The Human Remains from Early Medieval Domburg (Netherlands) and Other Coastal Communities in International Perspective: Towards an International Research Agenda for the Cemeteries of the North Sea Emporia

Abstract

THIS PAPER ADDRESSES THE QUESTION, who were the people who were buried at the early medieval North Sea emporia? Conclusions about the mercantile character of the North Sea emporia are often based on portable material culture. In recognition of the fact that it is difficult to draw conclusions about the identities of people based on finds assemblages, two pilot projects have been completed that involved bioarchaeological analyses of cemetery populations associated with these sites. The first of these, the Investigating the Dead in Early Medieval Domburg project, undertook multi-disciplinary analyses of the (very small) surviving burial population from the mostly destroyed sites in the Domburg area (Netherlands), combining isotope analysis, radiocarbon dating, biological anthropology, dendrochronology, and provenancing and study of previous use of coffin wood. The second, the Medieval Migrants of the North Sea World project, inventoried available isotopic evidence for human remains from emporia sites in England, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, alongside contextual archaeological information. This paper presents both projects, providing the detailed information from Domburg in its wider, international context, and highlighting the need for a comprehensive research agenda to fill current gaps in our understanding of early medieval emporia populations.

Résumé

Vestiges humains du Haut Moyen-Âge à Domburg (Pays-Bas) et dans d’autres communautés littorales dans une perspective internationale : vers un programme de recherche internationale pour les cimetières des comptoirs de la mer du Nord par Letty Ten Harkel, Robert Van Dierendonck, Eleanor Farber, Michael Dee, Petra Doeve, Helena Hamerow, Esther Jansma, Petrus Le Roux, Raphaël Panhuysen et Pieterjan Deckers

Ce papier pose la question de l’identité des personnes enterrées dans les comptoirs de la mer du Nord datant du Haut Moyen-Âge. Les conclusions relatives au caractère mercantile des comptoirs de la mer du Nord sont souvent fondées sur la culture matérielle des petits objets. Conscients du fait qu’il est difficile de tirer des conclusions sur l’identité des personnes en se basant sur les assemblages de vestiges, deux projets pilotes ont fait intervenir des analyses bioarchéologiques des populations funéraires associées à ces sites. Le premier projet, Investigating the Dead in Early Medieval Domburg (Enquête sur les défunts de Domburg du Haut Moyen-Âge), a procédé à des analyses multidisciplinaires des (très petites) populations funéraires ayant survécu sur les sites, en grande partie détruits, dans la zone de Domburg (Pays-Bas) ; il combine l’analyse isotopique, la datation radiocarbone, l’anthropologie biologique, la dendrochronologie, ainsi que l’étude de la provenance et des utilisations antérieures du bois des cercueils. Le second projet, Medieval Migrants of the North Sea World (Migrants médiévaux du monde de la mer du Nord), a inventorié les témoins isotopiques disponibles pour les vestiges humains provenant des comptoirs en Angleterre, aux Pays-Bas et en Scandinavie, parallèlement aux informations archéologiques contextuelles. Ce papier présente les deux projets, en replaçant les informations détaillées issues de Domburg dans leur contexte international, et en soulignant la nécessité d’un programme de recherche complet pour combler les lacunes actuelles dans nos connaissances sur les populations des comptoirs au Haut Moyen-Âge.

Zussamenfassung

Die menschlichen Überreste aus dem frühmittelalterlichen Domburg (Niederlande) und anderen Küstengemeinden in internationaler Perspektive: Hin zu einer internationalen Forschungsagenda für die Friedhöfe der Nordsee-Emporien von Letty Ten Harkel, Robert Van Dierendonck, Eleanor Farber, Michael Dee, Petra Doeve, Helena Hamerow, Esther Jansma, Petrus Le Roux, Raphaël Panhuysen und Pieterjan Deckers

Dieser Artikel befasst sich mit der Frage, wer die Menschen waren, die in den frühmittelalterlichen Handelsplätzen im Nordseeraum begraben wurden. Rückschlüsse auf den merkantilen Charakter der Nordsee-Emporien werden häufig auf der Grundlage der beweglichen materiellen Kultur gezogen. Da es jedoch schwierig ist, anhand von Fundstücksammlungen Rückschlüsse auf die Identität der Menschen zu ziehen, wurden zwei Pilotprojekte abgeschlossen, die bioarchäologische Analysen der mit diesen Stätten assoziierten Friedhofspopulationen umfassten. Beim ersten dieser Projekte, Investigating the Dead in Early Medieval Domburg (Den Toten des frühmittelalterlichen Domburg auf der Spur), wurden anhand einer Kombination von Isotopenanalyse, Radiokarbondatierung, biologischer Anthropologie, Dendrochronologie sowie Provenienzforschung und Untersuchung der früheren Verwendung von Sargholz multidisziplinäre Analysen an der (sehr kleinen) erhaltenen Bestattungspopulation aus den größtenteils zerstörten Stätten im Gebiet von Domburg (Niederlande) durchgeführt. Das zweite Projekt, Medieval Migrants of the North Sea World (Mittelalterliche Migranten der Nordseewelt) bestand in der Inventarisierung verfügbarer Isotopennachweise für menschliche Überreste aus Handelsstätten in England, den Niederlanden und Skandinavien, ergänzt durch kontextuelle archäologische Informationen. Dieser Beitrag stellt beide Projekte vor, wobei die detaillierten Informationen aus Domburg in einen breiteren, internationalen Kontext gestellt werden. Er verdeutlicht, dass eine umfassende Forschungsagenda notwendig ist, um die derzeitigen Lücken in unserem Verständnis der Populationen der frühmittelalterlichen Emporien zu schließen.

