Publications
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Nistelberger, Heidi Maria; Palsdottir, Albina Hulda; Star, Bastiaan; Leifsson, Rúnar; Gondek, Agata Teresa & Orlando, Ludovic
[Show all 9 contributors for this article]
(2019).
Sexing Viking Age horses from burial and non-burial sites in Iceland using ancient DNA.
Journal of Archaeological Science.
ISSN 0305-4403.
101,
p. 115–122.
doi:
10.1016/j.jas.2018.11.007.
Full text in Research Archive
Show summary
Horses are the most common grave goods found in Icelandic Viking Age graves. Horse skeletons have previously been sexed based on pelvis shape and the presence of canine teeth in male horses over 4–5 years of age. Morphological data has shown that all horses from Icelandic burials that were amenable to sexing were male. Yet the use of morphological methods to determine sex is problematic since they rely on finding a well-preserved pelvis and/or robust canine teeth. Furthermore, quantitative data underlying the features of the horse pelvis used for sexing is lacking and canine teeth have been reported to occur in mares. In this study we build upon and extend recently developed methodologies to make use of shotgun sequencing of ancient DNA (aDNA) for molecular sexing of Viking Age horse remains. With minimal sequencing effort we identified the sex of the largest collection (n = 22) of Viking Age Icelandic horses studied to date, sourced from both burial (n = 19) and non-burial (n = 3) sites. Our results revealed a male to female sex bias ratio of 18:1 in burial sites, versus 0:3 in non-burial sites. These findings support the significant over-representation of male horses in Viking Age graves in Iceland, yet show that –albeit rare– mares could also be selected for ritual burial in Viking Age Iceland. This cost-effective method provides statistical confidence to allow for sexing of highly fragmented archaeological specimens with low endogenous DNA content.
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Star, Bastiaan; Barrett, James H.; Gondek, Agata Teresa & Boessenkool, Sanne
(2018).
Ancient DNA reveals the chronology of walrus ivory trade from Norse Greenland.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences.
ISSN 0962-8452.
285(1884),
p. 1–9.
doi:
10.1098/rspb.2018.0978.
Full text in Research Archive
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Gondek, Agata Teresa; Boessenkool, Sanne & Star, Bastiaan
(2018).
A stainless-steel mortar, pestle and sleeve design for the efficient fragmentation of ancient bone.
BioTechniques.
ISSN 0736-6205.
64(6),
p. 266–269.
doi:
10.2144/btn-2018-0008.
Full text in Research Archive
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View all works in Cristin
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Palsdottir, Albina Hulda; Nistelberger, Heidi Maria; Star, Bastiaan; Leifsson, Rúnar; Wyrozemska, Agata Teresa & Orlando, Ludovic
[Show all 9 contributors for this article]
(2019).
Kyngreining á hrossum úr kumlum með forn-DNA Hestar lagðir í kuml á Íslandi á víkingaöld.
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Palsdottir, Albina Hulda; Nistelberger, Heidi Maria; Leifsson, Rúnar; Orlando, Ludovic; Barrett, James H. & Star, Bastiaan
[Show all 9 contributors for this article]
(2019).
Fornleifarannsóknir: Hryssur ekki valdar í kuml.
[Newspaper].
Austurglugginn.
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Palsdottir, Albina Hulda; Nistelberger, Heidi Maria; Star, Bastiaan; Leifsson, Rúnar; Wyrozemska, Agata Teresa & Orlando, Ludovic
[Show all 9 contributors for this article]
(2019).
Kyngreining á hrossum úr kumlum með fornDNA.
Show summary
Hestar voru algengasta haugfé sem lagt var í kuml á Íslandi á víkingaöld. Beinagrindur hrossa er hægt að kyngreina á formi mjaðmagrindar og því hvort vígtennur eru til staðar. Vígtennur koma upp við 4-5 ára aldur í karldýrum en þó hafa rannsóknir sýnt að allt að þriðjungur hryssa getur haft vígtennur þó þær séu yfirleitt mun minni en í karldýrunum. Beinagreining hefur sýnt að öll hross sem hægt er að kyngreina úr íslenskum kumlum er úr karlkyns hestum en þar sem stór hluti þessara kumla fannst fyrir mörgum áratugum síðan við framkvæmdir eru beinagrindurnar oft of illa varðveittar til þess að hægt sé að kyngreina þær með vissu.
