Vittrup man went from gatherer to farmer before being sacrificed in Denmark, study finds

Vittrup Man was born along the Scandinavian coast before settling in Denmark, where he was later sacrificed, according to a study published in PLOS ONE by Anders Fischer of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and colleagues.

Vittrup Man is the nickname for a Stone Age skeleton recovered from a bog in northwestern Denmark, dating from 3,300 to 3,100 BC. The fragmented nature of the remains, including a broken skull, indicates that he was killed in a ritual sacrifice, a common practice in this region at that time.

After a DNA study revealed that the Vittrup man’s genetic signature was distinct from contemporary local skeletons, Fischer and his colleagues had the idea of ​​combining additional evidence to reconstruct this individual’s life history from the Stone Age with unprecedented resolution.

The strontium, carbon and oxygen isotopes in the Vittrup man’s tooth enamel provide evidence of a childhood spent along the coast of the Scandinavian peninsula. Corroborating this, genetic analysis revealed a close relationship between Vittrup man and the Mesolithic peoples of Norway and Sweden. Additional isotope and protein analyzes of teeth and bones indicate a shift in diet from coastal foods (marine mammals and fish) early in life to more farm foods (including sheep or goats). late in life, a transition that occurred in late adolescence.

These results suggest that Vittrup Man spent his early years in a northern foraging society before moving to an agricultural society in Denmark. It is unclear why this individual moved, although the authors suggest it may have been a trader or captive who integrated into local society. Mysteries remain about Vittrup Man, but this detailed understanding of its geographic and dietary history provides new insights into the interactions between Mesolithic and Neolithic societies in Europe.

The authors add: “To our knowledge, this is the first time that research has managed to map the life history of a northern European inhabitant in such a high degree of detail and over such a long temporal distance .”