Research
Archaeological trap: Fish can make skeletons appear hundreds of years too old
Phys.org ·
The Brief
- The article reports that fish consumption can make human skeletons appear hundreds of years older than they really are.
- The example comes from Svendborg in Denmark, the site of a former Franciscan monastery where prestigious burials were placed close to the church.
- The source excerpt does not give the study's methods or sample size.
Why it matters
Dating errors caused by diet can shift the apparent age of burials and the chronology built on them, so archaeologists need to account for what the people ate.
Who’s affected
- archaeologists and bioarchaeologists
- researchers who rely on radiocarbon dating of human remains
- #archaeology
- #radiocarbon dating
- #diet
- #skeletons
- #medieval burial
- #denmark
The Danish town of Svendborg was once home to a Franciscan monastery. As at other monasteries in Denmark, it was considered highly prestigious to be buried as close to the monastery church as possible, preferably inside the church itself, for instance near the chapter house or…