Diet and ethnicity during the Viking colonization

of northern Scotland: evidence from fish bones

and stable carbon isotopes
JAMES H. BARRETT,ROELFP. BEUKENS& REBECCA
A. NICHOLSON*
Diet and ethnicity are strongly related. Recent work on fish-bone ratios and stable carbon
isotopes suggest fhat the Vikings increased the fish contribution to the diet of Orkney and
Shetland by a greater investment in deep-sea fishing.

Key-words: cod, Vikings, fish bones, Orkney, Shetland, carbon isotopes

Introduction thesis (built on observations first made by

The legitimacy of migration in archaeological Wheeler 1977) that a more maritime-oriented
explanation waned in the mid to late 20th cen- subsistence strategy was introduced to Viking
tury, at least in the Anglophone scholarly tradi- Age northern Scotland by Norse farmer-fisher-
tion (Hiirke 1998: 19).Revisionist interpretations men (Barrett et al. 1999: 369-70). The evidence
of Viking colonization in northern Scotland includes zooarchaeological assemblages and
emerged in step with this trend. In the 1950s, new stable carbon isotope data for human bone
F.T. Wainwright (1962: 125-6) was confident of ‘Pictish’ (c. 300-800 AD) and ‘Viking Age’
that ‘Scandinaviansettlement amounted to amass- (c. 800-1050 AD) date (see FIG~JRE
migration. The Scandinavians arrived in num-
bers sufficient to overwhelm the earlier inhabitants Methods and potential biases
politically, socially, culturally and linguistically’. Zooarchaeology
By the mid 1970s, however, AnnaRitchie (1974; A shift in the role of marine resources at the
see also Ritchie 1993: 25-6) proposed what can Pictish-Viking Age transition was discussed pre-
be described as the integration or acculturation viously in a study of the northern Scottish fish-
model (see Morris 1996: 77) - which assumes bone record from the Neolithic to the Middle
considerable continuity of native culture -origi- Ages (Barrett et al. 1999).To address this ques-
nally based on the discovery of Pictish artefacts tion in detail, however, it is useful to focus
in presumed Viking Age houses. This model of exclusively on fish assemblages of Pictish and
cultural continuity - with implicit or explicit Viking Age date.
acceptance of a Norse speaking Blite stratum - TABLE1 includes data regarding a series of
has since become quite widely accepted for at variables chosen to isolate trends in both the
least the earliest phase of Scandinavian immi- intensity and kind of fishing conducted:
gration (e.g. Buteux 1997: 2 6 1 4 ; Hunter 1997: the total number of identified fish specimens
249-53; Sharples & Parker Pearson 1999). (NISP) recovered,
Given a renewed appreciation of migration the ratio of identified fish to mammal bone,
in the wider archaeological community (e.g.
Anthony 1990; Chapman & Hamerow 1997; 1 The conflation of cultural and chronological labels is
Burmeister ZOOO), however, it is appropriate to unavoidable given their long tradition of use. Late Iron Age
is a n alternative term for the Pictish period in Scotland
reassess the acculturation model. This paper (e.g. Foster 1990: 143), but is also imperfect in a wider
will do so from a single perspective - that of European context where the same terminology can refer to
