Vítrör culture
The Vítrör culture is the name given to a hunter-gatherer and fishing culture extant in the far west of Messenia between approximately 5000 BCE and 3500 BCE, and takes its name from the white arrowhead markings typically found on pottery fragments found in most Vítrör sites (Hártal hvít ör). Excavations conducted by the National Museum of Helminthasse at Fruma in Sarevi commonhold in 1895 uncovered large heaps of oyster shells, admixed with other shellfish, antlers and bone fragments, leading them to evaluate the site as a repository for kitchen refuse; this gave rise to its less common alternative name, the Eldhús culture.
Description
While some indications of basic forest-agricultural activity have been noted at Vítrör sites inland, the culture is most typified by fishing, particularly around the expanses of the Æthelflói in northern Helminthasse; most of their implements were wooden, with bone, flint and antlers being used for work on harder surfaces. Surviving Vítrör dwellings were made mainly from brush or light wood, suggesting a nomadic existence; however, the presence of sizeable burial grounds has prompted speculation that the Vítrör were nomadic only within a defined territory.
Skeletal remains in Vítrör settlements suggest that the Vítrör were at least broadly similar to the Siur peoples who have inhabited the area in historic times, although somewhat smaller; comparisons of skeletal remains unearthed in a number of locations suggest a height range of between 157 and 173 centimetres for mature males.
Some evidence of internal conflict has been discovered, including arrowheads and points of bone lodged in skeletal fragments. A more significant find was made at the Kvarnarbilið excavation in southern Siurskeyti, where some uncovered bones had been broken open to obtain the marrow. Generally speaking, cannibalism is not practiced purely to obtain food; the most likely explanation is that the Vítrör ritually ate their fallen enemies so as to ingest their powers.
Economy
The mainstay of the Vítrör economy was fishing, with some evidence of trapping of fish being used in addition to conventional angling as practiced today. The practice of using coarsely woven baskets as a means of trapping fish continued to be practiced in the Siur country long after the departure of the Vítrör; indeed, it has been claimed in some quarters that those baskets, or síur, gave the natives the name by which they have become known.
A number of sites have yielded remains of fences or corrals set up along the shallower reaches of river beds, and the fish were presumably driven into these corrals to be picked off at relative leisure. Species identified by their remains from Vítrör sites include herring and other deep-sea types, and even some sharks; this would suggest that the Vítrör practiced deep-sea fishing to some degree, although the means by which they did so have yet to be established.
In a number of instances remains of several species of whale, dolphin and seal have been found, although almost all of these are species which normally venture into shallow waters and which could realistically have been taken from small boats fishing close to shore. There is still some doubt as to whether these remains imply a functioning whaling and sealing industry, or are merely the results of scavenging.
Based on the remains of animal bones uncovered, the Vítrör mainly hunted for forest-browsing animals such as deer and boars, and for wild birds such as ducks and cormorants. Smaller animals such as badgers and foxes were possibly captured and their skins traded, although evidence for this remains speculative. Remains from dogs and wolves have also been found; dogs are known to have been domesticated by peoples in diverse areas of Messenia by this time.
The Vítrör gathered wild berries as part of their diet, and prepared a number of wild plants, to judge by seed remains of plants that require treatment to be made edible. Some evidence of consumption of grains has been found, most probably imported from areas to the south and east, although this was probably not essential to their diet and the Vítrör were probably somewhat better nourished than their neighbours. Analysis of remains from the Austurvinir site in western Siurskeyti suggests attempts at fermentation, pointing towards use of grain to make beer.
Tools and art
Vítrör settlements vary between small temporary or seasonal encampments and larger groupings inhabited year-round; buildings were probably constructed mainly from brush supported by poles. Most of these had fire pits located outside them, suggesting that most activities were carried on outdoors, with the huts used primarily for sleeping and storage.
Smaller fire pits were used to make pottery, mostly from local clays with admixtures of sand, crushed stone, bones and other organic material; fragments unearthed from various Vítrör sites are decorated with simple geometric patterns. Flint working in the region has yielded a wide range of tools, including axes, knives and a variety of arrowheads; however, wood, bone and antlers were also used in some areas.
They appear to have been especially active in carving, mostly of wood but also to an extent in bone; the Austirvinir site yielded some specimens of scrimshaw work on whalebone. Most of the motifs on these carvings are of geometric forms similar to those used on the pottery, with a number of crude human- or animal-like forms.
Large burial areas within the Vítrör territory suggest some degree of permanence to some settlements, and grave goods found within these indicate some appreciation by the Vítrör of both social status and sexual dimorphism, with women’s bodies being buried with necklaces and bracelets made of shells and animal teeth. The largest such site, at Laxá in northern Siurskeyti, yielded the body of a newborn child buried with a flint knife at its hip, suggesting that the Vítrör recognised some form of hierarchy and ascribed status. The similar treatment of the remains of dogs in this and other sites are consistent with the dog having some kind of totemic status within Vítrör society.
Absorption and transformation
The Vítrör culture appears to fade from the historical record in its classical form after roughly 3500 BCE. Patterns of migration elsewhere in Messenia suggest movement north-westward into the region from the more open country in what is now Alcasia and Zeppengeran by peoples of the Lindenstadt culture, who brought with them more sophisticated agricultural techniques developed in their more southern latitudes. The Vítrör were probably driven inland by the Lindenstadt peoples, and appear to have eventually moved north and east towards the areas of present-day Tvåriken and Odann, ultimately becoming the Vossar culture. It was the Vossar, by now in part speaking Daelic languages, who ultimately returned to the former territories of the Vítrör as part of wider movements from northern Messenia during the eighth century BCE.