A B Gotfredsen
Biographic Data
| ID | 178294 |
|---|---|
| NAME | A B Gotfredsen |
| GIVEN NAMES | A B |
| FAMILY NAME | Gotfredsen |
| SIGNATURE | GOTFREDSEN A B |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Copenhagen |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7665-2935 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 29 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1991 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Human–Bird Interactions Through Time
Bird remains have often been seen as a niche field in zooarchaeological research overshadowed by the study of mammals despite their considerable cultural, symbolic and economic significance as well as their potential as a proxy for environmental reconstruction. This special issue of The International Journal of Osteoarchaeology includes papers delivered at the 11th International Council for Archaeozoology Bird Working Group which took place on 5t…
Quantifying Degradation of Archaeological Bone In Situ and in Museum Storage
Degradation of archaeological bone is a complex process that is influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic parameters. Here we study the decay of bones recovered from a large midden at the Inuit summer hunting camp, Aasivissuit, in West Greenland, dating from 1200 CE to 1950 CE. The site was partly excavated in 1978 and revisited for further excavation in 2021 to study changes in the materials’ state of preservation, both in situ and in museum st…
In the search for the origin of the barley at Norse farms in Greenland
An Early Inuit Workshop at aQassi, a Men's House, Nuulliit, Northwest Greenland
International audience
First people and muskox hunting in northernmost Greenland
Peary Land, and in particular the area of Jørgen Brønlund Fjord and Wandel Dal, is the only place in Greenland where prehistoric muskox hunting sites are plentiful and investigated, and it gives a unique insight into prehistoric muskox hunting. In the mid-1900s, Eigil Knuth discovered the 4400 years old muskox hunting sites, which he believed corroborated the idea of a so-called Muskox Way that formed an important part of H. P. Steensby's theoriz…
Ancient DNA provides insights into 4,000 years of resource economy across Greenland
The Rødhals kitchen midden – marine adaptations at the end of the Mesolithic world
The Rødhals kitchen midden was located on a tiny stretch of land 18 km from the nearest major landmass in present-day Denmark. It dates to the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, roughly 4300 to 3700 cal BC. Its inhabitants practiced a remarkably broad-scale exploitation of marine resources spanning from the collecting of mollusks on the sea-shore, over open-sea fowling and deep-water angling to the killing of small whales. The sparse traces of terr…
Genomic sex identification of ancient pinnipeds using the dog genome
Determining the proportion of males and females in zooarchaeological assemblages can be used to reconstruct the diversity and severity of past anthropogenic impacts on animal populations, and can also provide valuable biological insights into past animal life-histories, behaviour and demography, including the effects of environmental change. However, such inferences have often not been possible due to the fragmented nature of the zooarchaeologica…
Domestic cats ( Felis catus ) in Denmark have increased significantly in size since the Viking Age
The earliest finds of domestic cat in Denmark date back to the Roman Iron Age (c. 1–375 AD). Initially, cats occurred sparsely and only from the Viking Age (c. 850–1050 AD) did they become more frequent in numbers, though primarily in urban contexts and in connection with fur production. In medieval times, cats became beasts of pest control in rural settlements, manorial estates as well as in the expanding towns, where large and numerous refuse h…
Walrus history around the North Water
This article highlights the relationship between walruses and humans in and around the North Water polynya in a long-term perspective. The present study draws on a combination of biological, archaeological, archaeo-zoological, historical, and ethnographic sources covering the period from the 8th century ad to the late 20th century. The study demonstrates that the walrus was an important resource of meat, blubber, and other products throughout all…
A ritual site with sacrificial wells from the Viking Age at Trelleborg, Denmark
The promontory facing Storebælt with the well-known circular Viking Age military fortress of Trelleborg erected by Harold Bluetooth in AD 980/981 seems to have been an important ceremonial space prior to the erection of the fortress and contemporary with a nearby high status settlement dated to the seventh to the eleventh century. This study presents new cross-disciplinary investigations focusing on three sacrificial well-like structures (47, 50 …
Birds in Subsistence and Culture at Viking Age Sites in Denmark
This paper reviews the evidence for consumption and use of birds at Danish Viking Age sites. The presence and diversity of wild and domestic bird species were studied on the basis of the avian material retrieved from sites representing a wide range of different habitats covering a period from the Late Germanic Iron Age to early medieval times (ca 5th-12th centuries ad). A large diversity of at least 20 avian families with more than 60 taxa in add…
The role of birds as grave gifts in richly furnished Roman Iron Age inhumation gravesc. 1-375 AD, eastern Denmark
