The potential of phytolith analysis to reveal grave goods: the case study of the Viking-age equestrian burial of Fregerslev II

Abstract

Non-woody plant remains are known from burial contexts in North-western Europe, but get overlooked when preservation is suboptimal. While phytolith analysis has demonstrated its value regarding the detection of vegetative grave goods, systematic application of this method to graves in European archaeology is, however, scarce. This paper concerns the examination of the elite Viking-Age equestrian burial at Fregerslev II, where phytolith analysis, combined with pollen analysis, revealed the presence of two types of plant material in the grave. The phytolith analysis of Fregerslev II included the investigation of chaff located close to a horse bridle, the chaff being both detected in the field and during investigation of a block sample by means of stereomicroscopy, and systematic examination of other parts of the grave to interpret this find. Elongate dendritic chaff phytoliths were subjected to systematic morphological and morphometric analysis and subsequent statistical analysis. The application of both methods simultaneously to large numbers of phytoliths is unique. Comparison of the various samples showed that the chaff represents a concentration of oat, which is most likely common oat, with minor admixture of barley, interpreted as horse fodder, while bedding consisting of hay or straw was presented elsewhere on the bottom of the grave. The finds are placed in a wider context and methodological implications of the two identification methods applied to the chaff concentration are discussed. KeywordsVegetative grave goods • Viking-age equestrian burial • Phytolith morphology and morphometry • Horse fodder • Grave bedding • North-western Europe * Welmoed A.

Evapotranspiration‐linked silica deposition in a basal tracheophyte plant (Lycopodiaceae: Lycopodiella alopecuroides): implications for the evolutionary origins of phytoliths

“…Phytolith research has become increasingly important to a myriad of disciplines in recent years. Their frequently taxonomically informative morphologies make them invaluable tools in studying anthropological, archaeological, and paleoenvironmental floral assemblages, allowing researchers to trace human activities, civilizational development, and environmental change through time (Lentfer & Torrence, 2007; Out et al ., 2022). Their intrinsic ability to sequester carbon in a resistant silicious coat makes phytoliths an important chemical archive for paleoclimatological and geochronological studies and has even led to discussion of their potential importance as a carbon reservoir in mitigating the current climate crisis (Zuo & Lu, 2019; L. Song et al ., 2022; Z.…”