Iberian nailed head ritual was more complex than expected
The isotope analysis of the Puig Castellar and Ullastret sites point to different mobility patterns in these individuals, who would not have been randomly selected.
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
image:
One of the severed heads found at Ullastret (Girona, Spain). © Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya (MAC)-Ullastret a De Prado, 2015
view moreCredit: © Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya (MAC)-Ullastret a De Prado, 2015
The nailed heads ritual did not correspond to the same symbolic expression among the Iberian communities of the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, but rather a practice that differed in each settlement. In some, external individuals were used as symbols of power and intimidation, while other settlements could have given priority to the veneration of members of the local community.
This is the conclusion reached by a study led by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) which analyses the mobility patterns of these human communities existing in the Iron Age of the last millenium BCE. Researchers studied seven nailed skulls of men found in two sites dating back to this period: the city of Ullastret (found in the same town of the province of Girona) and the settlement of Puig Castellar (Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona).
The study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, was coordinated by researchers from the Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology of the UAB and also included the collaboration of researchers from the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia (MAC), the Museum Torre Balldovina and the universities of Lleida, Bordeaux (France), and Tübingen (Germany).
Severed heads: more than just simple war trophies
Severed heads were a unique funerary practice within the Iberian world and represent an exceptional opportunity to analyse these communities, of which very little archaeological record exists since cremation was the predominant burial ritual. This practice consisted of the public exhibition of the skulls of certain individuals, subjected to a post-mortem treatment. Some of these skulls have been recovered with signs of nailing and in some cases with an iron nail still in place.
“Who were these individuals and for what were their heads used?” Traditionally, archaeologists have debated whether the skulls were war trophies — to intimidate their enemies — or venerated relics of important community members. These hypotheses, however, based on oral and ethnographic sources, have not yet been verified, nor has there been in-depth studies on the relationship between these groups and the land they inhabited. “Our premise in approaching the study was that if they were war trophies they would not come from the sites analysed, while if they were venerated individuals, these would most likely be local”, explains Rubén de la Fuente-Seoane, archaeologist at the UAB and first author of the study.
“Our results reveal that the individuals from Puig Castellar and Ullastret would not have been randomly selected. There would have been a homogeneous trend towards men in these rituals. However, the mobility and localisation patterns suggest a greater diversity, which could also imply social and cultural differences among the individuals of the two communities,” says the UAB researcher.
Isotope analysis reveals differences between the sites
To carry out the study, the research team combined bioarchaeology and the analysis of stable strontium and oxygen isotopes in the dental enamel of seven severed skulls of men recovered from Puig Castellar and Ullastret, together with archaeozoological data and a detailed sampling of sediment and vegetation collected in the vecinity of the sites. The results of the strontium isotopes of the sediment and vegetation allowed researchers to define the reference range of the strontium in the area near each site (bioavailable strontium). This in turn made it possible to discern which individuals coincided or not with this range and, therefore, identify whether they were local or not.
“At Puig Castellar the isotope values of three of the four individuals differ significantly from the local strontium reference, which suggests that they were probably not from the local community. In contrast, Ullastret revealed a mixture of local and non-local origins. This result suggests that the practice of severed heads was applied in a different way at each site, which seems to rule out a homogeneous symbolic expression. But more research is needed to be sure”, says de la Fuente-Seoane.
The fact that in Puig Castellar the skulls were exposed in an area such as the wall makes the researchers opt for the hypothesis that the reason for their exposure was aimed at the demonstration of power and coercion, both for internal repression and towards a group outside the community. In the case of Ullastret, the two local individuals were found in a street, in the middle of the city, which suggests that they were exhibited on a wall or doorway of the adjacent houses. This fact would provide support to the hypothesis suggesting that they could have belonged to important people of this community, venerated or vindicated by its inhabitants. A third Ullastret skull, of possible foreign origin, was found in one of the external walls of the settlement, which could represent a war trophy.
New tools to help understand the Iberian society
The results of the study reveal for the first time direct evidence of human mobility patterns during the Iron Age in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula, and provide new perspectives on the territorialisation contexts of northeastern Iberia.