subsistence and diet. It revisits a recent hypo- the earlier 01later centuries.
* Barrett, Department of Archaeology, The King’s Manor, University of York, York yo1 7EP, England. jhb58york.ac.uk
Beukens, IsoTrace Laboratory, University of Toronto, Toronto, ONT M5S 1A7,Canada. roelf.beukens@utoronto.ca
Nicholson, Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 l D P , England.
r.a.nicholson@bradford.ac.uk
Received 24 May 2000, accepted 27 July 2000, revised 13 December 2000
ANTIQUITY75 (2001): 145-54
146 JAMES H. BARRETT, ROELF P. BEUKENS & REBECCA A. NICHOLSON
SHETLAND
0
D
the ratio of cod family (Gadidae) to other
fishes,
the ratio of cod (Gadus morhua) to saithe
(Pollachius virens) and
the ratio of ling (Molvu molva) and torsk
(Brosme brosme) to rocklings (Ciliata or
Gaidropsurus species), wrasse (Labridae)
and cottids (Cottidae).
The total NISP and the ratio of fish to mam-
mal are both intended to measure the absolute
intensity of fishing activity and, by implica-
tion, the role of fish in the diet. Conversely,
the ratio of cod family to other fishes is included
to detect any shift in prey selection towards
the gadid species known to have been of para-
mount importance in Iron Age, Viking Age and
medieval Norway (Enghoff 1999: 55; Perdikaris
1999).The last two ratios, which are intended
B
FIGURE1. Location of
sites mentioned.
1 Sealloway;
2 Old Scatness;
3 St Boniface;
4 Pool;
5 Westness;
6 Brough Road sites
and Buckquoy;
7 Saevar Howe;
a Howe;
9 NewarkBay;
10 Smoo;
11 Freswick Links.
to measure the relative importance of ‘offshore’
versus littoral fishing, require some explana-
tion. During recent centuries in northern Scot-
land saithe of a size common in the assemblages
under consideration (the majority of bones rep-
resent individuals between 100 and 400 mm
total length, see Barrett et al. 1999: 361-2) were
caught from the shore and from boats in shal-
low water using a net or simple rod and line
(Fenton 1978: 527-30; Baldwin 1982). Con-
versely, cod fishing, often for larger individu-
als (the majority of specimens from the Viking
Age assemblages considered represent fish over
800 mm total length, see Barrett et al. 1999:
361-2), was conducted principally from boats
in open water using weighted ‘hand lines’ of
c. 60 fathoms or ‘long lines’ of even greater length
(e.g. Goodlad 1971: 107-9; 130). If these pat-
period & assemblage1 proportion mesh fish fish: cod cod: ling& references
sieved size NISP mammal family: saithe torsk
other rocklings,
fish wrasse &
cottids2 E
m
4
>
Pic fish 2,
U
Brough Rd Area 3 unknown 10 mm 85 1.25 8.44 0.07 0.20 Colley 1989; Rackham 1989 m
Freswick Links SCA total 1mm 0.7 Jones et al. 1995b 2
Howe Phase 8 substantial? unknown 1147 0.11 1.18 0.15 0.02 Locker 1994; C. Smith 1994 5
Pool Phase 6 minimal 59 0.01 10.8 1.77 7.00 Nicholson 1998a; Bond pers. comm. E!
-3
l m ,3 m
Saevar Howe Phase 1 total 5 mm 115 0.68 2.97 0.31 0.55 Colley 1983; Rowley-Conwy 1983 4
Scalloway Early Phase 3 total &substantial?’ 1 mm 588 0.14 5.00 0.14 Cerh-Carrasco 1998a; S h q l e s 1998;pers comm.
St Boniface Phase 7 total 1mm 1324 69.68 146.11 0.4 0.14 Cer6n-Carrasco 1998b; McCormick 1998
2E
z
6,
mean 553 11.98 29.08 0.51 1.58 4
mean (excluding St Boniface) 398.8 0.44 5.68 0.53 1.94

