Early Agricultural Remnants |
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Early Agricultural Remnants |
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Aspects of Swedish prehistoric bread: identification and symbolic use Ann-Marie Hansson Loaves of bread are sometimes used as grave gifts in cremation graves, especially during the later Iron Age. In many graves there are also found small burnt concretions, some of which might be fragments from bread, porridge or the like. It is now possible to separate this type of organic remains from organic residues of other origins, using help of Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy analysis. The role of grave bread as symbols or part of the burial ritual is also discussed, with special reference to the Viking age town of Birka in central eastern Sweden. Burnt organic remains from the the garrison of the Viking age town of Birka on Björkö in the Lake Mälaren, eastern central Sweden, Raä 35, F3515. Chemical analysis by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy shows that the content of the remains are similar to the chemical content of gravebread.
Loaf of bread loaf found in the Black Earth of the Viking age town of Birka on Björkö in the Lake Mälaren, eastern central Sweden, R003312, F47505.
Part of a loaf of bread from the Black Earth of Birka, as seen in SEM. Wheat (Triticum sp.) x 100. Cell tissues. Ann-Marie Hansson Bibliography Hansson, A. & Dickson, J.H. 1997. Plant remains in Sediment from the Björkö Strait outside the Black Earth of the Viking Age Town of Birka, Eastern Central Sweden, U. Miller & H. Clarke (eds), Environment and Vikings. Scientific Methods and Techniques. Birka Studies 4: 205-214. Risberg,
J., Karlsson, S., Hansson, A., Hedenström, A., Heimdahl, J., Miller, U.,
Tingvall, C. 2001. Environmental changes and human impact as recorded in
sediment off-shore the Viking Age town Birka, south-eastern Sweden,
Holocene. Hansson, A. & Bergström, L. 2001. Archaeobotany in Prehistoric Graves – Concepts and methods. Journal of Nordic Archaeological Science. Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University. |
