Portmahomack contained four skeletal populations belonging respectively to the late Iron Age/early Pictish period (6th/7th century), to a monastery of the late Pictish/early medieval period (8th century), to a Norse and Scottish trading place (9th to 11th century) and to a late medieval parish (15th century). Carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of bone and tooth root collagen from sample individuals from each period were measured for dietary reconstruction. Faunal bone collagen was also assessed to provide dietary comparisons. The results demonstrate a marked change in diet between the early and late medieval communities at Portmahomack. Faunal data also presented dietary differences between the early and later medieval periods, perhaps related to a change in husbandry practices. Due to the dearth of carbon and nitrogen isotope studies on medieval skeletal collections in many areas of Britain and Ireland, this study provides valuable data to enhance our knowledge of food consumption and subsistence in the medieval period.
In this study, period-specific dietary trends, along with socio-economic and religious influences on foods consumed by Pictish and medieval inhabitants from Portmahomack are investigated. Bone collagen from human adults (n=137) and fauna (n=71) were analysed for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios to enable dietary reconstructions of the whole adult skeletal assemblage. Adult mean δ 13 C and δ 15 N values from all periods (6 th to 17 th century) were -19.5‰ ± 1.3‰ and 13.3‰ ± 1.7‰ respectively. A diachronic change in diet between early medieval Pictish lay and monastic communities (periods 1-3) and the later medieval parish layfolk (periods 4-5) was found that suggests changing socio-economic and religious influences, along with age and gender differences in diet that reflect possible divisions in labour and status. Faunal data also reflected a diachronic change in diet, most likely related to a change in animal husbandry practices over time. This is the first large-scale study on the Portmahomack assemblage and presents new isotope data to provide a more comprehensive insight into Pictish and medieval subsistence patterns, along with evidence of how religious and social foci may influence diet over time. Such comprehensive investigations can only be adopted by analysing the whole skeletal assemblage, providing robust faunal baselines and inter-and intra-site comparisons. Most importantly, this significant new evidence fundamentally changes our knowledge of diet and subsistence in medieval Scotland and the potential influences therein.
This research aims to reconstruct the childhood diets (aged 9–10 years) of the individuals buried during the active years of the Pictish monastic community (hereafter referred to as PMC) from early medieval (7th–11th century) Portmahomack in north-east Scotland, using 13C and 15N isotopes. Dietary reconstructions were achieved by isotope analysis of δ13C and δ15N on the tooth root apex from permanent first molars (M1) of 26 adult male individuals. The results indicate that the indi-viduals in PMC predominantly consumed terrestrial C3 resources during childhood, with a rich terrestrial protein diet and some marine resource consumption. Statistically significant differences were observed between childhood and adulthood diets (the latter derived from previous research), suggesting that when these individuals were children, they consumed more marine protein than in later years as adults. This is true for all individuals, whether or not they spent significant time in Portmahomack during their childhoods. This is the most extensive study of the childhood diet of in-dividuals from the PMC and so makes a significant contribution to augmenting information on diet and lifestyles in Pictish Scotland.
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