median 351.5 0.41 6.72 0.31 0.2

median (excluding St Boniface) 115 0.14 5.00 0.23 0.38
n
Viking Age
Brough Rd Areas 1 & 2 partial 10 mm 4432 1.16 44.69 2.68 1.88 Colley 1989; Rackham 1989
Pool Phase 7 minimal 1mm, 3mm 4596 0.42 25.72 3.2 12.33 Nicholson 1998a; Bond pers. comm. 8
Saevar Howe Phase 2 total 5 mm 869 3.41 56.93 5.00 2.25 Colley 1983; Rowley-Conwy 1983 2
Scalloway Late Phase 3 total & ~ubstantial?~1 mm 5682 1.41 3.13 2.6 2.5 Cer6n-Carrasco 1998a;Sharples 1998;pers comm.
Smoo Phase 5 total 4 mm 1116 38.48 20.88 0.87 5.00 Barrett 1996

mean 3339 8.98 30.27 2.87 4.79

r:
median 4432 1.41 25.72 2.68 2.5
Bz
1 Where possible disturbed and poorly dated contexts have been excluded. See Barrett (1995: 528-41) for details. rn
n
2 Zero values rounded to 1 to facilitate division unless no data available for either group. 0
3 Only sieved contexts have been included for the total fish NISP and the ratio of fish:mamnial. For the remaining variables the sieved and hand-collected material can not
be quantified separately. j:
3
TABLE1.A summary of fish bone data for Pictish and Viking Age assemblages from northern Scotland. The variables have been chosen to reflect the
intensity of fishing and the ratio of ‘offshore’ to littoral activity The quality of recovery is indicated on an ordinal scale: n o sieving, minimal sieving
(<I a%), partial sieving (10-50%], substantial sieving (>50%) or total sieving. Other potential biases are discussed in the text.
+
4
u
148 JAMES H. BARRETT, ROELF P. BEUKENS & REBECCA A. NICHOLSON
terns can be extrapolated back in time, the ra-
tio of cod to saithe should measure the inten-
sity of boat based vis-a-vis shore-based fishing.
Similarly, the final ratio contrasts taxa with rela-
tively well defined deep and shallow water habitats
(Whitehead et a1 1986a; 1986b). If Norse colo-
nists did introduce a more maritime-oriented
subsistence strategy, some or all of the variables
considered should have larger values in the Vi-
king Age than in the preceding Pictish period.
The logic behind the choice of these five cri-
teria is relatively unambiguous, but the data are
susceptible to biases: uncertain dating, variable
recovery, taphonomy and inconsistent analyti-
cal methods. The first issue to consider is that of
dating. Most of the zooarchaeological assemblages
discussed have been grouped into broad chrono-
logical phases (with cultural labels)based on radio-
carbon dates,artefact typology and the morphology
of buildings. However, middens are notoriously
difficult to date precisely. At least one bone as-
semblage tentatively dated as Pictish or Late Iron
Age based on structural remains almost certainly
belongs to the Viking Age. The material in ques-
tion is from late phase 3 at Scalloway, Shetland.
It is undeniable that the distinctive cellular ar-
chitecture of this sub-phase is likely to be Pictish
( e g Sharples 1998: 63-5), bul the date of the
middens which overlie and infill these structures
are better interpreted as Viking Age on the basis
of both radiocarbon date ranges (three of five dates
from late phase 3 include the 9th or loth centu-
ries in their 2-sigma error range) and the occur-
rence of a Viking style comb, comb case and steatite
fishing-weight in block 7.1 (Sharples 1998: 84;
186). At the least, late phase 3 includes a mix of
material from before and after Norse contact. It
is classified as Viking Age for the purposes of
this study, a conservative approach given that
Pictish material in the assemblage will dilute any
changes introduced by Scandinavian colonists.
Early phase 3 thus provides the only unambigu-
ous Late Iron Age assemblage from this site.
Recovery and taphonomy are well-known
biasing factors in fish-bone assemblages (e.g.
Jones 1982; Nicholson 1996). Inter-site differ-
ences in sample size, the degree to which sieving
was employed, mesh size and preservation could
all swamp any cultural signals if there is a sys-
tematic bias between Pictish and Viking Age
assemblages. The total amount of sediment
excavated will clearly affect the fish NISP and
there are insufficient data available to stand-
ardize the measure by unit volume. Large- and
small-scale excavations are represented in both
periods (Hedges 1983; Morris 1989; Pollard
1992; Hunter e f a]. 1993;B.B. Smith 1994;Morris
et al. 1995; Sharples 1998; Lowe 1998),but there
can be no rigorous control of this particular bias.
It is also impossible to impose retrospective
control on the proportion of sediment sieved
and the mesh size employed at the excavations
under consideration. In these cases, however,
the recovery methods are known and vary as
much within each period as between them (TA-
BLE 1).No systematic bias is evident. Preserva-
tion is difficult to quantify for the assemblages
under consideration, but there is no a priori
reason to suspect consistent differences between
the Pictish period and the Viking Age.
The fourth potential bias is variability in ana-
lytical methods. These are broadly comparable
in most of the assemblages under consideration
(see Barrett et al. 1999: 357-358), but a few ex-
ceptions require comment. Firstly, only four
anatomical elements of the gadid skeleton were
systematically quantified for Freswick Links
due to the large size of this assemblage (Jones
et al. 1995a: 153). It has therefore been neces-
sary to exclude all data from this site except
the ratio of cod to saithe (both gadids).2 Sec-
ondly, the ratios of different fish taxa are based
on NISP data for all assemblages except Scallo-
way, for which only minimum number of indi-
viduals (MNI)estimates were available. Given the
well-established correlation between NISP and
MNI (Grayson 1984: 62), however, these ratios
have been included in the analyses to follow.
For all of the variables considered one-tailed
Mann-Whitney tests (Minitab Inc. 2000) have
been used to investigate whether the values of
the Viking Age assemblages exceed those of the
Pictish samples at the 0.05 significance level.
A nonparametric test was chosen because out-
liers, particularly phase 7 at St Boniface (Cerbn-
Carrasco 1998b), suggest that the samples are
unlikely to be drawn from normal distributions.
The tests were run both with and without this
unusual assemblage.
Stable carbon isotopes
The dietary implications of stable carbon iso-
tope signatures (expressed as 6I3Cin parts per
mil relative to the standard Pee Dee Belemnitella)
2 T h e NISP for this assemblage is 289.
 DIET AND ETHNICITY DURING THE VIKING COLONIZATION OF NORTHERN SCOTLAND 149

