Approximately 5,200 years ago, a man died in the peat swamps of northwestern Denmark. Now, researchers have used advanced genetic analysis to tell the unexpected story of Denmark’s oldest immigrant, the Wittlap Man.
Bog bodies found in Northern Europe, uniquely preserved ‘accidental mummies’, have long intrigued researchers, but in a new study, experts have mapped the life histories of the dead to such an extent. He claims it is the first time he has done so.
The man’s body was discovered in 1915 while cutting peat in a peat bog in Vittlap, Denmark. A right ankle bone, lower left shinbone, jawbone, and fragmented skull were found next to a wooden club. Researchers estimate that he died after being struck in the head with a wooden club at least eight times between 3100 BC and 3300 BC.
Scientists analyzed the Wittlap Man’s remains and sequenced the genomes of 317 ancient skeletons in a recent study on Denmark’s genetic prehistory published in Nature. Some of the same researchers decided to conduct a separate study of the Vittlap people after it became clear that their DNA was genetically distinct from other Danish Stone Age populations. The study detailing the new findings was published Wednesday in the journal PLOS One.
“I wanted to make an anonymous skull speak (and) find out who was behind the bones. The initial results were ‘too good to be true’, so I applied additional alternative methods. I needed to. The result was this amazing life history,” said study lead author Anders Fischer, project researcher and director of Sealand Archeology at the Department of Historical Research at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, in an email. Ta.
What the research team discovered by piecing together Wittrup Mann’s life sheds light on the dynamics and connections between different cultures during the Stone Age.
stone age immigrants
The research team wanted to uncover as many clues as possible about Wittrup Mann’s life, so they used state-of-the-art analytical methods to analyze his tooth enamel, tartar, and bone collagen.
Detection of specific chemical elements such as strontium, nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen in enamel, combined with protein analysis of teeth and bones, shows that Wittlapmann’s diet changed from that of a hunter-gatherer to that of an agrarian. It became clear how the transition took place. before he died between the ages of 30 and 40.
Wittlap Mann may have been born and raised along the coast of the Scandinavian Peninsula, perhaps in the frigid climate of Norway or Sweden. He was genetically closest to the people of those regions and had darker skin than the Stone Age communities of Denmark.
In Scandinavia, the Vittlap people likely belonged to a northern hunter-gatherer society that preferred to eat fish, seals, and even whales, which meant that the gatherers had ships that allowed them to fish in the open sea. It suggests that.
Then something happened that changed his life forever, and by the time he was 18 or 19, Wittrup Mann was in Denmark, making a living on a peasant diet of sheep and goats. .
His travels to Danish farming and peasant communities “indicate extensive travel by sea,” the study authors said. Wittlap Man’s long-distance migration was unusual, “but it may suggest something about ongoing interactions between Danish farmers and northern hunter-gatherers,” study co-authors said. said Karl-Göran Sjögren, a researcher at the Department of History at the University of Gothenburg.
It’s unclear why the Vittlapians made such long voyages, but researchers have several hypotheses. Perhaps he was a prisoner of war or a slave who became part of the local Danish society. Alternatively, Wittrup Mann was a trader who settled in Denmark.
Archaeologists know that flint axes were traded from Denmark to the Norwegian Arctic, said study co-author Lasse Sørensen, research director of ancient Danish and Mediterranean cultures at the National Museum in Copenhagen. said.
“This study adds a real, human context to this discovery,” Sorensen said.
Sjögren said Wittrup Mann’s research helped researchers gain insight into genetics, lifestyles and ritual practices that can be traced back to Stone Age societies.
“Wittrup Mann was an immigrant, and is indisputably the oldest known immigrant from Denmark and the surrounding area,” Fischer said. “As far as we know, this is the first time scientists have been able to map the lives of Northern European peoples in such detail and so far in the past.”
The fragmented skull of the Vittlap man is on display at the Vänsisssel Historical Museum in Denmark. (Stephen Freiheit)
death of the swamp
Fisher, who has studied Stone Age cultures for more than 40 years, said the Wittlap Man “lived an amazing life until he was killed and thrown into a swamp.” He is particularly interested in how Denmark transitioned from a hunter-gatherer to an agricultural culture about 6,000 years ago.
Why did Wittlap Man’s skull end up in a peat bog? We’ll never know the exact answer, but researchers believe he was killed as a sacrifice. This was a common practice in the area at the time.
“Wetlands seem to have played a special role in the religious life of northern Europe at the time,” Fisher says. “Wittrup Man was killed in an unusually brutal manner. He was shot with arrows and some people strangled him with cords.”
“Perhaps we should understand him as a slave who was sacrificed to the gods when he could no longer bear the hard labor,” study co-author Christian Christiansen, professor of archeology at the University of Gothenburg, said in a statement. mentioned in.
But it’s also possible that Wittrup Mann was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“On archaeological evidence alone, it is difficult to distinguish this from someone who died in a conflict, for example, or from someone who was robbed and killed,” said Associate Professor of Landscape Archeology at Wageningen University and Research School in the Netherlands. , said Roy van Beek. Email. “Whether he was a ‘slave’ or in captivity is, in my opinion, highly speculative, but the authors express some reservations about it.”
Van Beek was not involved in the research, but he co-authored a paper in the journal Antiquity about the wealth of information bog remains provide about prehistoric life.
“In my opinion, this shows that innovative bioarchaeological methods can make a significant contribution to improving our knowledge of prehistoric societies, including important aspects such as population history, migration, and lifestyle. “This is an interesting study that shows that,” van Beek said after reading the new study.
“Our research into antiquity shows that the lives of thousands of prehistoric and early humans ended in bogs across Scandinavia, and studies like this one show that their incredible It shows scientific possibilities. And this is just one individual. We have only scratched the surface!”