Gotfredsen, Anne Birgitte (2013): The role of birds as grave gifts in richly furnished Roman Iron Age inhumation graves c. 1-375 AD, eastern Denmark. Anthropozoologica 48 (2): 355-370, DOI: 10.5252/az2013n2a12, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5252/az2013n2a12
At the edge
A multi-disciplinary study of settlement in north-east Greenland found that life in this High Arctic zone was actually favoured by the climate brought in by the Little Ice Age (fifteenth-nineteenth century). Extensive ice cover meant high mobility, and the rare polynyas - small patches of permanently open coastal water - provided destinations, like oases, where huge numbers of migrating marine mammals and birds congregated. One such place was Wal…
Sea bird exploitation on coastal Inuit sites, west and southeast Greenland
The exploitation of birds, especially sea birds, in Low Arctic Greenland was studied, based on over 80 000 bird bones from 16 coastal Inuit settlements comprising both Palaeoeskimo and Neoeskimo sites. Twenty-seven bird species were identified, with Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia) as the most frequent game bird on most sites, although gulls, eiders, fulmar, and other alcids were hunted too. The relative frequencies of bone elements of the econ…
The People
Walrus history around the North Water
This article highlights the relationship between walruses and humans in and around the North Water polynya in a long-term perspective. The present study draws on a combination of biological, archaeological, archaeo-zoological, historical, and ethnographic sources covering the period from the 8th century ad to the late 20th century. The study demonstrates that the walrus was an important resource of meat, blubber, and other products throughout all…
At the edge
A multi-disciplinary study of settlement in north-east Greenland found that life in this High Arctic zone was actually favoured by the climate brought in by the Little Ice Age (fifteenth-nineteenth century). Extensive ice cover meant high mobility, and the rare polynyas - small patches of permanently open coastal water - provided destinations, like oases, where huge numbers of migrating marine mammals and birds congregated. One such place was Wal…
The role of birds as grave gifts in richly furnished Roman Iron Age inhumation gravesc. 1-375 AD, eastern Denmark
Gotfredsen, Anne Birgitte (2013): The role of birds as grave gifts in richly furnished Roman Iron Age inhumation graves c. 1-375 AD, eastern Denmark. Anthropozoologica 48 (2): 355-370, DOI: 10.5252/az2013n2a12, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5252/az2013n2a12
Birds in Subsistence and Culture at Viking Age Sites in Denmark
This paper reviews the evidence for consumption and use of birds at Danish Viking Age sites. The presence and diversity of wild and domestic bird species were studied on the basis of the avian material retrieved from sites representing a wide range of different habitats covering a period from the Late Germanic Iron Age to early medieval times (ca 5th-12th centuries ad). A large diversity of at least 20 avian families with more than 60 taxa in add…
First people and muskox hunting in northernmost Greenland
Peary Land, and in particular the area of Jørgen Brønlund Fjord and Wandel Dal, is the only place in Greenland where prehistoric muskox hunting sites are plentiful and investigated, and it gives a unique insight into prehistoric muskox hunting. In the mid-1900s, Eigil Knuth discovered the 4400 years old muskox hunting sites, which he believed corroborated the idea of a so-called Muskox Way that formed an important part of H. P. Steensby's theoriz…
Genomic sex identification of ancient pinnipeds using the dog genome
Determining the proportion of males and females in zooarchaeological assemblages can be used to reconstruct the diversity and severity of past anthropogenic impacts on animal populations, and can also provide valuable biological insights into past animal life-histories, behaviour and demography, including the effects of environmental change. However, such inferences have often not been possible due to the fragmented nature of the zooarchaeologica…
An Early Inuit Workshop at aQassi, a Men's House, Nuulliit, Northwest Greenland
International audience
The People
Sea bird exploitation on coastal Inuit sites, west and southeast Greenland
The exploitation of birds, especially sea birds, in Low Arctic Greenland was studied, based on over 80 000 bird bones from 16 coastal Inuit settlements comprising both Palaeoeskimo and Neoeskimo sites. Twenty-seven bird species were identified, with Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia) as the most frequent game bird on most sites, although gulls, eiders, fulmar, and other alcids were hunted too. The relative frequencies of bone elements of the econ…
At the edge
A multi-disciplinary study of settlement in north-east Greenland found that life in this High Arctic zone was actually favoured by the climate brought in by the Little Ice Age (fifteenth-nineteenth century). Extensive ice cover meant high mobility, and the rare polynyas - small patches of permanently open coastal water - provided destinations, like oases, where huge numbers of migrating marine mammals and birds congregated. One such place was Wal…
The role of birds as grave gifts in richly furnished Roman Iron Age inhumation gravesc. 1-375 AD, eastern Denmark
