Stable isotope palaeodietary study of humans and fauna from the multi-period (Iron Age,Viking and Late Medieval) site of Newark Bay,Orkney |
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| Authors: | M.P. Richards B.T. Fuller T.I. Molleson |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany;2. Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD7 1DP, UK;3. Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, 6 Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3QJ, UK;4. Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK;5. Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK |
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| Abstract: | We report here on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements of human and faunal bone collagen from the Iron Age, Viking Age, and Late Medieval site of Newark Bay, Orkney, Scotland. We found a wide range of results for humans in both δ13C (−15.4‰ to −20.3‰) and δ15N (8.6‰–15.6‰) values. The enriched carbon and nitrogen values indicate the consumption of significant amounts of marine protein, which is very unusual for post-Mesolithic (e.g. 4000 cal BC) UK and European populations. Also of interest is a statistically significant difference in δ13C (t = −2.48, p = 0.011) and δ15N (t = −2.44, p = 0.011) values, and therefore diets, between adult males and females at this site, with males (δ13C = −17.8 ± 1.2‰, δ15N = 13.2 ± 1.6‰) having, on average, a higher proportion of marine protein than females (δ13C = −18.9 ± 1.1‰, δ15N = 11.8 ± 1.8‰). The weaning age of the sub-adults was difficult to interpret due to the large isotopic variation in the adult females, but nearly all individuals between birth and 1.25 years have elevated δ15N values indicating that they were breastfed to some extent. |
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| Keywords: | Palaeodiet Weaning δ13C δ15N Orkney Pictish Viking Age Late Medieval |
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