-16.2 7
I -1
I
-16.7 -- I
, --
tI
I
I

-17.2 -- I
I I
I
2
-17.7 - - I 8
I
I I

-18.2 -- I
I
I
I
I

$j) -18.7 -.
1
I
I
- 1
I

z
I I

-7-
-19.2 -- I _ _ _ ; _ _

-19.7 - - - I

Date AD
(atmospheric calibration)
2. Temporal
FIGURE
trends in the marine Pictish Viking Age Middle Ages
contribution to the -16.2
Orcadian diet based
-16.7
on 6*’C and I4C assays
of human bone. More
+
I
-17.2 I
I

positive 6% values 81

-
-17.7
imply a greater I
I
II
I
I
I

reliance on marine -1 8.2 !

!
protein. FIGURE20 $j) -18.7 ,
I
I
I I
I
t
shows calibrations
using the 1998 -19.2
decadal atmospheric -1 9.7
(terrestrial] data set.
FIGURE2b shows -20.2

1-
calibrations using the -20.7
1998 ‘mixed’
-21.2
atmosph eric/marine
data set and . :II , , >!I , , ; , ,
--+--- r
-21.7
3

estimates of %
I ~

4
marine carbon 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
(Stuiver b Reimer
1993; Stuiver et al. Date AD
1998; see Barrett et
al. 2000a). (mixed atmospheric/marine calibration)

for human bone collagen are relatively well
understood (Tauber 1981;Ambrose & Norr 1993;
Richards &Mellars 1998).In environments such
as Scotland, which lack C, plants, the more
positive the 8% value the greater the amount
of marine protein in a diet. Endpoint 6I3C Val-
ues for 100% marine and 100°/~terrestrial di-
ets appropriate for Scotland have been estimated
as -12.0% and -Z0.6%0 respectively (Barrett et
al. 2000a). Precise dietary reconstruction is
problematic, but more positive 8 ’ T values do
indicate a greater reliance on marine foods.
150 JAMES H. BAKKETT, KOELF P. BEUKENS & REBECCA A. NICHOLSON

FIGURES 2a & 2b present 613C values for 22
skeletons of Pictish and Viking Age date from
Orkney. They are plotted against radiocarbon
assays calibrated at 2-sigma using both the at-
mospheric curve and a mixed atmospheric/
marine calibration with percent marine carbon
estimates (Stuiver & Reimer 1993; Stuiver et
al. 1998).The latter procedure corrects the dates
for marine reservoir effects introduced by the
consumption of fish and other marine resources,
either directly or indirectly via livestock (Barrett
et al. 2000a). Only material From Orkney has
been considered in order to minimize geographi-
cal variability. The samples are from burials
excavated at Buckquoy (Ritchie 1 9 7 7 ) , the
Brough Road, Birsay (Morris 1989),Newark Bay
(Barrett et al. 2000a) and Westness (Kaland 1996;
Sellevold 1999). The radiocarbon dates were
determined at the IsoTrace accelerator mass
spectrometry facility, University of Toronto, and
6'% was measured by the Environmental Iso-
tope Laboratory of the University of Waterloo.
Marine reservoir correction aside, the most
important potential biasing factor is bone dia-
genesis. As samples with less than 5% of their
original protein (equivalent to less than 1%
collagen yield by bone weight) surviving after
biochemical purification can produce anoma-

variable Pictish Viking Age W significance difference in

level distributions?'
fish NISP n=6 n=5 25 0.028 Yes
median = 351.50 median = 4432.00
fish:mammal n=6 n=5 29 0.118 110
median = 0.41 median = 1.41
cod family: n=6 n=5 29 0.118 no
other fish median = 6.72 median = 25.72
cod:saithe n=7 n=5 29 0.005 yes
median = 0.31 median = 2.68
ling & torsk: n=5 n=5 19 0.047 Yes
rocklings, median = 0.20 median = 2.50
wrasse & cottids
= One-tailed test, Viking Age>Pictish

TABLE
2a.

