Journal of Archaeological Science 127 (2021) 105333

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Journal of Archaeological Science

journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas

Runes from Lány (Czech Republic) - The oldest inscription among Slavs. A
new standard for multidisciplinary analysis of runic bones
Jiří Macháček a, **, Robert Nedoma b, Petr Dresler a, Ilektra Schulz c, d, Elias Lagonik e,
Stephen M. Johnson e, Ludmila Kaňáková a, Alena Slámová a, Bastien Llamas e,
Daniel Wegmann c, d, 1, Zuzana Hofmanová a, c, d, 1, *
a
Department of Archaeology and Museology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
b
Abteilung Skandinavistik, Institut für Europäische und Vergleichende Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft, Universität Wien, 1010, Wien, Austria
c
Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
d
Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland
e
Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, Environment Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: When Roman administration and legions gradually withdrew from the outer provinces after the fall of the
Genetics Western Roman Empire, they created a power void filled by various groups. The dynamic Migration Period that
SEM microscopy followed is usually considered to have ended when the Germanic Lombards allegedly left Central Europe and
Ancient DNA
were replaced by Slavs. Whether or how Slavic and Germanic tribes interacted, however, is currently disputed.
Runes
Early Middle Ages
Here we report the first direct archaeological find in support of a contact: a bone fragment dated to ~600 AD
Slavs incised with Germanic runes but found in Lány, Czechia, a contemporaneous settlement associated with Slavs.
We documented and authenticated this artifact using a combined approach of use-wear analysis with SEM mi­
croscopy, direct radiocarbon dating, and ancient DNA analysis of the animal bone, thereby setting a new stan­
dard for the investigation of runic bones. The find is the first older fuþark inscription found in any non-Germanic
context and suggests that the presumed ancestors of modern Slavic speakers encountered writing much earlier
than previously thought.

1. Introduction Central Europe, where it was weighted with various political and
nationalist reminiscences (Curta, 2001, 2009; Pohl, 2003).
The first written reports about Slavs, referred to as Sclavini or Antes, According to some anthropologists, palaeodemographic analyses do
describe their attacks on the Byzantine Empire at the beginning of the not provide evidence for a mass migration of Slavs (Mielnik-Sikorska
6th century(Curta, 2006; Haury and Dewing, 1914). By 800 AD, Slavs et al., 2013; Piontek, 2006). According to many linguists, however, the
had settled vast territories of Europe, as attested by finds of their ma­ Slavic language was spoken in many European territories by the first
terial culture (Barford, 2001; Brather, 2008; Gojda, 1991). In Central millennium AD, where Slavic speakers overlaid the older Germanic,
Europe, early mentions of Slavs include Sclauos in the foundation deed Roman or Greek language substrate (Birnbaum, 1993; Gołą ;b, 1992;
of the monastery of Kremsmünster, AD 777 (Kremsmünster, Stiftsarchiv Koder, 2020; Lindstedt and Salmela, 2020; Smith, 2005). While such a
Urkunden 0777–0778), Boemanos Sclavos in the Annales Fuldenses, AD change of language could have been the result of the arrival of a new
805, omnium orientalium Sclavorum, id est … Beheimorum, Morvanorum in population (Heather, 2009), it could also have been the result of a lan­
Annales Regni Francorum, AD 822 and Sclavos Marganses in the Annales guage shift, during which one ethnolinguistic group persuades another
Fuldenses, AD 855 (Bartoňková et al., 2019; Wolfram, 1995). Whether to switch language through force or prestige (Blench, 2004).
this Slavicization was the result of cultural diffusion or human migration While genetics proved powerful to disentangle cultural diffusion
remains disputed (e.g. Preiser-Kapeller et al., 2020), particularly for from human migration in several cases (e.g. Hofmanová et al., 2016;

* Corresponding author. Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, 1700, Fribourg, Switzerland

** Corresponding author. Department of Archaeology and Museology, Masaryk University, Arne Nováka 1, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J. Macháček), [email protected] (Z. Hofmanová).
1
These authors contributed equally.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2021.105333
Received 3 September 2020; Received in revised form 23 December 2020; Accepted 12 January 2021
Available online 8 February 2021
0305-4403/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
J. Macháček et al. Journal of Archaeological Science 127 (2021) 105333

Fig. 1. The rune bone found in Břeclav-Lány. A) Distribution of South Germanic runic inscriptions from the 6th and 7th century AD, location of the Germanic tribes
around 568 AD and the Early Slavic settlements. B) The rune-inscribed bone from Lány. C) Prague type pottery from the same pit as B.

