Changes in dietary practices and social organization during the pivotal late iron age period in Norway (AD 550–1030)

Isotope analyses of merovingian and viking age human remains

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8317571
AutoresElise Naumann (0000-0003-1415-0678, Department of Archaeology Conservation and History, University of Oslo Norway), T D Price (0000-0001-5951-5621, Department of Anthropology University of Wisconsin Madison WI), Michael P Richards (Department of Human Evolution Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig), Michael Richards (0000-0001-5274-8887, University of British Columbia, autor correspondente)
Ano2014
Volume155
Fascículo3
Páginas322-331
Data de publicação2014-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.22551
PMID24898189
OpenAlexW1926477999
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas16
Referências citadas39

Human remains representing 33 individuals buried along the coast in northern Norway were analyzed for diet composition using collagen stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. Where possible, both teeth and bone were included to investigate whether there were dietary changes from childhood to adulthood. A general shift was documented from the Merovingian Age 550–800 AD to the Viking Age AD 800–1050 (VA), with a heavier reliance on marine diet in the VA. Dietary life history data show that 15 individuals changed their diets through life with 11 of these having consumed more marine foods in the later years of life. In combination with 87 Sr/ 86 Sr data, it is argued that at least six individuals possibly originated from inland areas and then moved to the coastal region where they were eventually interred. The trend is considered in relation to the increasing expansion of the marine fishing industry at this time, and it is suggested that results from isotope analyses reflect the expanding production and export of stockfish in this region. Am J Phys Anthropol 155:322–331, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Biology · Geography · Human bone · Isotope analysis · Period (music) · Stable isotope ratio · δ13C · δ15N · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Demography · Ecology · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies