Further isotopic evidence for seaweed-eating sheep from Neolithic Orkney

Broad-spectrum foodways in southern coastal Korea in the Holocene: Isotopic and archaeobotanical signatures in Neolithic shell middens

“…The contribution of marine plants to ruminant diets has also been observed in other coastal regions. For example, the diet of sheep in Orkney in Great Britain is dominated by seaweed with only a small quantity of seasonal terrestrial grass (Schulting et al 2017). As a result, the bulk d 13 C values in their bone collagen (À13%) are close to those of total marine consumers (Schulting et al 2017;Ambers 1990).…”

“…For example, the diet of sheep in Orkney in Great Britain is dominated by seaweed with only a small quantity of seasonal terrestrial grass (Schulting et al 2017). As a result, the bulk d 13 C values in their bone collagen (À13%) are close to those of total marine consumers (Schulting et al 2017;Ambers 1990). In this respect, high d 13 C (C16:0) values in ruminant fats at Tongsamdong may reflect the consumption of marine plants.…”

Identifying seaweed consumption by sheep using isotope analysis of their bones and teeth: Modern reference δ13C and δ15N values and their archaeological implications

“…Currently we are aware of only two modern seaweed-eating sheep that have been analysed for bone collagen δ 13 C (Ambers, 1990), and none for δ 15 N , so that interpretations of archaeological bone collagen δ 13 C and δ 15 N values have largely been based on assumptions as to how seaweed consumption would affect bone collagen. Additionally, studies at archaeological sites on Orkney have also resulted in seemingly conflicting evidence arising from δ 13 C in bones compared to teeth (Schulting et al, 2017). Therefore, an analysis of how seaweed-consumption is reflected in bone collagen would be beneficial.…”

Seaweed-eating sheep and the adaptation of husbandry in Neolithic Orkney: new insights from Skara Brae

“…Alternatively—or additionally—the isolated location of Holm of Papa Westray on a small islet (Figure 1), may have involved additional environmental constraints, introducing a remoteness argument to explain seaweed consumption by sheep at this site. A few other indisputable examples of seaweed-eating sheep have been reported in Neolithic Orkney that are potentially contemporaneous with the sheep from Holm of Papa Westray: one specimen from the Point of Cott burial cairn from the third millennium cal BC (Balasse et al 2009), and two specimens from Quanterness, which date to the early to mid third millennium cal BC (Schulting et al 2017). The location of these sites on the Westray and Mainland islands (Figure 1) demonstrates that the remoteness argument alone cannot account for the introduction of seaweed into the sheep diet.…”