variable Pictish Viking Age W significance difference in

level distributions?l
fish NISP n=5 n=5 17 0.018 Yes
median = 115.00 median = 4432.00
fish:niammal n=5 n=5 18 0.030 Yes
median = 0.14 median = 1.41
cod family: n=5 n=5 18 0.030 Yes
other fish median = 5.00 median = 25.72
cod:saithe n=6 n=5 22 0.007 Yes
median = 0.23 median = 2.68
ling & torsk: n=4 n=5 14 0.089 no
rocklings, median = 0.38 median = 2.50
wrasse & cottids
= One-tailed test, Viking Age>Pictish
2b.
TABLE

2. One-tailed Mann-Whitney test comparisons of the zooarchaeological variables in TABLE1 .

TABLE
TABLE2a includes all sites whereus TABLE2b omits the anomalous assemblage from St Boniface phase 7.
 DIET AND ETHNICITY DURING THE VIKING COLONIZATION OF NORTHERN SCOTLAND
lous isotopic results (Taylor 1997: 90-91), six
specimens with yields below this threshold have
been omitted from consideration. Three sam-
ples with 6% values of <-22 have also been
left out. They are probably contaminated by
humic acids (van Klinken 1999: 691). Full de-
tails regarding analysis of these samples, in-
cluding all 6l”Cvalues and radiocarbon dates,
are available elsewhere (see Barrett et al. 2000a;
Barrett et al. Zooob). Carbon isotope data from
the published literature produced along with
radiometric radiocarbon dates (e.g. Sellevold
1999: 7) have also been omitted as a small
fractionation effect can be induced during com-
bustion of the large samples used (G. Cooke
pers. comm.; S. Gulliksen pers. comm.).
The individual burials analysed have been
classified as ‘Pictish’ or ‘Viking’ based on the
presence of grave-goods, a Norse tradition, and
the modes of calibrated I4C dates. The distribu-
tions were then analysed using one-tailed t-tests
(Minitab Inc. 2000) in order to determine whether
the 6% values of the Viking Age samples are sta-
tistically higher (at the 0.05 significance level)
than the Pictish ones - implying an increase in
the consumption of marine resources.
Results
Zooarchaeology
Statistical comparison of the Pictish and Vi-
king Age assemblages indicates significant dif-
ferences between the two periods for the NISP
of fish bone, the ratio of cod to saithe and the
ratio of ling and torsk to rocklings, wrasse and
cottids (TABLE2a). These variables have nota-
bly larger values in the Viking Age, possibly
implying a n increase in the amount of fish
caught and a greater emphasis on offshore fish-
ing. Similar patterns have also been recognized
in material from Old Scatness, Shetland, al-
though quantitative data are not yet available
(Nicholson 1998b;unpublished data). Here there
calibration Pictish Viking Age
method
atmospheric n=7 n=15
mean = -20.46 mean = -19.00
atmospheridmarine n = 7 n=13
mean = -20.46 mean = -1 9.38
= One-tailed test, Viking Age>Pictish
TABLE3 . One-tailed t-test comparison of 613Cvalues for Pictish and Viking Age burials from Orkney.
151
is also a notable shift from small to large saithe,
a circumstance almost certainly due to local
factors; the waters around Sumburgh Head are
particularly rich in this species.
The lack of a significant difference in the
remaining variables is noteworthy, however, and
requires some consideration. It is due to anoma-
lous values for the St Boniface phase 7 assem-
blage. If this site is excluded, four of the five
variables considered have significantly higher
values in the Viking Age - implying both in-
creased fishing intensity and a shift from litto-
ral to open-water activity (TABLEah). The
non-significant results for ling and torsk ver-
sus rockling, wrasse and cottids in this case
may simply reflect the decrease in sample size
due to the exclusion of St Boniface.
The outlying values for some variables of St
Boniface phase 7 are particularly odd given that
the ratio of cod to saithe for this sample is clearly
consistent with the remaining Pictish assem-
blages. It is possible that the elevated fish NISP
and ratio of fish to mammal bone at this site
are due to the unusually rigorous procedure of
quantifying all fish bone recovered from a 1-
mm mesh (Cer6n-Carrasco 1994: 207). However,
the extremely high ratio of gadid to non-gadid
species remains anomalous. It may relate to the
context from which the bone derives. Most of
the other assemblages are from settlement sites
and associated middens. Conversely, phase 7
at St Boniface was a buried ground surface which
developed over a considerable period of time
(Lowe 1998: 86-8).
Stable carbon isotopes
Student’s t-tests comparing the 6I3C values of
Pictish and Viking Age samples confirm that
the Viking Age skeletons do have higher val-
ues (TABLE3) - a difference which can be de-
tected visually in FIGURES
2a-zb.This distinction
remains significant regardless of whether the
f-value degrees of significance difference
