In Northern Europe, barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) has been cultivated for almost 6000 years. Thus far, 150-year-old grains from historical collections have been used to investigate the distribution of barley diversity and how the species has spread across the region. Genetic studies of archaeobotanical material from agrarian sites could potentially clarify earlier migration patterns and cast further light on the origin of barley landraces. In this study, we aimed to evaluate different archaeological and historical materials with respect to DNA content, and to explore connections between Late Iron Age and medieval barley populations and historical samples of barley landraces in northwest Europe. The material analysed consisted of archaeological samples of charred barley grains from four sites in southern Finland, and historical material, with 33 samples obtained from two herbaria and the seed collections of the Swedish museum of cultural history. The DNA concentrations obtained from charred archaeological barley remains were too low for successful KASP genotyping confirming previously reported difficulties in obtaining aDNA from charred remains. Historical samples from herbaria and seed collection confirmed previously shown strong genetic differentiation between two-row and six-row barley. Six-row 2 barley accessions from northern and southern Finland tended to cluster apart, while no geographical structuring was observed among two-row barley. Genotyping of functional markers revealed that the majority of barley cultivated in Finland in the late 19th and early 20th century was late-flowering under increasing day-length, supporting previous findings from northern European barley.

No abstract

Archaeobotanical analyses together with historical records can provide unique information about the cargoes and histories of sunken ships, which are found as wrecks at the bottom of the seas all over the world. An interdisciplinary research project was undertaken on the Vrouw Maria (Lady Mary), a Dutch wooden two-masted merchant ship that sank on October 9th in 1771 in the Finnish Baltic Sea. She rested at a depth of 41 m and was in good condition when discovered. Based on written sources and archaeological research, the ship was carrying a valuable cargo including, for example, sugar, dyes, cloth, porcelain, wood and goods that the Russian nobility had ordered. Among them were paintings that the Russian Empress Catherine the Great (1729–1796) had bought at an auction in Amsterdam. Samples from four wooden barrels and from one wooden packing crate among the ship’s cargo were investigated. Botanical analysis revealed products such as stimulants, dyes and fruits originating from the Mediterranean, India, Africa and South America. One of the most intriguing finds from the cargo was Indigofera tinctoria L. (true indigo), a valuable dye plant. Our paper presents the botanical data analysed from the barrels and summarizes the plants mentioned in the historical records on the cargo of the Vrouw Maria.

No abstract

No abstract