Narasimhan et al., 2019), it has so far been inconclusive regarding the late 6th century found in a Slavic settlement (Fig. 1). Runes are an
hypothesized expansion of Slavs. At a very local scale, a Slavic language alphabetic script, called fuþark, used among Germanic tribes. While
isolate in Germany was found to be genetically closer to Slavic speakers many inscriptions exist in younger fuþark, there are only about 430
than to local Germans (Veeramah et al., 2011), indicative of at least extant inscriptions in older fuþark (used until ~700), of which only 17
some migration during the spread of Slavic languages. At the continental contain complete, incomplete or abbreviated abecedaries. Less than 100
scale, modern Slavic speakers were found to share more haplotypes inscriptions that span from the late 3rd to early 7th century make up the
among each other than with other Europeans. This was initially also South-Germanic corpus. Most of them were found on metal objects in
interpreted as evidence for a demic expansion (Hellenthal et al., 2014; 6th century graves (Düwel et al., 2020) and contain personal names
Ralph and Coop, 2013), but might be equally consistent with low pop­ (Nedoma, 2004). The find reported here renders six of the last eight
ulation size (Al-Asadi et al., 2019; Ringbauer et al., 2017). runes of the older fuþark, making it the first find containing the final part
Nevertheless, in some regions, a physical replacement of the popu­ of the older fuþark in South-Germanic inscriptions, and the only one
lation after the Migration Period is more obvious. In Northern Germany found in a non-Germanic context.
(Schleswig-Holstein), for instance, the Angles, Jutes and other Germanic While runology has generally focused on the interpretation of runic
tribes initially inhabiting the region left during the Migration Period inscriptions in terms of runic characters, linguistic forms and text
(Brugmann, 2011), as confirmed by ancient DNA research for their function (Barnes, 2013; Grimm and Pesch, 2015), we show here that
migration to the British Isles (Schiffels et al., 2016). As confirmed by material science and the scientific analysis of both the inscriptions and
palaeobotany and archaeology (Wieckowska et al., 2012; Wiethold, the inscribed objects may provide additional, valuable information. The
1998), the region remained not or only sparsely occupied for at least 200 organic material of rune-inscribed bones, for instance, allowed us to
years, after which it was settled by various groups. Some of those are precisely date the find using radiocarbon dating and to determine the
connected with Slavs based on archaeological finds and written records animal species using ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis. We further used
of later periods, as well as linguistic (toponomastic) evidence (Herr­ optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to authenticate the
mann, 1985). inscription by means of use-wear analyses. Such analysis will likely set
In other locations of Central Europe, the discontinuity is less obvious. the new standard in the field.
In the central Danube region, for instance, Germanic, Avar and Slavic
settlement followed each other very closely in time (Koncz, 2015; 2. Material and methods
Urbańczyk, 2004). However, the archaeological assemblage associated
with Early Slavs (the Prague Culture) is distinct from that of Germanic 2.1. SEM microscopy and use-wear analysis
communities previously inhabiting Central Europe (Barford, 2001;
Biermann, 2016; Brather 2008; Gojda, 1991; Parczewski, 1991). As Use-wear analysis is a group of methods dedicated to the identifi­
defined by M. Parczewski (2004) based on finds from Ukraine and cation and determination of superficial traces on archaeological mobile
Poland, typical Early Slavic settlements i) are located on the edge of a objects. The traces observed on the item surface could result from
river valles, ii) allowed for a self-sufficient lifestyle, and iii) consisted of functional use, transport, hafting, or accidental impact during and after
small sunken-floor huts with a stone or clay oven and built on a square the deposition. Use-wear analysis is able to differentiate between
plan. Further, iv) cremation was the predominant funeral rite, and v) no intentional and random traces, or traces of different ages. We studied the
well-developed handicrafts other than rudimentary iron works and discovered artifact surface using both optical reflected light microscope
handmade undecorated pottery of the Prague type existed. and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Optical microscopy was used
To date no archaeological find is generally accepted as evidence for a to inspect texture differences on the surface, identify possible recent
direct contact between Germanic tribes and Early Slavs in Central impact and traces of manufacturing and use. Electron microscopy was
Europe (Brather, 2004). Here we report a novel archaeological find in used to inspect the stratigraphy of traces. The chemical composition was
support of a direct contact: a rune-inscribed fragment of a bone from the measured with the aim to identify possible color highlighting of

