TY - JOUR
T1 - Vittrup Man–The life-history of a genetic foreigner in Neolithic Denmark
AU - Fischer, Anders
AU - Sjögren, Karl-Göran
AU - Jensen, Theis Zetner Trolle
AU - Jørkov, Marie Louise
AU - Lysdahl, Per
AU - Vimala, Tharsika
AU - Refoyo-martínez, Alba
AU - Scorrano, Gabriele
AU - Price, T. Douglas
AU - Gröcke, Darren R.
AU - Gotfredsen, Anne Birgitte
AU - Sørensen, Lasse
AU - Alexandersen, Verner
AU - Wåhlin, Sidsel
AU - Stenderup, Jesper
AU - Bennike, Ole
AU - Ingason, Andrés
AU - Iversen, Rune
AU - Sikora, Martin
AU - Racimo, Fernando
AU - Willerslev, Eske
AU - Allentoft, Morten E.
AU - Kristiansen, Kristian
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - The lethally maltreated body of Vittrup Man was deposited in a Danish bog, probably as part of a ritualised sacrifice. It happened between c. 3300 and 3100 cal years BC, i.e., during the period of the local farming-based Funnel Beaker Culture. In terms of skull morphological features, he differs from the majority of the contemporaneous farmers found in Denmark, and associates with hunter-gatherers, who inhabited Scandinavia during the previous millennia. His skeletal remains were selected for transdisciplinary analysis to reveal his life-history in terms of a population historical perspective. We report the combined results of an integrated set of genetic, isotopic, physical anthropological and archaeological analytical approaches. Strontium signature suggests a foreign birthplace that could be in Norway or Sweden. In addition, enamel oxygen isotope values indicate that as a child he lived in a colder climate, i.e., to the north of the regions inhabited by farmers. Genomic data in fact demonstrates that he is closely related to Mesolithic humans known from Norway and Sweden. Moreover, dietary stable isotope analyses on enamel and bone collagen demonstrate a fisher-hunter way of life in his childhood and a diet typical of farmers later on. Such a variable life-history is also reflected by proteomic analysis of hardened organic deposits on his teeth, indicating the consumption of forager food (seal, whale and marine fish) as well as farmer food (sheep/goat). From a dietary isotopic transect of one of his teeth it is shown that his transfer between societies of foragers and farmers took place near to the end of his teenage years.
AB - The lethally maltreated body of Vittrup Man was deposited in a Danish bog, probably as part of a ritualised sacrifice. It happened between c. 3300 and 3100 cal years BC, i.e., during the period of the local farming-based Funnel Beaker Culture. In terms of skull morphological features, he differs from the majority of the contemporaneous farmers found in Denmark, and associates with hunter-gatherers, who inhabited Scandinavia during the previous millennia. His skeletal remains were selected for transdisciplinary analysis to reveal his life-history in terms of a population historical perspective. We report the combined results of an integrated set of genetic, isotopic, physical anthropological and archaeological analytical approaches. Strontium signature suggests a foreign birthplace that could be in Norway or Sweden. In addition, enamel oxygen isotope values indicate that as a child he lived in a colder climate, i.e., to the north of the regions inhabited by farmers. Genomic data in fact demonstrates that he is closely related to Mesolithic humans known from Norway and Sweden. Moreover, dietary stable isotope analyses on enamel and bone collagen demonstrate a fisher-hunter way of life in his childhood and a diet typical of farmers later on. Such a variable life-history is also reflected by proteomic analysis of hardened organic deposits on his teeth, indicating the consumption of forager food (seal, whale and marine fish) as well as farmer food (sheep/goat). From a dietary isotopic transect of one of his teeth it is shown that his transfer between societies of foragers and farmers took place near to the end of his teenage years.
KW - Faculty of Humanities
KW - aDNA
KW - genetic ancestry
KW - Neolithic
KW - Mesolithic
KW - Stable isotope analysis
KW - Funnel Beaker culture
KW - Life-history
KW - Denmark
KW - Norway
KW - Vendsyssel
KW - bog skeleton
KW - violence
KW - hunter-fisher-gatherer
KW - farmer
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0297032
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0297032
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 38354111
VL - 19
SP - 1
EP - 27
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 2
ER -