skandinaviaan levittäytyneiltä maanviljelijöiltä. Tulos yllätti, koska hyvin harvoin on voitu todeta metsästäjä-keräilijöiden omaksuneen taidon viljellä maata. Esimmäisen viljelyaallon jälkeen Suomessa oli noin tuhannen vuoden katkos viljelykasvien esiintymisessä, vaikka Viron kautta levittäytynyt nuorakeraaminen kulttuuri harjoittikin eläinten pitoa. Viljanjyvälöytöjen perusteella viljely vakiintui Suomen lounaisella rannikkoalueella pronssikauden alusta alkaen, eli noin 3500 vuotta sitten. Hautamuotojen ja esineellisen kulttuurin perusteella tämä viljelyskulttuuri saapui Ruotsista. Viileisiin oloihin sopeutunut ohra oli tärkein viljelykasvi koko esihistoriallisen ajan. Ajanlaskun alun jälkeen vainioilla kasvatettiin myös emmervehnää, ruista ja leipävehnää sekä pellavaa ja hamppua. Rikkakasvien ja muinaispeltolöytöjen perusteella vaikuttaa siltä, että viljaa kasvatettiin pääosin lannoitetuilla pelloilla mahdollisesti jo hieman ennen ajanlaskun alkua tai viimeistään ensimmäisen vuosituhannen loppupuolella. Suomessa asuneet metsästäjä-keräilijät sopeutuivat muuttuvaan ympäristöön ja käyttivät monipuolisesti saatavilla olevia kasveja. Myöhempi maanviljelyn alku ja vakiintuminen oli tuhansia vuosia kestänyt kehityskulku, jossa muuttoaallot ja paikallinen kehitys vuorottelivat

The Find of Pre-Viking Age Charred Grains from Fort-Settlement in Tartu

From the occupation layer of settlement adjacent to Tartu fort, deposited at some point between the 7th to 9th centuries, a soil sample was taken. In addition to other finds, charred plant macrofossils were obtained. These consisted of eight taxa. Barley was the most common cereal. The second most numerous cereal was rye. Bread wheat and oat were minor components. Four peas and two broad beans were found in addition to the cereals. Three hazelnut fragments and one oak acorn were the only remains of collected plants. One grain remnant of Bromus sp. could not be identified to the species level. Previously reported plant remains from the Iron Age sites of Kuusalu, Iru, Rõuge, Otepää, Soontagana, Valjaja, Tartu fort, Tartu settlement, Aindu and Linnaluuste I were compared with the current material. According to the finds, barley was the most common cereal during the first millennium AD. Rye became common during the Late Iron Age. Two oat finds are significant, because they represent the first Iron Age finds of the crop in Estonia. It is not clear, however, whether oat was cultivated or a weed in Tartu during the 7th–9th centuries. Broad beans were found for the first time in Iron Age Estonia.Peer reviewe

Maritime Hunter-Gatherers Adopt Cultivation at the Farming extreme of Northern Europe 5000 Years Ago

The dynamics of the origins and spread of farming are globally debated in anthropology and archaeology. Lately, numerous aDNA studies have turned the tide in favour of migrations, leaving only a few cases in Neolithic Europe where hunter-gatherers might have adopted agriculture. It is thus widely accepted that agriculture was expanding to its northern extreme in Sweden c. 4000 BC by migrating Funnel Beaker Culture (FBC) farmers. This was followed by intense contacts with local hunter-gatherers, leading to the development of the Pitted Ware Culture (PWC), who nonetheless relied on maritime prey. Here, we present archaeobotanical remains from Sweden and the Aland archipelago (Finland) showing that PWC used free-threshing barley and hulled and free-threshing wheat from c. 3300 BC. We suggest that these hunter-gatherers adopted cultivation from FBC farmers and brought it to islands beyond the 60th parallel north. Based on directly dated grains, land areas suitable for cultivation, and absence of signs of exchange with FBC in Sweden, we argue that PWC cultivated crops in Aland. While we have isotopic and lipid-biomarker proof that their main subsistence was still hunting/fishing/gathering, we argue small-scale cereal use was intended for ritual feasts, when cereal products could have been consumed with pork.Peer reviewe

‘The Color of the Grave is Green’ – Moss and Juniper in Early Medieval Graves at Toppolanmäki, Finland