Riassunto

I resti umani dell’altomedievale Domburg (Paesi Bassi) e di altre comunità costiere in una prospettiva internazionale: verso un programma di ricerca internazionale per i cimiteri degli empori del Mare del Nord di Letty Ten Harkel, Robert Van Dierendonck, Eleanor Farber, Michael Dee, Petra Doeve, Helena Hamerow, Esther Jansma, Petrus Le Roux, Raphaël Panhuysen e Pieterjan Deckers

Questo studio affronta la domanda: chi erano le persone sepolte presso gli empori altomedievali del Mare del Nord? Le conclusioni relative al carattere mercantile degli empori del Mare del Nord si basano spesso sulla cultura materiale di oggetti portatili. In riconoscimento del fatto che è difficile trarre conclusioni sull’identità delle persone in base agli assemblaggi dei reperti, si sono compiuti due progetti pilota che hanno implicato analisi bioarcheologiche delle popolazioni cimiteriali associate a queste località. Il primo di questi, il progetto Investigating the Dead in Early Medieval Domburg (Ricerche sui defunti nell’altomedievale Domburg), ha intrapreso analisi multidisciplinari delle popolazioni inumate (assai scarse) giunte fino a noi dai siti in gran parte distrutti della zona di Domburg (Paesi Bassi), combinando l’analisi degli isotopi, la datazione al radiocarbonio, l’antropologia biologica, la dendrocronologia, e inoltre l’accertamento della provenienza e lo studio relativo all’uso precedente del legno delle bare. Il secondo progetto, Medieval Migrants of the North Sea World (Migranti medievali nel mondo del Mare del Nord), ha inventariato la documentazione isotopica disponibile relativa ai resti umani di siti che erano empori in Inghilterra, nei Paesi Bassi e nella Scandinavia, insieme a informazioni archeologiche contestuali. Questo studio presenta entrambi i progetti, fornendo le informazioni particolareggiate su Domburg nel suo più ampio contesto internazionale e sottolineando la necessità di un progetto di ricerca esauriente per colmare le attuali lacune nella nostra comprensione delle popolazioni degli empori altomedievali.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper was a long time in the making and involved many people on many levels. The IDEMD project was funded by the Provincie Zeeland, the Society for Medieval Archaeology, the Medieval Settlement Research Group, the Viking Society for Northern Research, and the Stichting Nederlands Museum voor Antropologie en Praehistorie. The project was carried out piecemeal between 2014–2018 by Robert van Dierendonck (overall coordination and archaeological context), Letty ten Harkel (overall coordination and δ¹⁵N/δ¹³C/δ¹⁸O/^87/86Sr sample preparation), Michael Dee (14C dating and δ¹⁵N/δ¹³C analysis), Petrus Le Roux (^87/86Sr sample analysis), Petra Doeve and Esther Jansma (dendrochronological analysis and wood provenancing), Raphaël Panhuysen (biological-anthropological and palaeopathological study), and Pieterjan Deckers (background research). The MMNSW was funded by the John Fell Fund, University of Oxford, and carried out between late 2019 and 2020, largely during the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The project team consisted of Letty ten Harkel (PI and archaeological/historical context), Helena Hamerow (Co-I), and Eleanor Farber (Postdoctoral Researcher and scientific analyses). Many thanks as well must go to Jeroen Vermeersch for the analysis of previous wood use, to Maarten Sepers/Panoptes Heritage for the structured light scanning and manipulation of the CT data of ZAD00066, and to employees of the Centre for Nuclear Medicine in the Admiraal De Ruyter Ziekenhuis in Goes for the CT scanning of ZAD00066. Many thanks must also go to Henk Hendrikse, Michaela Ecker, Peter Ditchfield, Aagje Feldbrugge, Hans Hamann, Julia Lee-Thorp, Rick Schulting, Bernard Meijlink, Rachel Schats, Menno Dijkstra, and the anonymous reviewers for their help, feedback and comments on different aspects of the paper, and to Sarah Croix, Lisette Kootker and Stijn Heeren for providing invaluable advice, support and isotopic results ahead of full publication. All remaining errors are the responsibility of the authors.

Notes

11 Historical place names are rendered in italics throughout the text.

12 The IDEMD project was carried out piecemeal between 2014 and 2018. The MMNSW project was largely carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic and completed in 2020.

13 <https://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/medieval-migrants-north-sea-world>