Isotopic provenancing of the Salme ship burials in Pre-Viking Age Estonia

• Autores: T. Douglas Price, Jüri Peets, Raili Allmäe, Liina Maldre, Ester Oras
• Localización: Antiquity, ISSN 0003-598X, Vol. 90, Nº 352, 2016, págs. 1022-1037
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Ship burials are a well-known feature of Scandinavian Viking Age archaeology, but the discovery of 41 individuals buried in two ships in Estonia belongs to the Pre-Viking period and is the first of its kind in Europe. The two crews met a violent end around AD 750, and were buried with a variety of richly decorated weapons, tools, gaming pieces and animal bones. The rich grave goods suggest that this was a diplomatic delegation protected by a cohort of elite warriors. They were armed with swords of Scandinavian design, possibly from the Stockholm-Mälaren region, and stable isotope analysis is consistent with that being the probable homeland of the crew.