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J. Macháček et al. Journal of Archaeological Science 127 (2021) 105333

engraved rune lines and two stave lines. 2.4.1. Bone preparation and extraction
The bone preparation, decontamination, surface preparation and
2.2. Runology milling was performed following the instructions in Scheu et al. (2015).
DNA extraction was performed following Gamba et al. (2014), with
Runology is the term applied to the study of runes (Fig. S3) and runic modifications from Hofmanová et al. (2016) and Scheu et al. (2015).
inscriptions which includes studies of the object, runic characters, lin­ Both prelysis (initial dissolution of the bone powder with EDTA) and
guistic forms and text function. We investigated the runic artifact as lysis (dissolution after 48 h) material was used in further analysis.
follows: First, we examined the inscribed object from an archaeological
point of view, focusing on the context of the find, its mode of use, 2.4.2. Library preparation and initial screening
provenance and the dating of the runic item. Second, we identified the The library protocol mainly followed Kircher et al., (2012) with the
characters by means of autopsy using the unaided eye and a microscope. adaptations described in Hofmanová et al. (2016). From both the prel­
This epigraphical evidence yields a verifiable philological basis which is ysis extract and the lysis extract, one parallel was amplified for shallow
usually given in the form of transliteration. Third, we compared the MiSeq screening on Illumina MiSeq for 50 cycles (single end). Addi­
characters to existing runic inscriptions to identify commonalities and tionally, three parallels of each extract were amplified at a later stage to
peculiarities about the incised runes. Fourth, we interpreted the runic increase variability of the endogenous molecules for target enrichment.
sequence using methods of historical linguistics. As a result of phono­ Reads of the MiSeq sequencing were processed as follows: Adapters were
logical, morphological, semantic and syntactic analysis (and interpre­ trimmed using trimgalore (Babraham Bioinformatics, v.0.4.3), applying
tation) we get linguistic forms that constitute a text of various length (or, a length filter of 30bp. The general quality of sequencing results and
occasionally, an abecedary). Fifth, we use the cultural context to a control of successful adapter removal was performed using
determine the function of the inscription and its social-historical setting FastQC (Babraham Bioinformatics, v0.11.5). Mapping the reads against
(Düwel, 2008; Düwel and Heizmann, 2006). the human (hg19) and Bos Taurus genomes resulted in spurious
alignments only. Screening sequencing data are available in ENA
2.3. Radiocarbon dating through accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) (SAMEA4704853).

