Cargando…

Is there anybody in there? Entomological evidence from a boat burial at Øksnes in Vesterålen, northern Norway

Although there are several well preserved Viking boat burials from Norway, until recently palaeoecological research on their context has often been limited. Research on fossil insect remains in particular can provide valuable forensic information even in the absence of an actual body. Here we presen...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Panagiotakopulu, Eva, Buckland, Paul C., Wickler, Stephen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6063414/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30052632
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200545
_version_ 1783342551272521728
author Panagiotakopulu, Eva
Buckland, Paul C.
Wickler, Stephen
author_facet Panagiotakopulu, Eva
Buckland, Paul C.
Wickler, Stephen
author_sort Panagiotakopulu, Eva
collection PubMed
description Although there are several well preserved Viking boat burials from Norway, until recently palaeoecological research on their context has often been limited. Research on fossil insect remains in particular can provide valuable forensic information even in the absence of an actual body. Here we present archaeoentomological information from a boat burial at Øksnes in Vesterålen, northeast Norway, an area where Norse and Sami traditions overlap. Excavated in 1934, organic preservation from the burial was limited to parts of the boat and a clump of bird feathers which were preserved in the Tromsø University Museum, and from which fossil insects were recovered. The insect assemblage from Øksnes includes the blowfly, Protophormia terraenovae (Rob.-Des.), which indicates exposure of the body and the probable timing of the burial. The high numbers of the human flea, Pulex irritans L. from among the feathers, suggests that these, probably from a pillow under the corpse, originated from within a domestic context. Deposition of flowers as part of the burial is discussed on the basis of the insect fauna. The absence of a body and any associated post burial decay fauna implies its exhumation and disposal elsewhere and this is discussed in the context of other exhumed medieval burials and Saga and other sources.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-6063414
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2018
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-60634142018-08-09 Is there anybody in there? Entomological evidence from a boat burial at Øksnes in Vesterålen, northern Norway Panagiotakopulu, Eva Buckland, Paul C. Wickler, Stephen PLoS One Research Article Although there are several well preserved Viking boat burials from Norway, until recently palaeoecological research on their context has often been limited. Research on fossil insect remains in particular can provide valuable forensic information even in the absence of an actual body. Here we present archaeoentomological information from a boat burial at Øksnes in Vesterålen, northeast Norway, an area where Norse and Sami traditions overlap. Excavated in 1934, organic preservation from the burial was limited to parts of the boat and a clump of bird feathers which were preserved in the Tromsø University Museum, and from which fossil insects were recovered. The insect assemblage from Øksnes includes the blowfly, Protophormia terraenovae (Rob.-Des.), which indicates exposure of the body and the probable timing of the burial. The high numbers of the human flea, Pulex irritans L. from among the feathers, suggests that these, probably from a pillow under the corpse, originated from within a domestic context. Deposition of flowers as part of the burial is discussed on the basis of the insect fauna. The absence of a body and any associated post burial decay fauna implies its exhumation and disposal elsewhere and this is discussed in the context of other exhumed medieval burials and Saga and other sources. Public Library of Science 2018-07-27 /pmc/articles/PMC6063414/ /pubmed/30052632 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200545 Text en © 2018 Panagiotakopulu et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Panagiotakopulu, Eva
Buckland, Paul C.
Wickler, Stephen
Is there anybody in there? Entomological evidence from a boat burial at Øksnes in Vesterålen, northern Norway
title Is there anybody in there? Entomological evidence from a boat burial at Øksnes in Vesterålen, northern Norway
title_full Is there anybody in there? Entomological evidence from a boat burial at Øksnes in Vesterålen, northern Norway
title_fullStr Is there anybody in there? Entomological evidence from a boat burial at Øksnes in Vesterålen, northern Norway
title_full_unstemmed Is there anybody in there? Entomological evidence from a boat burial at Øksnes in Vesterålen, northern Norway
title_short Is there anybody in there? Entomological evidence from a boat burial at Øksnes in Vesterålen, northern Norway
title_sort is there anybody in there? entomological evidence from a boat burial at øksnes in vesterålen, northern norway
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6063414/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30052632
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200545
work_keys_str_mv AT panagiotakopulueva isthereanybodyinthereentomologicalevidencefromaboatburialatøksnesinvesteralennorthernnorway
AT bucklandpaulc isthereanybodyinthereentomologicalevidencefromaboatburialatøksnesinvesteralennorthernnorway
AT wicklerstephen isthereanybodyinthereentomologicalevidencefromaboatburialatøksnesinvesteralennorthernnorway