Two graves, initially discovered in the 1930s, were reopened and examined in 2017 and 2018 at the Early Medieval cemetery of Toppolanmäki, Finland. Soil samples taken from the graves were sampled for macrofossils, pollen and microfauna. Pollen and spore analysis provided possible evidence for the use of mosses and juniper branches in the graves. Also, moss-indicating microfauna (Euglypha spp.) was detected. At Toppolanmäki, mosses were used in both coffins and earth burials. The clubmoss found in the latter could even indicate the presence of a woven carpet or mattress in the grave pit. The use of juniper, on the other hand, could indicate ritual continuation from the Iron Age as it is a common find in older cemeteries. It is also possible that the early medieval environment around the site was characterised by dry meadows and juniper bushes at the time of the burial, and even that one of the burials took place in early summer. The study highlights the research potential of graves that have been excavated decades ago and presents a new biological indicator of the use of moss in burials: the testate amoeba Euglypha.</p

Buried in water, burdened by nature-Resilience carried the Iron Age people through Fimbulvinter

Levanluhta is a unique archaeological site with the remains of nearly a hundred Iron Age individuals found from a water burial in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The strongest climatic downturn of the Common Era, resembling the great Fimbulvinter in Norse mythology, hit these people during the 6th century AD. This study establishes chronological, dietary, and livelihood synthesis on this population based on stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic and radiocarbon analyses on human remains, supported by multidisciplinary evidence. Extraordinarily broad stable isotopic distribution is observed, indicating three subgroups with distinct dietary habits spanning four centuries. This emphasizes the versatile livelihoods practiced at this boundary of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. While the impact of the prolonged cold darkness of the 6th century was devastating for European communities relying on cultivation, the broad range of livelihoods provided resilience for the Levanluhta people to overcome the abrupt climatic decline.Peer reviewe

Buried in water, burdened by nature – Resilience carried the Iron Age people through Fimbulvinter

Levänluhta is a unique archaeological site with the remains of nearly a hundred Iron Age individuals found from a water burial in Ostrobothnia, Finland. The strongest climatic downturn of the Common Era, resembling the great Fimbulvinter in Norse mythology, hit these people during the 6th century AD. This study establishes chronological, dietary, and livelihood synthesis on this population based on stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic and radiocarbon analyses on human remains, supported by multidisciplinary evidence. Extraordinarily broad stable isotopic distribution is observed, indicating three subgroups with distinct dietary habits spanning four centuries. This emphasizes the versatile livelihoods practiced at this boundary of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. While the impact of the prolonged cold darkness of the 6th century was devastating for European communities relying on cultivation, the broad range of livelihoods provided resilience for the Levänluhta people to overcome the abrupt climatic decline

Corded Ware Culture Plant Gathering at the Narva-Joesuu IIB Settlement and Burial Site in Estonia

Plant use of the Corded Ware Culture (2800–2000 cal BC) communities in Estonia and more broadly in the eastern Baltic area has not been systematically studied using archaeobotanical methods. This article presents the first archaeobotanical study from a Stone Age context in Estonia, and discusses plant use at the Corded Ware Culture settlement and burial site of Narva-Jõesuu IIB in the north-eastern part of the country. Analysis revealed the first occurrence of water chestnut (Trapa natans) from a Stone Age context in Estonia and numerous common hazel (Corylus avellana) nutshells. Otherwise, the plant material preserved in the sandy soils of Narva-Jõesuu IIB consisted of charred remains of conifers and heathland species, as well as plants from scrubs or forest edges. The plant species that were found reflect the mosaic nature of the environment surrounding the site. Only wild plants were gathered and used at Narva-Jõesuu IIB; no domesticated plants or signs of plant cultivation were identified.Plant use of the Corded Ware Culture (2800-2000 cal BC) communities in Estonia and more broadly in the eastern Baltic area has not been systematically studied using archaeobotanical methods. This article presents the first archaeobotanical study from a Stone Age context in Estonia, and discusses plant use at the Corded Ware Culture settlement and burial site of Narva-Joesuu IIB in the north-eastern part of the country. Analysis revealed the first occurrence of water chestnut (Trapa natans) from a Stone Age context in Estonia and numerous common hazel (Corylus avellana) nutshells. Otherwise, the plant material preserved in the sandy soils of Narva-Joesuu IIB consisted of charred remains of conifers and heathland species, as well as plants from scrubs or forest edges. The plant species that were found reflect the mosaic nature of the environment surrounding the site. Only wild plants were gathered and used at Narva-Joesuu IIB; no domesticated plants or signs of plant cultivation were identified.Peer reviewe