Archaeologists do it in holes: Tales from the stratigraphy

[Jacob]

I wonder if anyone would say the Theban Sacred Band was ergi 

I think the people who used the concept would say yes. I imagine they might develop some theories about the Theban Band where some sort of mystical sorcerous power derived from their ergi behaviour contributed to their battlefield success.

I don't know, of course 

[Jacob]

So the translation should be, if you destroy this stone you will become a god.

I don't think so. I expect it's either a threat of a curse or maybe a simpler invective ("you're a bitch if you destroy this").

Accusing someone of being "ergi" is definitely fighting words - as Legbiter says, at some times enough to justify killing the person who called you that.

I think it might be that if you imagine the revulsion your average straight viking farmer-bro might feel at the thought of someone fucking him in the ass and the resulting reputational liability in a reputation based patriarchal society; the same type of revulsion was - it seems - felt towards the idea of engaging with unseen spirits, the underworld, and magic. And therefore, the two types of activities were linked in the concept of ergi.

"Ergi" absolutely applies to "men being used as a woman" and wearing the wrong gendered clothes, and was something that you definitely wouldn't want to be. But the evidence also shows that "ergi" is associated with positions of social power in the form of high status seidr (and other forms of magic) workers.

I suppose the nature of history is to be used as means to address current concerns, so the LGBTQ+ association is perhaps unsurprising. But there are some bits where the concepts don't map over one to one.

[The Brain]

I don't know if it's been linked before, but for anyone interested in the Vasa there's a nice series with director of research at the Vasa museum Fred Hocker showing and explaining the ship. It's in English. Episode 1:

[Legbiter]

Human and animal skin identified by palaeoproteomics in Scythian leather objects from Ukraine

Leather was one of the most important materials of nomadic Scythians, used for clothing, shoes, and quivers, amongst other objects. However, our knowledge regarding the specific animal species used in Scythian leather production remains limited. In this first systematic study, we used palaeoproteomics methods to analyse the species in 45 samples of leather and two fur objects recovered from 18 burials excavated at 14 different Scythian sites in southern Ukraine. Our results demonstrate that Scythians primarily used domesticated species such as sheep, goat, cattle, and horse for the production of leather, while the furs were made of wild animals such as fox, squirrel and feline species. The surprise discovery is the presence of two human skin samples, which for the first time provide direct evidence of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus' claim that Scythians used the skin of their dead enemies to manufacture leather trophy items, such as quiver covers. We argue that leather manufacture is not incompatible with a nomadic lifestyle and that Scythians possessed sophisticated leather production technologies that ensured stable supply of this essential material.

Herodotus vindicated.

Here's Herodotus on the practice.

As to war, these are their customs. A Scythian drinks of the blood of the first man whom he has  overthrown. He carries to his king the heads of all whom he has slain in the battle; for he receives a share of the booty if he brings a head, but not otherwise. He scalps the head by making a cut round it by the ears, then grasping the scalp and shaking the head out. Then he scrapes out the flesh with the rib of an ox, and kneads the skin with his hands, and having made it supple he keeps it for a napkin, fastening it to the bridle of the horse which he himself rides, and taking pride in it; for he is judged the best man who has most scalps for napkins. Many Scythians even make garments for wear out of these scalps, sewing them together like coats of skin.

Many too take off the skin, nails and all, from their dead enemies' hands, and make thereof coverings for their quivers; it would seem that the human skin is thick and shining, of all skins, one may say, the brightest and whitest. There are many too that flay the skin from the whole body and carry it about on horseback stretched on a wooden frame.

[HVC]

Herodotus vindicated.

Now off to find those giant gold loving ants. Don't let the marmot conspiracists fool you.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Herodotus vindicated.

Now off to find those giant gold loving ants. Don't let the marmot conspiracists fool you.

They'll be in the region of brest-litovsk by now

[Legbiter]

Another cool archeogenetics paper.

Following the arrival of the first farmers in Scandinavia 5,900 years ago, the hunter-gatherer population was wiped out within a few generations, according to a new study from Lund University in Sweden, among others. The results, which are contrary to prevailing opinion, are based on DNA analysis of skeletons and teeth found in what is now Denmark.

The extensive study has been published as four separate articles in the journal Nature. An international research team, of which Lund University in Sweden is a member, has been able to draw new conclusions about the effects of migration on ancient populations by extracting DNA from skeletal parts and teeth of prehistoric people.

The study shows, among other things, that there have been two almost total population turnovers in Denmark over the past 7,300 years. The first population change happened 5,900 years ago when a farmer population, with a different origin and appearance, drove out the gatherers, hunters and fishers who had previously populated Scandinavia. Within a few generations, almost the entire hunter-gatherer population was wiped out.

"This transition has previously been presented as peaceful. However, our study indicates the opposite. In addition to violent death, it is likely that new pathogens from livestock finished off many gatherers," says Anne Birgitte Nielsen, geology researcher and head of the Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory at Lund University.

A thousand years later, about 4,850 years ago, another population change took place when people with genetic roots in Yamnaya -- a livestock herding people with origins in southern Russia -- came to Scandinavia and wiped out the previous farmer population. Once again, this could have involved both violence and new pathogens. These big-boned people pursued a semi-nomadic life on the steppes, tamed animals, kept domestic cattle and moved over large areas using horses and carts. The people who settled in our climes were a mix between Yamnaya and Eastern European Neolithic people. This genetic profile is dominant in today's Denmark, whereas the DNA profile of the first farmer population has been essentially erased

Scandinavia's first farmers slaughtered the hunter-gatherer population, study finds

[Josquius]

Was this just Scandinavia or the same elsewhere in Europe too?

IIRC these were the guys who brought the blonde gene to Europe and previously Mediterranean looks dominated all corners

[Sheilbh]

Beware people bearing beakers

[Jacob]

I read something on the Yamnaya recently and IIRC they're thought to broadly be the updated Indo-European / Aryan origin group - so they're probably involved with other European peoples also.

Also, it makes sense that the herding pathogens would have an impact on the hunter-gatherer population.

[Jacob]

From wikipedia:



Scheme of Indo-European dispersals from a Yamanaya-Western Steppe Herders homeland, c. 4000 to 1000 BCE, according to the widely held Steppe hypothesis.

[jimmy olsen]

Was this just Scandinavia or the same elsewhere in Europe too?

IIRC these were the guys who brought the blonde gene to Europe and previously Mediterranean looks dominated all corners

Same result across most of Europe from what I recall.

[Legbiter]

Same result across most of Europe from what I recall.

Ethnic Sardinians are interesting in having much lower steppe ancestry than modern continental Europeans. When Ötzi was whole-genome sequenced in 2012 modern Sardinians turned out to have surprisingly high levels of shared ancestry with him.

[viper37]

Was this just Scandinavia or the same elsewhere in Europe too?

IIRC these were the guys who brought the blonde gene to Europe and previously Mediterranean looks dominated all corners

IIRC, we previously discussed some population changes in Iberia.

I do seem to recall that there were population replacements in Iberia, and Western Europe, 9-10 000 years ago.

[HVC]

The basque held out. Hard to take out mountain foke.