freedom level in means?‘
3.89 19 <0.001 Yes
3.68 16 0.001 Yes
152 JAMES H. BARRETT. ROELF P. BEUKENS & REBECCA A. NICHOLSON
burials are classified using I 4 C dates calculated
with the atmospheric curve or with the mixed
atmospheric/marine calibration (in which case
two samples become post-Viking Age and are
excluded from analysis). It would appear that
Viking Age Orcadians ate more marine protein
than their predecessors, a result consistent with
the zooarchaeological evidence for an increase
in the intensity of fishing activity. Although
this isotopic study is restricted to Orkney, it is
worth noting that the small number of 6I3C as-
says from Late Iron Age and Viking burials in
the Hebrides illustrate the same pattern (Neigh-
bour & Montgomery forthcoming).
Conclusion
The available zooarchaeological and stable iso-
topic data from northern Scotland suggest that
the Viking Age was characterized by an increase
in the intensity of fishing and in the relative
importance of boat fishing for large gadids,
particularly cod. What implications do these
observations have for the Viking colonization
of Scotland? The relationship between ethnic-
ity and material culture is complex. Simple
correlations have been shown to be nai've for
suites of material culture, and are likely to be
even more so for a single facet of social life
such as subsistence (see Jones 1997: 106-27).
Nevertheless, food is an important mechanism
for expressing identity (Crabtree 1990: 177-91;
Gumerman 1997: 126). Moreover, successful
open-water fishing in the Northern Atlantic
would require a corpus of traditional knowl-
edge (see Morrison 1992: 128)which, based on
the cod dominated middens of Iron Age and
Viking Age Norway (Perdikaris 1999), could
easily have been introduced by Norse colonists.
Other possible explanations for the increase
in offshore fishing at the Pictish-Viking Age
transition, such as development of the Euro-
pean fish trade, only become relevant with a
further increase in fishing intensity in the 11th-
12th centuries (Barrett 1997;Barrett et al. 2ooob).
If one begins from an assumption that the Picts
and their culture were largely undisturbed in
the Viking Age, except for the immigration of
a small Norse Blite, the economic changes dis-
cussed here could be interpreted as a result of
production of obligatory food renders or emu-
lation of a high-status practice. These options
seem unlikely, however, given the almost com-
plete dominance of Norse place-names in the
Northern Isles (Fellows-Jensen 1984: 151) and
evidence that fish was probably of inferior sta-
tus to meat and grain in Norse Scotland (Barrett
1995: 280). Alternatively, the present evidence
may imply that Norse farmer-fishermen immi-
grated on a large scale and displaced or gained
direct economic control over their predeces-
sors.
This hypothesis may be supported by other
ecofactual evidence. It has been recognised, for
example, that seabirds such as gannets ( S u l a
bassana),cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo)and
shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) are more abun-
dant in Viking Age than in Pictish assemblages
from Orkney (Mead 1999: 67,75,85;Serjeantson
in press). Given that the closest nesting colony
of gannets is currently Sule Stack, c. 60 km from
the archipelago (Booth et al. 1984: 12), and the
observation that all three species could be caught
at sea (Mead 1999: 85), an increase in their
exploitation is consistent with an intensifica-
tion of fishing and maritime activity in gen-
eral. It may also be relevant that there was a
concurrent transformation of the terrestrial
economy. At Pool, Orkney, for example, Julie
Bond (1998; see also Bond & Hunter 1987) has
recognized changes in cattle management and
an increase in the importance of flax between
Pictish and Viking Age levels.
Acknomdsdgsrnents. An earlier version of this paper was
presented at the 64th annual meeting of the Society for
American Archaeology, Chicago, 24-28 March 1999. The
study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada as a component of the Viking
Age Transitions Project (Phase 1). Human bone samples
were kindly donated by Anne Brundle of the Tankerness
House Museum, Orkney, Theya Molleson of the Natural
History Museum, London and Alison Sheridan of the Na-
tional Museums of Scotland. Sarah King assisted with col-
lecting the samples. Julie Bond, Ruby Cer6n-Carrasco,
Gordon Cook, lnge Bodker Enghoff, Steinar Gulliksen,
Jennifer Harland, Coralie Mills, Tim Neighbour, Terry
O'Connor, Berit Sellevold, Dale Serjeantson and Niall
Sharpies are all owed thanks for providing helpful infor-
mation and offprints.
 DIET AND ETHNICITY DIJRING THE VIKING COLONIZATION OF NORTHERN SCOTLAND
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