Previous research on Iberian territorial management suggested differences in how these societies exploited the resources surrounding them. With this study researchers were able to see that the skulls found at Puig Castellar and Ullastret also show different mobility patterns, given that the values of the humans and their relationship with the values of the area are completely different in each site. The faunal samples also reveal a very differentiated resource management, in coherence with the typology of each of the settlements.
“This differentiation reflects a dynamic and complex society with important local and external interactions. Our study is a first approach to this archaeological problem using a method that is revolutionising the way we study mobility in the past. At the same time, it suggests that the selection of individuals for the severed heads ritual was more complex than initially thought”, indicates Rubén de la Fuente-Seoane.
The study underlines the importance of integrating bioarchaeological and isotope data to improve the understanding of social structures and human interactions in the past. “We have established a local strontium reference based on a rigorous protocol, applying in humans a pioneering methodology in Catalonia that, moreover, serves as a first step towards the creation of a Catalan map of bioavailable strontium. This will favour other future studies and the group of archaeologists studying mobility”, concludes the UAB researcher.
Journal
Journal of Archaeological Science Reports
Method of Research
Case study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Territorialisation and human mobility during the Iron Age in NE Iberia: An approach through Isotope Analyses of the Severed Heads from Puig Castellar (Barcelona, Spain) and Ullastret (Girona, Spain)
Viking skulls reveal severe morbidity
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The skulls of Viking-era individuals were examined with modern computed tomography, in the search for infections, inflammations and other diseases.
view moreCredit: Photo by Carolina Bertilsson
Sweden's Viking Age population appears to have suffered from severe oral and maxillofacial disease, sinus and ear infections, osteoarthritis, and much more. This is shown in a study from the University of Gothenburg in which Viking skulls were examined using modern X-ray techniques.
About a year ago saw the publication of research based on the examination of a large number of teeth from the Viking Age population of Varnhem in the Swedish province of Västergötland. Varnhem is known for its thousands of ancient graves and excavations of well-preserved skeletons.
Now, odontologists at the University of Gothenburg have taken this research further, looking at not only teeth but also entire skulls, by using modern computed tomography, also known as CT scans.
Detailed image analysis
The results presented in British Dental Journal Open suggest that the fifteen individuals whose skulls were examined suffered from a broad range of diseases. The CT scans show pathological bone growths in the cranium and jawbone, revealing infections and other conditions.
Several individuals showed signs of having suffered from sinus or ear infections that left traces in the adjacent bone structures. Signs of osteoarthritis and various dental diseases were also found. All the skulls came from adults who died between 20 and 60 years of age.
The study lead, Carolina Bertilsson, is an assistant researcher at the University of Gothenburg and a dentist within Sweden's Public Dental Service. The study was performed with specialists in dental radiology at the University of Gothenburg and an archaeologist from Västergötlands museum.
Together, they conducted the examinations and analyzed the images. CT scans provide three-dimensional images that enable researchers to study in detail the various types of skeletal damage, layer by layer, in the different parts of the skull.
Greater understanding
"There was much to look at. We found many signs of disease in these individuals. Exactly why we don't know. While we can't study the damage in the soft tissue because it's no longer there, we can see the traces left in the skeletal structures," says Carolina Bertilsson, and continues:
"The results of the study provide greater understanding of these people's health and wellbeing. Everyone knows what it's like to have pain somewhere, you can get quite desperate for help. But back then, they didn't have the medical and dental care we do, or the kind of pain relief – and antibiotics – we now have. If you developed an infection, it could stick around for a long time."
The study is described as a pilot study. One important aspect was to test CT as a method for future and more extensive studies."Very many of today's archaeological methods are invasive, with the need to remove bone or other tissue for analysis. This way, we can keep the remains completely intact yet still extract a great deal of information," says Carolina Bertilsson.
Computed tomography provide 3D photos and the possibility of advanced image analysis where layer by layer of bones, jaw bones and teeth are studied in detail .
Credit
Photo by Carolina Bertilsson
Journal
BDJ Open
Method of Research
Imaging analysis
Subject of Research
Human tissue samples
Article Title
Findings from computed tomography examinations of Viking age skulls
Article Publication Date
18-Feb-2025
