This abstracts is part of session #141:
Title:
Buried whole, in half, in fragments: biomolecular, osteological and funerary approaches to the human remains from Danebury Iron Age hillfort
Content:
Danebury Hillfort (c.550 - c.100 BC) is one of the best known Iron Age sites in Britain. Excavations between 1969 and 1988 were carried out by a team led by Barry Cunliffe (Cunliffe 1995), and the site has formed the basis for much discussion on the scale and nature of British Iron Age society. Approximately 300 deposits of human remains (e.g. pit burials, partially articulated remains, isolated skulls) were recovered during excavations; however, relatively little is known about the buried community, their relations and provenance. The complexity that characterises this site requires a multidisciplinary approach, including synthesis of the extensive archaeological data combined with the osteological analysis of the human remains, AMS-dating and biomolecular data to investigate social dynamics as well as geographical mobility.
91 individuals have been sampled for aDNA whole-genome capture analysis, of which 41 have also been analysed using a multi-isotope (Sr-Pb-O-C) approach. Preliminary results suggest good DNA preservation allowing testing for biological relatedness, as well as genetic diversity. Previous isotope results of animals from Danebury show significant levels of mobility at the site and surrounding area (Hamilton et al. 2019). These data have been used as a proxy for human mobility to successfully challenge previous concepts of Iron Age communities having led relatively sedentary lives. By analysing human teeth using mobility isotopes (primarily strontium and lead) for the first time, this paper provides direct isotopic insights into childhood residential origins for the Danebury community. Eventually, this work will be embedded in the wider Hampshire Iron Age landscape, including comparisons with Suddern Farm and Viables Farm.
Keywords:
Isotopes, Ancient DNA, Iron Age, Mobility, Biological relatedness
Main authors:
Madeleine Bleasdale5
Co-author:
Claire-Elise Fischer5
Laura Castells Navarro5
Lindsey Büster2,5
Charlotte Primeau6
David Reich3
Derek Hamilton4
Jane Evans1
Ian Armit5
Affiliations:
1 British Geological Survey (BGS)
2 Canterbury Christ Church University
3 Harvard University
4 Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC)
5 University of York
6 Universiy of Warwick
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