TY - JOUR

T1 - Origins of inhabitants from the 16th century Sala (Sweden) silver mine cemetery – a lead isotope perspective

AU - Price, T. Douglas

AU - Frei, Robert

AU - Bäckström, Ylva

AU - Frei, Karin Margarita

AU - Ingvarsson-Sundstrom, Anne

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - Historical documents record the operation of a silver mine from the 16th century AD located near the former village of Salberget in central Sweden. The historical record describes several categories of inhabitants, including local families, workers and miners, foreign engineers and mining specialists, as well as war captives and criminals used as forced labor in the mines. A church yard in the vicinity of the village served as a burial ground. Archaeological evidence indicates two distinct grave types (coffin and earthen) and physical anthropology documents differences in age and sex between these grave types, as well as harsh conditions of life. Strontium and oxygen isotopes have been used previously to investigate the place of origin of the cemetery inhabitants and clear differences among the types of graves were seen in the isotope results. Place of origin was more difficult to ascertain however. Here we utilize lead isotopes as an additional isotopic tracer to identify origins. The lead isotope investigations pinpoint several areas outside of the Sala region where some of the inhabitants originated. In addition, the study documents the benefits of using lead isotopes in human proveniencing studies.

AB - Historical documents record the operation of a silver mine from the 16th century AD located near the former village of Salberget in central Sweden. The historical record describes several categories of inhabitants, including local families, workers and miners, foreign engineers and mining specialists, as well as war captives and criminals used as forced labor in the mines. A church yard in the vicinity of the village served as a burial ground. Archaeological evidence indicates two distinct grave types (coffin and earthen) and physical anthropology documents differences in age and sex between these grave types, as well as harsh conditions of life. Strontium and oxygen isotopes have been used previously to investigate the place of origin of the cemetery inhabitants and clear differences among the types of graves were seen in the isotope results. Place of origin was more difficult to ascertain however. Here we utilize lead isotopes as an additional isotopic tracer to identify origins. The lead isotope investigations pinpoint several areas outside of the Sala region where some of the inhabitants originated. In addition, the study documents the benefits of using lead isotopes in human proveniencing studies.

KW - Carbon

KW - Isotopic proveniencing

KW - Lead

KW - Medieval

KW - Mining

KW - Mobility

KW - Oxygen

KW - Scandinavia

KW - Silver

KW - Social identity

KW - Strontium

KW - Sweden

U2 - 10.1016/j.jas.2017.01.013

DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2017.01.013

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85012059531

VL - 80

SP - 1

EP - 13

JO - Journal of Archaeological Science

JF - Journal of Archaeological Science

SN - 0305-4403

ER -