The samples of the runic bone and of two additional cattle bones 2.4.3. Hybridisation capture of mitogenomes and sequencing
from settlement pit 25 (Poz- 99473, Poz-98266, Poz-98267) were suc­ The six libraries were pooled and sent to ACAD for enrichment of
cessfully dated at the Poznan Radiocarbon Laboratory (AMS 14C mea­ mitochondrial genome sequences by hybridisation to biotinylated RNA
surements in graphite targets on spectrometers 1.5 SDH-Pelletron baits (Arbor Biosciences, MI, USA) designed from 24 placental mammal
Model) thanks to its relatively high content of bone collagen (5,3%– mitochondrial genome sequences (Supplementary Table S2) (Mitchell
7.1% coll.). We calibrated the date using the software OxCal - v 4.3 Web et al., 2016b). We used the Mybaits v3 protocol (Arbor Biosciences, MI,
interface build number: 114 (Bronk Ramsey and Lee, 2013), with the USA) with modifications. First, an equimolar mix (50 μM) of RNA oli­
application of the InCal13 calibration curve (Reimer et al., 2013). After gonucleotides (P5_short_RNAblock: 5′ -ACACUCUUUCCCUACACGAC-3’;
the calibration we determined the calendar age of bones at probability P7_short_RNAblock: 5′ -GUGA CUGGAGUUCAGACGUGU-3′ ) was used to
levels of 68.2% and 95.4%. block Illumina adapter sequences. Second, the hybridisation capture
reaction was incubated for 30 h. Third, streptavidin beads were incu­
2.3.1. Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon data (OxCal) bated with yeast tRNA to block non-specific binding sites, as described
We used available radiocarbon dates to investigate the chronology previously (Richards et al., 2019). The enriched DNA libraries were
between settlements of early Slavs and Lombards using Bayesian amplified and sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq using 150 cycles
modelling. We compared three groups of dated samples (Supplementary paired-end with v3 chemistry at the ACRF Cancer Genomics Facility
Table S1): 1) human bones from Lombard cemeteries in Moravia and (Adelaide, SA, Australia). Enrichment sequencing data are available in
Lower Austria (31 samples + 4 outliers according to Bayesian model­ ENA (SAMEA6807023).
ling) (Stadler et al., 2008), 2) human bones from Lombard cemeteries in
Pannonia (13 samples + 1 outlier according to Bayesian modelling) 2.4.4. Data processing after hybridisation
(Amorim et al., 2018; Schmidtová et al., 2009; Stadler et al., 2008) and The sequencing service provider performed demultiplexing of the
3) animal bones from early Slavic settlements in Moravia (Pavlov, data based on the indexes using CASAVA v1.8. The raw FASTQ files were
Břeclav/Lány) (this study, Jelínková, 2012) and human cremations from processed and mapped using the PALEOMIX v1.2 pipelines (Schubert
a Slavic burial mound (Bernhardsthal) in Lower Austria (7 samples) et al., 2014). Finally, fragment length and characteristic patterns of
(Macháček et al., 2018). We ordered these groups using the OxCal ancient DNA damage were assessed using mapDamage2.0 (Jonsson
(Bronk Ramsey, 2008) into a chronological sequence. We assumed that et al., 2013).
the different phases were completely independent (overlapping phases)
and estimated their start and end date individually. 2.4.5. Phylogenetic analyses
We aligned the mitogenome sequence (without the d-loop) of all the
2.4. aDNA analysis of the animal bones taxa selected for the bait design and the Reconstructed Sapiens Refer­
ence Sequence (Supplementary Table 2, SI Fig. S4-S6). We constructed a
We identified the animal species of the rune-inscribed bone both 75% consensus sequence from the mapping against the taurine cattle
morphologically and using aDNA analysis. In order to minimize mitogenome (depth ≥ 3) using Geneious R11 (Biomatters). This
destructive sampling, a small part of the bone extracted for 14C dating consensus sequence was included in two separate multiple sequence
was sent to a dedicated aDNA facility (Mainz, Germany). The bone alignments using previously published cattle mitogenome datasets, with
characteristics of the sample (rib) were highly unfavorable for aDNA or without the d-loop (Achilli et al., 2008; Bro-Jørgensen et al., 2018).
preservation (Pinhasi et al., 2015). Consequently, and despite applying We performed phylogenetic analyses under a Maximum Likelihood (ML)
various modifications to the extraction protocol (with and without framework as implemented in RAxML v8.2.11 (Stamatakis, 2014). The
pre-lysis step), preliminary shallow sequencing via MiSeq did not pro­ outgroup taxa were the water buffalo (Bro-Jørgensen et al., 2018) and
duce enough endogenous sequences to allow for taxonomic (or any the yak (Achilli et al., 2008), respectively. In all analyses, we used the
further) analysis of the sample. We therefore prepared a mixture of GTRGAMMA model of substitution. The ML analyses included a search
independently indexed libraries and sent them for taxonomical target for the best scoring tree out of 500 bootstrap replicates.
enrichment to the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD).

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J. Macháček et al. Journal of Archaeological Science 127 (2021) 105333

Fig. 2. Archaeological site of Břeclav-Lány (Moravia, Czechia). Excavated area (2015–2017) with settlement features assigned to chronological phases and the
placement of the rune-inscribed cattle bone.

3. Theory traditionally considered part of the material culture of the earliest Slavs
(Profantová, 2012). The discovery was made in a region where Slavs are
The discovery of a rune-inscribed bone from Lány (Břeclav, Moravia/ thought to have arrived at the end of the Migration Period after the
Czech Republic) challenges the prevalent opinion that the older fuþark Germanic tribes had left and the use of a Slavic language is historically
was used exclusively by Germanic-speaking populations. The cattle rib confirmed as of the 9th century (in so-called Great Moravian empire).
bearing a runic inscription was found during an excavation together This find opens up a new door to study the partial continuity and ex­
with pottery which is, by analogies from Ukraine (Baran, 1988), change among historical populations in Central Europe. Interpreted

Fig. 3. Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon data. Data was used from Lombard and Early Slavic sites excavated in the Czech Republic (CZ), Austria (AT) and Pannonia
(Pann: Slovakia and Hungary) and of the rune-inscribed cattle bone from Břeclav-Lány.

