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The impact of the volcanic double event in AD 536 and AD 539/540 on tree-ring growth and felling activity in Danish oak trees
No full textTree-ring chronologies around the Northern Hemisphere have revealed the formation of extremely narrow growth rings during the mid-sixth century due to drastic climate changes caused by two or more large volcanic eruptions in AD 536 and AD 539/540. We explored the influence of these climate changes on tree-ring growth and felling activity of Danish oak trees (Quercus sp.) between AD 300 and AD 800. In total, 654 wooden samples from archaeological excavations were used to create a solid tree-ring chronology on a national and regional level(eastern and western Denmark). Tree-ring data from The International Tree-Ring Data Bank were used for comparison of growth patterns. Furthermore, felling dates from all samples were pooled into ten-year intervals to reveal changes in felling activity over time; a factor which reflects human activity in relation to climate changes.The national tree-ring chronology revealed a pronounced decrease in growth in AD 536 and AD 539 (33% and 53% growth reduction relative to the level of AD 535). Regionally, the same results were found for western Denmark, while trees from eastern Denmark showed the largest growth reduction in AD 540. Furthermore, tree-ring chronologies from four sample sites did not show a conspicuous growth decrease. This regional and local variation may be due to differences in soil characteristics between eastern and western Denmark and/or local differences in climate change impacts. Other tree-ring chronologies from the Northern Hemisphere showed growth reduction in AD 536 and the years between AD 539 and AD 543 indicating regional differences in growthand climate conditions as well.A gradual decrease in felling activity was found from AD 430 and between AD 470 and AD 550 it was almost absent. The low amount dendrochronological material from the fifth century very likely affected our results and no effect of climate changes on felling activity i.e. changes in human activity could be linked to this event.Tree-ring chronologies around the Northern Hemisphere have revealed the formation of extremely narrowgrowth rings during the mid-sixth century due to drastic climate changes caused by two or more large volcaniceruptions in AD 536 and AD 539/540. We explored the influence of these climate changes on tree-ring growthand felling activity of Danish oak trees (Quercus sp.) between AD 300 and AD 800. In total, 654 wooden samplesfrom archaeological excavations were used to create a solid tree-ring chronology on a national and regional level(eastern and western Denmark). Tree-ring data from The International Tree-Ring Data Bank were used forcomparison of growth patterns. Furthermore, felling dates from all samples were pooled into ten-year intervals toreveal changes in felling activity over time; a factor which reflects human activity in relation to climate changes.The national tree-ring chronology revealed a pronounced decrease in growth in AD 536 and AD 539 (33% and53% growth reduction relative to the level of AD 535). Regionally, the same results were found for westernDenmark, while trees from eastern Denmark showed the largest growth reduction in AD 540. Furthermore, treeringchronologies from four sample sites did not show a conspicuous growth decrease. This regional and localvariation may be due to differences in soil characteristics between eastern and western Denmark and/or localdifferences in climate change impacts. Other tree-ring chronologies from the Northern Hemisphere showedgrowth reduction in AD 536 and the years between AD 539 and AD 543 indicating regional differences in growthand climate conditions as well.A gradual decrease in felling activity was found from AD 430 and between AD 470 and AD 550 it was almostabsent. The low amount dendrochronological material from the fifth century very likely affected our results andno effect of climate changes on felling activity i.e. changes in human activity could be linked to this event
Roman-Barbarian Interaction:Revisiting Roman imports beyond the frontier; Investigating processes of movement. Introductory remarks
Get PDFIn the Darkest of Days:Exploring Human Sacrifice & Value in Southern Scandinavian Prehistory
No full textThis book collects recent works on the subjects of sacrificial offerings, ritualized violence and the relative values thereof in the contexts of Scandinavian prehistory from the Neolithic to the Viking era. The volume builds on a workshop hosted at the National Museum of Denmark in 2018 which inaugurated the beginning of the research project ‘Human Sacrifice and Value: The limits of sacred violence’ and was supported by the Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo. The volume brings together research and perspectives that attempt to go beyond the who, what and where of most archaeological and anthropological investigations of sacrificial violence to address both the underlying and explicit forms of value associated with such events.The volume re-opens investigations into notions of value relating to diverse evidence and suggested evidence for human sacrifice and related ritualized violence. It covers a broad spectrum of issues relating to novel interpretations of the existing archaeological materials, but with a focus on the study of value and value dynamics in these diverse ritual contexts, engaging in questions of identity, cosmology, economics and social relations. Cases span from the Scandinavian Late Neolithic and Nordic Bronze Age, through to the well-known wetland deposits and bog bodies of the Iron Age, to Viking era executions, ‘deviant’ burials and contemporaneous double/multiple graves, exploring the implications for the transformation of sacrificial practices across Scandinavian prehistory.Each contribution attempts to untangle the myriad forms of value at play in different incarnations of human offerings, and provide insights into how those values were expressed, e.g., in the selection and treatment of victims in relation to their status, personhood, identity and life-history
Facts and imagination – the uses of history and the credibility of museums
No full textThis article discusses a somewhat controversial exhibition at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, The Royal Series at Kronborg Castle – Facts and Imagination with Jim Lyngvild and Poul Grinder- Hansen, which opened at Kronborg Castle in April 2021. The authors contributed to the exhibition’s content and form, Signe Lykke Littrup as curator and project manager, senior researcher Poul Grinder-Hansen as historical co-creator of the exhibition’s content in text, speech, and film. The article is built around experiences from the exhibition, methodological and theoretical considerations about its communication skills and quotes from interviews with guests who visited the exhibition in the summer and autumn of 2021. The article concludes that a cultural-historical exhibition can, through the conscious use of both contemporary and ancient works of art in a dialogue-based form, involve guests and create considerations about the conditions for the uses of the past in storytelling
Performing Arts Collections in the Nordic Countries:Denmark, The Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden
No full textAnsvarshavende redaktør for oversigt over scenekunstsamlinger i Norden samt landeredaktør for Danmark og Færøerne.Register over og beskrivelse af scenekunstsamlinger i arkiver, biblioteker, museer, teatre og institutioner i Norde
Negotiating water and citizenship in Copenhagen 1850–1950
No full textThe chapter shows Copenhagen’s welfare services and citizenship through water as a resource, and that this resource was, in a sense, affecting these categories. From the mid-1800s, emergent official offices became instrumental in defining the citizens through water management and large public investments, while water closets were opposed for reasons of private property. When this opposition was overcome and a coherent water system established, cleanliness for all became defining, and achievable, and bathing halls provided a place for the now more independent citizen to cleanse herself. With the mutation of bathing to swimming halls, a new contract was in place, where citizens could expect, and were expected to, participate in multiple water activities, sustaining the clean, healthy and happy urban welfare citizen
