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SAMKUL-Samfunnsutviklingens kulturell

Immigration and mobility in mediaeval and post-mediaeval Norway

Awarded: NOK 4.1 mill.

Results/activities 01.10.2015-19.04.2016 The analyses of the oxygen isotopes in the teeth of 95 individuals from pre-modern Trondheim have revealed new information about the population. The investigation shows that the majority of the population in Trondheim probably wasn't born there, but rather in the areas around the town. The majority appears to have been born within a distance of 300-400 kilometres from Trondheim, most north and east of the town. It has also been shown that many of the people moving to Trondheim, did so during their childhood years. In addition to this, people who have travelled significantly longer distances have been identified. We find individuals who were born 1000 or more kilometres away, possibly in the northernmost areas of Scandinavia, Greenland or North-West Russia. While others have had their place of origin in Central Europe or further south. Generally, the composition of the population seems to be rather like what we would expect from a modern city population, in the respect that the majority comes from the city or surrounding areas while a significan minority have travelled longer to get there and may be termed immigrants. The results of the analyses have been published (open access): Hamre, S.S. & Daux, V. 2016. Stable oxygen isotope evidence for mobility in medieval and post-medieval Trondheim, Norway. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 8:416-425. The interpretation of the DNA analyses has been delayed and there is not much new to report. What is currently happening with the DNA results is that we prepare a general presentation of the data with regard to what in means for the population. In addition to this, a specific analysis of the Y-chromosome haplogroup Q is being carried out. This haplogroup is found in the Trondheim material, but is relatively rare in Europe. The project recieved an extra funding of 585000 kroner which were intended for an international conference, a book and a museum exhibition. At the end of March 2016, a conference was held in Bergen: "Multidisciplinary approaches to improving our understanding of immigration and mobility in pre-modern Scandinavia (1000-1900)" This was a successful event and a book based on the conference is planned to be published at the beginning of 2017. This will be a book about immigration, mobility and the pre-modern population in Scandinavia. The book will have 12 contributors. An exhibition will open at Bryggens museum on the 30th of September 2016. This will be an exhibition where the audience will learn about research methods, get information about the pre-modern population (mainly Bergen and Trondheim), as well as being presented with the life story of three individuals from 13th century Trondheim. Facial reconstructions have been made of the these people and give an opportunity to come face to face with people of the Middle Ages. Results/activities 01.10.2014-01.10.2015 All analyses have now been completed and the interpretation of these is well underway, and publications are imminent. The results of the oxygen isotope analyses have developed a good picture of the mobility in the population. The results show that the great majority of the population in mediaeval Trondheim was born outside the town and moved there as adults. It is also clear that a relatively large number of these individuals moved to town during the childhood years. The isotopes also provide information about where the people came from. The great majority did not move very far, but would have been born within a distance of 200-300 kilometres from Trondheim. It has also been shown that a small number of individuals have moved over considerably longer distances to get to Trondheim. With only a few possible exceptions, the people who moved to Trondheim came from areas N, N-E, E and S-E of Trondheim. If we consider the post-reformation material, the patters are much the same. It should, however, be mentioned that a larger part of this population appears to have been born and grew up in town, and the child mobility had been reduced. The DNA results show a varied representation of many different haplogroups, for both the analyses of the Y-chromosome and the mitochondrial DNA. As expected, the majority of the analysed individuals belong to one of the main European genetic lineages, but some more exotic lineages are also represented, like the haplogroup Z1. The interpretation of the DNA results is ongoing and it is expected that the further interpretation of the results will provide more detailed information about the population. Among other things, an emphasis will be put on trying to determine the geographical direction of the genetic influences on the population in Trondheim.

This project will, through a multidisciplinary approach, try to develope a better understanding of the population in mediaeval and post-madiaeval Norway with regard to its composition and the influence of immigration. The research will draw on information from archaeological, osteological, molecular and historical sources. The material on which this study will be based is the human skeletal material from four different graveyards. Both oxygen isotope and DNA analyses will be used to identify immigrants in the population and to try and determine the geographic and genetic origin of these individuals. The information from the molecular analyses will be complimented by information from the anthropological examination of the human remains as well as historica l sources to developed a detailed picture of the population. Questions which will be investigated are: How was the composition of the population? How large part of the popultion were immigrants? Where did they come from? What was the nature of the immigra tion? Was the immigrant population biased towards one sex or a particular age group? Did children or the elderly migrate? How were immigrants treated and what place did they take in society?

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SAMKUL-Samfunnsutviklingens kulturell