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Relative kernel density map showing concentrations of grave-good use across Western Europe in AD 500 (figure by E. Brownlee).
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Context 1
... the outset of the sixth century, the highest concentration of grave-good use was in England, particularly East Anglia, and in Alamannia, while the lowest were in West Frankia and Burgundy (Figure 3). Northumbria appears as an area of particularly high grave-good use, although it is not statistically significant. ...
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... The transition from the Early Middle Ages to the High Middle Ages is characterized by marked socio-economical changes, that affect the development of both urban and rural settings. (Brownlee, 2021;Körntgen & Wassenhoven, 2013;Lopez, 1976). ...
... [107][108][109] In general, this question can be considered inadequate and obsolete because the limits and the lack of pertinence of the traditional identification of cultural groups, ethnic categories, and identity through the study of the material culture has been generally disclosed in the last decades. 1,7,8,10,[110][111][112][113] Nevertheless, the results of the isotope and aDNA analyses provide new insights into the potential origin of the individuals buried in Basel-Waisenhaus. First, the isotope compositions of the dental enamel sampled at Basel-Waisenhaus match the local I and, to some extent, the local II range at Basel. ...
The Basel-Waisenhaus burial community (Switzerland) has been traditionally interpreted as immigrated Alamans because of the location and dating of the burial
ground – despite the typical late Roman funeral practices. To evaluate this hypothesis, multi-isotope and aDNA analyses were conducted on the eleven individuals buried there. The results show that the burial ground was occupied around AD 400 by people belonging largely to one family, whereas isotope and genetic recordsmost probably point toward a regionally organized and indigenous, instead of an immigrated, community. This strengthens the recently advanced assumption that the withdrawal of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian limes after the ‘‘Crisis of the Third Century AD’’ was not necessarily related to a replacement of the local population by immigrated Alamannic peoples, suggesting a long-lasting continuity of occupation at the Roman periphery at the Upper and High Rhine region.
... At this point, it is noteworthy that even if the sample size only depends on the size of the burial ground, the sample will still only reflect the investigated burial community and not necessarily the whole region or-if supposed to be investigated as such-a given ethnic or cultural group. It is however worth emphasising that not only the social (and ethnic) status (Brownlee 2021;Díaz-Andreu et al. 2005; Leggett and Lambert 2022) (see also Suppl. Text 1E) but also more fundamental issues such as sex, age, health and chronology are often difficult to assess without including scientific analyses (Grupe et al. 2012;Hines 2013;Katzenberg and Grauer 2018;Meier 2020). ...
... A correlation between social status and specific mobility or dietary habits is however often rejected (Fig. 8 (D)). Provided that the identification of the social status was reliable (which can be very problematic (Brownlee 2020(Brownlee , 2021, see also Suppl. Text 1E), this aligns with the results of a large-scale study conducted in England (Leggett and Lambert 2022). ...
Early Mediaeval Archaeology was long infuenced by traditional narratives related to so-called Völkerwanderungen. Based on the interpretation of ancient written sources, the “Migration Period” was traditionally perceived as a time of catastrophic changes triggered by the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and massive migration waves of “barbarian” groups across Europe. In the last decades, isotope analyses have been increasingly used to test these traditional narratives by exploring past mobility patterns, shifts in dietary habits, and changes in subsistence strategies or in socio-economic structures among early medieval societies. To evaluate the achievements of isotope studies in understanding the complexity of the so-called Migration Period, this paper presents a review of 50 recent publications. Instead of re-analysing the data per se, this review first explores the potentials and limitations of the various approaches introduced in the last decades. In a second step, an analysis of the interpretations presented in the reviewed studies questions to what extend traditional expectations are supported by isotope data from the Migration Period. Beside revising the concept of massive migrations, isotope data reveal so-far underestimated mobility patterns and open new perspectives in the investigation of early medieval world.
... We cannot identify the woman buried with the garnet wasters at Lodi Vecchio as a member of the Byzantine or Langobard aristocracy, but the location of her grave, in a Lombard town along a road crossed by long-distance trade, indicates how the different aristocratic groups living in the Langobard and Byzantine sectors of the peninsula participated in the trade and processing of exotic products. The deposition of finished garnets and wasters, previously documented in other European regions (Brownlee, 2021) but now also in Italy, adds a new element to the cultural diversity and global identity of European society during the seventh century AD. Le commerce des grenats au haut Moyen Âge en Europe : le réseau italien L'étude des routes commerciales par lesquelles les grenats atteignent l'Europe au haut Moyen Âge met en évidence la persistance de ce commerce à longue distance après la chute de l'Empire romain d'Occident. ...
The reconstruction of the trade routes along which garnets reached Europe in the early Middle Ages demonstrates the persistence of long-distance trade after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Early medieval garnet jewellery from Italy and the presence of lapidary workshops are important evidence for understanding the dynamics of this commerce but are systematically overlooked. Chemical trace-element analysis (LA-ICP-MS) of loose and inset garnets and glass inlays from burials in sixth–seventh-century Lombardy has identified South Asian and Bohemian garnets together with Egyptian glass. This combination shows that the long-distance trade routes crossing the Peninsula and the Alpine passes played a key role in the European market for garnets, significantly modifying the current model of the Mediterranean garnet trade and shedding new light on the character of the elites who emerged in Italy during the Migration period.