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J. Macháček et al. Journal of Archaeological Science 127 (2021) 105333

Fig. 4. Six runs of the older fuþark on the reported rune bone. Photo by Vojtěch Nosek.

within its broader context, it also questions the sharp dichotomy be­ continuity from the Prague Culture to the Middle Hillfort Period is a
tween the Germanic and the Slavic part of Europe as presented by his­ feature of many Early Slavic sites (Profantová, 2012), including nearby
torians, archaeologists or linguists and abused by politicians throughout Pohansko - the center of the Great Moravian polity, with well-attested
the 19th and a greater part of the 20th century. Slavinity based on written sources - that extends this continuity until
its fall in the 10th century (Macháček, 2010).
4. Results The rune-inscribed bone fragment (Fig. 1:B) was uncovered in the
top section (0–25 cm) of Pit 25 (depth 70 cm), next to other animal
The reported bone fragment, a rib, originates from Břeclav-Lány in bones and pottery of the Prague type (Fig. 1:C). This pit cannot be
South Moravia, Czechia. It was a typical example of an Early Slavic excavated fully because of full-grown trees. It was most probably a rest
settlement of the 6th-7th century AD according to the definition of M. of a sunken-floored hut (Fig. 2). The archaeological finds from the pit
Parczewski (2004) and was continuously inhabited until the 9th cen­ consist of handmade pottery and clay pans (Fig. 1:C), which have been
tury, as attested by direct dating and typological continuity in the associated with competitive feasting and the rise of political leaders
archaeological record (Macháček et al., in press). This typological among those known from the written sources as Sclavenes/Slavs (Curta,

Fig. 5. Superposition of original artificial incision

and post-depositional root impact. Left: Scanning
electron microscope (SEM) image of the top section of
the rune o (ᛟ). Right: Reflected light microscope
image at magnification 200x of the section marked
with a red square on the left. Top: original images.
Bottom: Images with color lines indicating root
impact (blue) and the original incision (red),
including residues of incision bottom out of reach of
root impact. The dotted area highlights the original
incision bottom, identified by its reddish and whitish
colouring matching that of the rest of the incision.
Photo by Ludmila Kaňáková-Hladíková and Jindřich
Štelcl. (For interpretation of the references to colour
in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web
version of this article.)

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J. Macháček et al. Journal of Archaeological Science 127 (2021) 105333

known departure in 568 AD, and that the Slavic settlements appeared in
South Moravia after 556 AD (CI 68.2%). This cultural transition thus
predated the making of the rune-inscribed bone fragment (Fig. 3).
On the ventral side of the fragment, six letters of the older fuþark are
incised (Fig. 4), but the inscription likely started on the now missing
section. The deeply engraved inscriptions are authentic as confirmed
through optical and scanning electron microscopy: their state of pres­
ervation matches that of the surrounding surface and accidental
scratches and post-depositional plant root etching are superimposed
(Fig. 5). The engraved inscriptions were further differentiated from all
other traces as they were slightly rounded and most likely intentionally
colored, as indicated by a high presence of iron (Fig S2). The surface of
the bone fragment showed organized parallel striations indicative of
surface smoothing (Fig. S1-S2). Due to the fracture, the first two runes
are incomplete, but were most likely a t (ᛏ) followed by a b (ᛒ) with
wide-spaced pockets, a typical feature of the South Germanic in­
scriptions. The remaining are e (ᛖ), m (ᛗ), d (ᛞ) and o (ᛟ).
The carver was likely not very experienced and produced runes with
distorted proportions: the ᛗ has an elongated left staff, and the ᛞ is
broader than the other runes and its diagonals, cut in segments, do not
reach the tops of the staffs. The right-descending branch of the ᛗ and the
left staff of the ᛞ were attempted multiple times.
The runes (tbemdo) render six of the last eight runes of the older
fuþark (tbemlŋdo), suggesting that the bone originally exhibited the
whole abecedary, but it is unclear why the carver omitted the l and ŋ
runes. Remarkably, this is the first find containing the final part of the
older fuþark in South-Germanic inscriptions as none of the other extends
after the l-rune (Düwel and Heizmann, 2006).
To confirm the fragment was of European cattle (Fig. 6), we gener­
ated aDNA individually indexed sequencing libraries, which we sub­
jected to taxonomical target enrichment (Mitchell et al., 2016a) (at
ACAD, Uni Adelaide). This yielded 3190 reads uniquely mapping to the
taurine cattle mitogenome (excluding the d-loop), covering 92.1% at
14.1x. In contrast, only 201 reads mapped uniquely against the human
mitogenome, mostly in highly conserved regions, suggesting low human
contamination. As expected for authentic aDNA, mapped reads were
short (71bp on average) and showed an accumulation of C-to-T sub­
Fig. 6. Taxonomic identification of the reported rune bone. Phylogenetic tree stitutions at the 5’ end (>15% at the first two bases). In a phylogenetic
of mitochondrial genomes (Supplementary Table 2) of European cattle (or­ tree inferred with RAxML v8.2.11, the consensus mitogenome of the
ange), aurochs (green), indicine cattle (blue) and outgroup taxa (grey). Stars bone fragment was nested among European cattle (Fig. 6, Supplemen­
indicate nodes with >80% bootstrap support. (For interpretation of the refer­ tary Table 2).
ences to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of
this article.)
5. Discussion and conclusions

