Graves, landmarks, or sacrificial monuments? The human osteology and paleopathology of the Bronze Age burial cairns in Finland

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12371450
AutoresKati Salo (0000-0002-4357-0092, University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland, autor correspondente), Jarkko Saipio (0000-0003-2898-1376, University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland), Maddie Hentunen (0000-0001-7555-6343, University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland), K Mannermaa (0000-0002-8510-1120, University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland), Markku Oinonen (0000-0002-0881-7643, University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland)
Ano2022
Volume32
Fascículo5
Páginas1073-1081
Data de publicação2022-06-10
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoInternational Journal of Osteoarchaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1047-482X • E-ISSN: 1099-1212
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/oa.3133
OpenAlexW4281780564
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas29

During the Bronze Age (BA; ca. 1800–500 BC), cremation became the dominant burial practice in Finland. These BA cremations have been excavated from burial cairns in Finland for more than 150 years. This work provides new information on human osteology from this previously understudied area in northeastern Europe. The results cover the earliest period in Finnish prehistory for which large‐scale human osteological assemblages are available. In this article, we present a comprehensive human osteological study on the curated bone collections of the National Museum of Finland and other provincial museums and provide new radiocarbon datings of the cairns. The results show that the cairns were most often used for single burials, without accompanying animals or artifacts. Double and multiple burials became more common in the Iron Age. Porotic hyperostosis was a common finding. Signs of osteoarthritis are more common in the central Satakunta region, where Iron Age burial practices first emerged already during the Late BA. These observed changes can be connected to changes in subsistence strategies that also enabled permanent settlements

Archaeology · Bioarchaeology · Biology · Bronze Age · Geography · Human bone · Iron Age · Osteology · Paleopathology · Prehistory · Radiocarbon dating · Subsistence agriculture · Forensic and Genetic Research · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Paleopathology and ancient diseases