Gotfredsen, Anne Birgitte (2013): The role of birds as grave gifts in richly furnished Roman Iron Age inhumation graves c. 1-375 AD, eastern Denmark. Anthropozoologica 48 (2): 355-370, DOI: 10.5252/az2013n2a12, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5252/az2013n2a12
A ritual site with sacrificial wells from the Viking Age at Trelleborg, Denmark
The promontory facing Storebælt with the well-known circular Viking Age military fortress of Trelleborg erected by Harold Bluetooth in AD 980/981 seems to have been an important ceremonial space prior to the erection of the fortress and contemporary with a nearby high status settlement dated to the seventh to the eleventh century. This study presents new cross-disciplinary investigations focusing on three sacrificial well-like structures (47, 50 …
Birds in Subsistence and Culture at Viking Age Sites in Denmark
This paper reviews the evidence for consumption and use of birds at Danish Viking Age sites. The presence and diversity of wild and domestic bird species were studied on the basis of the avian material retrieved from sites representing a wide range of different habitats covering a period from the Late Germanic Iron Age to early medieval times (ca 5th-12th centuries ad). A large diversity of at least 20 avian families with more than 60 taxa in add…
Domestic cats ( Felis catus ) in Denmark have increased significantly in size since the Viking Age
The earliest finds of domestic cat in Denmark date back to the Roman Iron Age (c. 1–375 AD). Initially, cats occurred sparsely and only from the Viking Age (c. 850–1050 AD) did they become more frequent in numbers, though primarily in urban contexts and in connection with fur production. In medieval times, cats became beasts of pest control in rural settlements, manorial estates as well as in the expanding towns, where large and numerous refuse h…
Walrus history around the North Water
This article highlights the relationship between walruses and humans in and around the North Water polynya in a long-term perspective. The present study draws on a combination of biological, archaeological, archaeo-zoological, historical, and ethnographic sources covering the period from the 8th century ad to the late 20th century. The study demonstrates that the walrus was an important resource of meat, blubber, and other products throughout all…
The Rødhals kitchen midden – marine adaptations at the end of the Mesolithic world
The Rødhals kitchen midden was located on a tiny stretch of land 18 km from the nearest major landmass in present-day Denmark. It dates to the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, roughly 4300 to 3700 cal BC. Its inhabitants practiced a remarkably broad-scale exploitation of marine resources spanning from the collecting of mollusks on the sea-shore, over open-sea fowling and deep-water angling to the killing of small whales. The sparse traces of terr…
Genomic sex identification of ancient pinnipeds using the dog genome
Determining the proportion of males and females in zooarchaeological assemblages can be used to reconstruct the diversity and severity of past anthropogenic impacts on animal populations, and can also provide valuable biological insights into past animal life-histories, behaviour and demography, including the effects of environmental change. However, such inferences have often not been possible due to the fragmented nature of the zooarchaeologica…
First people and muskox hunting in northernmost Greenland
Peary Land, and in particular the area of Jørgen Brønlund Fjord and Wandel Dal, is the only place in Greenland where prehistoric muskox hunting sites are plentiful and investigated, and it gives a unique insight into prehistoric muskox hunting. In the mid-1900s, Eigil Knuth discovered the 4400 years old muskox hunting sites, which he believed corroborated the idea of a so-called Muskox Way that formed an important part of H. P. Steensby's theoriz…
Ancient DNA provides insights into 4,000 years of resource economy across Greenland
An Early Inuit Workshop at aQassi, a Men's House, Nuulliit, Northwest Greenland
International audience
In the search for the origin of the barley at Norse farms in Greenland
Quantifying Degradation of Archaeological Bone In Situ and in Museum Storage
Degradation of archaeological bone is a complex process that is influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic parameters. Here we study the decay of bones recovered from a large midden at the Inuit summer hunting camp, Aasivissuit, in West Greenland, dating from 1200 CE to 1950 CE. The site was partly excavated in 1978 and revisited for further excavation in 2021 to study changes in the materials’ state of preservation, both in situ and in museum st…
Human–Bird Interactions Through Time
Bird remains have often been seen as a niche field in zooarchaeological research overshadowed by the study of mammals despite their considerable cultural, symbolic and economic significance as well as their potential as a proxy for environmental reconstruction. This special issue of The International Journal of Osteoarchaeology includes papers delivered at the 11th International Council for Archaeozoology Bird Working Group which took place on 5t…
Geography (11 works) · Archaeology (9 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (9 works) · Indigenous Studies and Ecology (8 works) · Biology (7 works) · Ecology (7 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (5 works) · Arctic (4 works) · Taphonomy (4 works) · Zoology (4 works)