... BEST tests confirm that these shifts are real, albeit small, around + 1‰ in mean per period. This aligns with changes seen in zooarchaeological, isotopic, and burial data from Kent, where changing dietary practices in line with Christianization and changing worldviews on death and the afterlife have been suggested (Reynolds, 2015: 189-91, 278-96;Knapp, 2018: 290-300;Brownlee, 2021;Leggett, 2021). The clear spike in bone δ 15 N coll values from the eighth century onwards is not accompanied by the corresponding increase in δ 13 C coll to support a marine FEH in England close to AD 1000, as previously argued (Barrett et al., 2004a(Barrett et al., , 2004bBarrett, 2016;Müldner, 2016;Orton et al., 2017). ...
During the first millennium ad, Europe saw much socio-environmental change, which is reflected in the archaeological and palaeoecological evidence. Using published and new isotope data from across western Europe, the author examines changing resource use from c. ad 350 to 1200. The geographical limits of millet and substantial marine consumption are identified and comparisons between childhood and adult diets made across regions. Cross-cultural interaction at a broad scale is emphasized and patterns within early medieval England form the subject of an in-depth case study. While doubt is cast onto the uptake of marine resource consumption in England following the Fish Event Horizon, changes in agricultural practices, the impact of Christianization, and the role of freshwater fish in diets are explored. The author's hierarchical meta-analytical approach enables identification of human–environment interactions, with significant implications for changing foodways in Europe during the first millennium ad .
... The BEST tests between periods for bone 15 Ncoll indicate that these differences are real, although the shifts are small, around +1‰ in mean per period. This aligns with changes seen in zooarchaeological, isotopic and burial data from Kent, where changing dietary practices in line with Christianisation and changing worldviews on death and the afterlife have been suggested (Reynolds, 2015;Knapp, 2018;Brownlee, 2021;Leggett, 2021). The clear spike in bone 15 Ncoll values from the eighth century onwards is not accompanied by the necessary increase in 13 Ccoll to support a marine FEH in England close to the year 1000 AD as previously argued (Barrett et al., 2004a(Barrett et al., , 2004bBarrett, 2016;Müldner, 2016;Orton et al., 2017). ...
Socio-environmental transitions during the first millennium AD had wide-ranging impacts across Europe which have interesting archaeological and palaeoecological implications. This paper uses published and new multi-tissue, multi-isotope data from across Europe to look at changing resource use from c. 350-1200 AD. It highlights cross-cultural interaction at a broad scale as well as focussing on these patterns with Early Medieval England as a regional case study. By using a hierarchical approach, it teases apart human-environment interactions with significant implications for changing foodways in Early Medieval Europe. It highlights how more integrated methodologies allow for better models of human ecology in the Early Middle Ages.
This contribution explores issues around the commonality versus distinctiveness of portable material culture across medieval Europe, focusing in particular on material culture manifestations of play (particularly ‘board games’) and belief/supernatural engagements (through the cult of saints and pilgrimage). The chapter will adopt an entangled narrative of supernatural engagement, board games and cultural interaction. Its longue durée trajectory commences in the mid-first millennium AD (with a link back to the earlier first millennium and Roman/European contacts) and closes in the sixteenth century. Over this timeframe, it will seek to highlight shared play practices as suggested by board and dice games kit. A particular focus will be the nature and spread of chess, including its social and metaphorical understanding. This will be supported by a key case study: the medieval castle as an arena for play and source of play paraphernalia for church treasuries. The idea of castles as arenas of play, especially when ruinous, has remained a key aspect of their use, reuse and understanding through to modern times. Regarding Christianity as a broad cultural practice, wider than a set of theologically controlled faith precepts, this chapter will also seek to understand pilgrimage as a unifying practice linking movement, supernatural engagement and gaming/play practices.
This paper uses a “dates as data” approach to understand how grave good use and cemetery space changed across the early medieval period in England. A series of composite kernel density estimations were created, based on a dataset of nearly 1100 graves with associated radiocarbon dates, from between the fourth and ninth centuries AD. This modeling revealed a previously unrecognized peak in grave furnishing around 600 AD, which coincides with a peak in isolated burials, and a low point for unfurnished graves and for small cemeteries. It argues that this peak is unrecognized as previous models of chronological change have focused only on graves containing chronologically distinctive artifacts and highlights the importance of radiocarbon dating as a way of avoiding this limitation.
The Basel-Waisenhaus burial community (Switzerland) has been traditionally interpreted as immigrated Alamans due to the location and dating of the burial ground – despite the typical late Roman funeral practices. To evaluate this hypothesis, multi-isotope and aDNA analyses were conducted on the eleven individuals buried there. The results show that the burial ground was occupied around 400 AD by people belonging largely to one family, while isotope and genetic records most probably point towards a regionally-organized and indigenous, instead of an immigrated, community. This strengthens the recently advanced assumption that the withdrawal of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian limes after the “Crisis of the Third Century AD” was not necessarily related to a replacement of the local population by immigrated Alamannic peoples, suggesting a long-lasting continuity of occupation at the Roman periphery at the Upper and High Rhine region.
