| 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 d13C (15.4& to 20.3&) and d15N (8.6&e15.6&) 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 d13C (tZ2.48, pZ0.011) and d15N (tZ2.44, pZ0.011) values, and therefore diets, between adult males and females at this site, with males (d13CZ17.8G1.2&, d15NZ13.2G1.6&) having, on average, a higher proportion of marine protein than females (d13CZ18.9G1.1&, d15NZ11.8G1.8&). 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 d15N values indicating that they were breastfed to some extent.
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