2017). Here we report a rune-inscribed bone fragment discovered at the site

We dated the bone inner section (Poz-99473) containing 7.1% of Břeclav-Lány in South Moravia, Czechia. We documented this rare
collagen with AMS and OxCal v4.3 to 585–640 AD (68.2% CI, 95.4% CI artifact by making extensive use of recent technological advances not
555–650 AD). We confirmed the dating of the pit using two cattle bones previously applied to runic items. These included the use of scanning
without inscriptions from slightly lower levels of the fill (Poz-98266: electron microscopy to authenticate the runic inscriptions and the direct
68.2% CI 540AD - 601AD; Poz-98267: 68.2% CI 536AD − 604AD), dating of the fragment from a minute bone powder sample of the inner
making the pit the oldest 14C-dated Early Slavic feature within Czechia section. From that bone powder sample, we also managed to extract
and Austria (Jelínková, 2012). The rune-inscribed bone is thus clearly DNA. The DNA was very poorly preserved, but thanks to DNA enrich­
contemporary with the Early Slavic settlement on this site and does not ment techniques targeting the mitochondrial genome of mammals, the
originate from the previous Migration Period. artifact was identified unambiguously as of cattle origin.
We further used OxCal on available radiocarbon data (Supplemen­ From a runologic perspective, the discovered inscription is readily
tary Table 1) to investigate the chronology between settlements of early attributed to the South Germanic corpus, albeit likely carved by an
Slavs and Lombards, which are believed to have been the last Germanic inexperienced artist. What is surprising, however, is the archaeological
tribe in East-Central Europe with their exodus to what is today Italy in context of the find: it is the first runic item discovered in a non-Germanic
568 AD historically described and supported by ancient DNA (Amorim context, namely in a settlement of the Prague Culture generally associ­
et al., 2018). Roman and Byzantine written sources report that Lom­ ated with Early Slavs.
bards were involved in battles, and in events of resettlement and land The find therefore attests to a direct interaction between the Slavic
seizures, initially on the middle Danube in Lower Austria or in Moravia, and Germanic ethnolinguistic groups that were presumably differenti­
and subsequently in Pannonia (Pohl, 1997). Our estimates, which are ated in Central Europe during the 6th century. But the context of this
highly concordant with previous estimates on partially different data find does not inform about the nature of this interaction. Given the
(Kaizer et al., 2019), indicate that the Lombards abandoned their burial cultural significance of runes to Germanic people but not Slavs, it ap­
grounds prior to 566 AD (CI 68.2%, Fig. 3), in line with their historically pears unlikely that the bone was brought by Germanic merchants.

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Instead, the runes may have been incised by people of Germanic origin Amorim, C.E.G., Vai, S., Posth, C., Modi, A., Koncz, I., Hakenbeck, S., et al., 2018.
Understanding 6th-century barbarian social organization and migration through
that remained in the region after the departure of the Lombards, or later
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