Í þessari rannsókn notum við forn-DNA-greiningu til að kyngreina 22 hross frá víkingaöld. 19 hross voru úr kumlum en þrjú bein úr hellum og býlum voru einnig greind. Rannsóknir okkar leiddu í ljós að af 19 hrossum úr kumlum sem greind voru reyndist aðeins vera ein hryssa en öll sýnin sem komu úr helli og býli reyndust vera hryssur.
Í greininni er einnig sýnt fram á að hægt er að kyngreina dýr jafnvel þó afar lítið sé varðveitt af DNA í hverju sýni og því má nota aðferðafræðina í greininni til að kyngreina fornleifafræðileg bein á mun stærri skala og fyrir minna fé en áður var talið.
Fjallað verður um niðurstöður í nýútkominni grein Heidi M. Nistelberger, Albínu Huldu Pálsdóttur, Bastiaan Star, Rúnars Leifssonar, Agötu T. Gondek, Ludovic Orlando, James H. Barrett, Jóns Hallsteins Hallssonar og Sanne Boessenkool “Sexing Viking Age horses from burial and non-burial sites in Iceland using ancient DNA,” Journal of Archaeological Science 101 (2019), 115–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2018.11.007.
Albína Hulda Pálsdóttir er dýrabeinafornleifafræðingur og starfar við Landbúnaðarháskóla Íslands. Hún er doktorsnemi við Óslóarháskóla en doktorsverkefni hennar heitir „Hestar og sauðfé víkinganna: Fornerfðafræði húsdýra í Norður-Atlantshafi“. Hún hefur greint dýrabeinasöfn frá Íslandi, Írlandi, Grænlandi og Færeyjum. Leiðbeinendur Albínu eru dr. Sanne Boessenkool við Óslóarháskóla, dr. Jón Hallsteinn Hallsson við Landbúnaðarháskóla Íslands og dr. Juha Kantanen hjá LUKE í Finnlandi. Verkefnið er styrkt af rannsóknasjóði Rannís á styrk nr. 162783051
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Palsdottir, Albina Hulda; Barrett, James H.; Boessenkool, Sanne; Hallsson, Jón Hallsteinn; Leifsson, Rúnar & Nistelberger, Heidi Maria
[Show all 9 contributors for this article]
(2019).
Lítið um hryssur í kumlum víkinga.
[Newspaper].
Morgunblaðið.
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Palsdottir, Albina Hulda; Nistelberger, Heidi Maria; Star, Bastiaan; Leifsson, Rúnar; Gondek, Agata Teresa & Orlando, Ludovic
[Show all 8 contributors for this article]
(2019).
Which horse should we sacrifice? Sex as a determining factor for the selection of horses in Viking Age burials in Iceland.
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Palsdottir, Albina Hulda; Boessenkool, Sanne; Barrett, James H.; Leifsson, Rúnar; Nistelberger, Heidi Maria & Orlando, Ludovic
[Show all 9 contributors for this article]
(2018).
Powerful Icelandic Vikings were buried with stallions.
[Internet].
Titan.no.
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Nistelberger, Heidi Maria; Palsdottir, Albina Hulda; Star, Bastiaan; Leifsson, Rúnar; Gondek, Agata Teresa & Orlando, Ludovic
[Show all 9 contributors for this article]
(2018).
Sexing Viking Age horses from burial and non-burial sites in Iceland using ancient DNA.
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Barrett, James H; Star, Bastiaan; Kneale, Catherine; O'Connell, Tamsin C; Gondek, Agata Teresa & Boessenkool, Sanne
(2018).
Walrus Ivory in Medieval Europe: Artefactual, ancient DNA and stable isotope evidence for Ecological Globalization.
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Gondek, Agata Teresa; Boessenkool, Sanne & Star, Bastiaan
(2018).
A stainless-steel mortar, pestle and sleeve design for the efficient fragmentation of ancient bone.
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Star, Bastiaan; Boessenkool, Sanne; Gondek, Agata Teresa; Nikulina, Elena A & Barrett, James H
(2016).
Viking Age trade of Atlantic cod.
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Boessenkool, Sanne; Hanghøj, Kristian; Nistelberger, Heidi Maria; Der Sarkissian, Clio; Gondek, Agata Teresa & Orlando, Ludovic
[Show all 8 contributors for this article]
(2016).
Combining bleach and mild pre-digestion improves ancient DNA recovery from bones.
View all works in Cristin
Published
Jan. 20, 2016 12:32 PM
- Last modified
Jan. 18, 2018 5:08 PM