Comments on: An Arab in Roman Iron-Age Denmark http://anthropology.net/2008/06/26/an-arab-in-roman-iron-age-denmark/ Beyond bones & stones Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:33:20 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Luis http://anthropology.net/2008/06/26/an-arab-in-roman-iron-age-denmark/#comment-11499 Luis Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:04:28 +0000 http://anthropologynet.wordpress.com/?p=935#comment-11499 May I correct myself a bit: I was re-reading about the Early Middle Ages in Scandinavia yesterday afternoon and there is other evidence that Swedes could have been in (indirect?) comercial contact with Central Asia as early as the 7th century. The author (Dhont in this case) suggests that the trade routes apparently pre-dated Swedish political expansion in the eastern Baltic, the Varangian expeditions and the formation of Kievan Russia, all of which are 9th century onwards. But the rest stands. May I correct myself a bit: I was re-reading about the Early Middle Ages in Scandinavia yesterday afternoon and there is other evidence that Swedes could have been in (indirect?) comercial contact with Central Asia as early as the 7th century. The author (Dhont in this case) suggests that the trade routes apparently pre-dated Swedish political expansion in the eastern Baltic, the Varangian expeditions and the formation of Kievan Russia, all of which are 9th century onwards.

But the rest stands.

]]> By: Luis http://anthropology.net/2008/06/26/an-arab-in-roman-iron-age-denmark/#comment-11496 Luis Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:48:58 +0000 http://anthropologynet.wordpress.com/?p=935#comment-11496 R0 is found specially in Arabia but also (in both main subclades) in Italy. It can perfectly be a Roman erratic, though we can't forget that Syrians (mainly Phoenicians) and Jews were the backbone of the trader class in the Roman Empire (together with Greeks). The Viking (Varangian) routes to Central Asia (specially) were only constituted in a later date (9th century) so I really doubt the Stockholm hoard can be attributed to the 7th century. In any case, Denmark had its own hinterland that looked more to Western and Central Europe, and that was specially the case in the Roman Iron Age, when it was under a distant but real Roman trading influence. In any case, considering the Roman economic appetite for slaves and the very peripherical position of Denmark in this context, I don't think it's particulary likely that the lineage was founded by a slave woman from the south, as it's much more probable that Scandinavia then exported slaves to Rome than vice-versa (offer and demand, specially demand). We can just speculate but the person with that R0 lineage was more probably a trader, ambassador, explorer or even an early Christian missionary maybe. The fact that the clade is now virtually null in Northern Europe does suggest a foreigner and not someone whose ancestors were in Denmark. R0 is found specially in Arabia but also (in both main subclades) in Italy. It can perfectly be a Roman erratic, though we can’t forget that Syrians (mainly Phoenicians) and Jews were the backbone of the trader class in the Roman Empire (together with Greeks).

The Viking (Varangian) routes to Central Asia (specially) were only constituted in a later date (9th century) so I really doubt the Stockholm hoard can be attributed to the 7th century. In any case, Denmark had its own hinterland that looked more to Western and Central Europe, and that was specially the case in the Roman Iron Age, when it was under a distant but real Roman trading influence.

In any case, considering the Roman economic appetite for slaves and the very peripherical position of Denmark in this context, I don’t think it’s particulary likely that the lineage was founded by a slave woman from the south, as it’s much more probable that Scandinavia then exported slaves to Rome than vice-versa (offer and demand, specially demand). We can just speculate but the person with that R0 lineage was more probably a trader, ambassador, explorer or even an early Christian missionary maybe. The fact that the clade is now virtually null in Northern Europe does suggest a foreigner and not someone whose ancestors were in Denmark.

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