Molecular advances in archaeological and biological research on Atlantic walrus

Andersen, Liselotte Wesley; Jacobsen, Marianne; Szpak, Paul

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-817430-2.00002-9

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Based on our aDNA evidence and existing knowledge of walrus distributions [1,2,68], the five rostra from Kyiv assigned to the western clade can be confidently attributed to Greenland or the eastern Canadian Arctic (figure 3); they were almost certainly traded via Norse Greenland. The origin of the two eastern clade specimens (R71, R72) cannot be ascertained based on aDNA evidence alone, although eastern clade specimens could also be obtained from western Greenland [1].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages

et al. 2022

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Mediaeval walrus hunting in Iceland and Greenland—driven by Western European demand for ivory and walrus hide ropes—has been identified as an important pre-modern example of ecological globalization. By contrast, the main origin of walrus ivory destined for eastern European markets, and then onward trade to Asia, is assumed to have been Arctic Russia. Here, we investigate the geographical origin of nine twelfth-century CE walrus specimens discovered in Kyiv, Ukraine—combining archaeological typology (based on chaîne opératoire assessment), ancient DNA (aDNA) and stable isotope analysis. We show that five of seven specimens tested using aDNA can be genetically assigned to a western Greenland origin. Moreover, six of the Kyiv rostra had been sculpted in a way typical of Greenlandic imports to Western Europe, and seven are tentatively consistent with a Greenland origin based on stable isotope analysis. Our results suggest that demand for the products of Norse Greenland's walrus hunt stretched not only to Western Europe but included Ukraine and, by implication given linked trade routes, also Russia, Byzantium and Asia. These observations illuminate the surprising scale of mediaeval ecological globalization and help explain the pressure this process exerted on distant wildlife populations and those who harvested them.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages

et al. 2022

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Shifting Baselines to Thresholds: Reframing Exploitation in the Marine Environment

2021

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Current research on anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems often relies on the concept of a “baseline,” which aims to describe ecosystems prior to human contact. Recent research is increasingly showing that humans have been involved in marine ecosystems for much longer than previously understood. We propose a theoretical framework oriented around a system of “thresholds” referring to system-wide changes in human culture, ecosystem dynamics, and molecular evolution. The concept of the threshold allows conceptual space to account for the fluid nature of ecosystems throughout time while providing a critical framework for understanding drivers of ecosystem change. We highlight practical research approaches for exploring thresholds in the past and provide key insights for future adaptation to a changing world. To ensure ecological and societal goals for the future are met, it is critical that research efforts are contextualized into a framework that incorporates human society as integral to ecology and evolution.

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Molecular advances in archaeological and biological research on Atlantic walrus

Cited by 2 publications

References 175 publications

Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages

Walruses on the Dnieper: new evidence for the intercontinental trade of Greenlandic ivory in the Middle Ages

Shifting Baselines to Thresholds: Reframing Exploitation in the Marine Environment

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