부산대학교 도서관

Hedeby was the largest town in the Viking North. Investigations have identified imports at the site from central and northern Scandinavia revealing long-distance connections. The chronology of this trade, however, is unclear. Here, the authors use a typological-biomolecular approach to examine connections during the early Viking Age. The application of ZooMS to an assemblage of antler combs, stylistically dated to the ninth century AD, reveals nearly all were made of reindeer antler. As most craft production waste from Hedeby comprises red deer antler, it is argued that these combs were manufactured elsewhere, perhaps hundreds of kilometres further north. The results have implications for understanding of production and regional connectivity in early medieval Scandinavia. Keywords: Scandinavia, Viking Age, ZooMS, reindeer, antler combs, trade network, connectivity
Introduction An emerging trend in the study of Viking Age Scandinavia is the connectivity of towns and elite residences with outlands: that is, areas that lay outwith a settlement's associated [...]