No

No / The Pictish and Medieval site at 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. / Historic Scotland provided funding the isotope analysis

Understanding fuel use is important in researching ancient communities. This project developed methods to identify archaeological fuel from midden, hearth, and ash samples using comparison to modern analogues. Modern analogue fuels were ashed at 2000C, 4000C, and 9000C then analysed with a suite of methods, the results were then used to inform the development of an approach for the identification of archaeological fuels. These methods were tested using samples from Ness of Brodgar, Knowe of Swandro, and Smerquoy/Muckquoy in Orkney. Magnetic susceptibility, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, pH and Munsell colour assignment were chosen based upon previous archaeological, biofuel, and soil pollution research. The methodologies were refined with the analysis of ash from fuels including peat, seaweed, driftwood, willow, hazel, heather, grasses, cow dung, sheep dung, and bone. Modern analogue fuels at increasing temperatures showed an intensification in magnetism and alkalinity, and an alteration to mineral components during the chemical reaction of combustion that is indicative of fuel type and temperature. Principal components analysis confirmed matches between archaeological samples and modern ash, indicating a strong relationship between peat fuels and the archaeological samples. A correlation is also demonstrated between some of the archaeological samples and sheep dung, driftwood, willow, and animal bone. It is evident that each archaeological site has unique patterns of both fuel type and temperature. This shows that in the absence of abundant traditional wood fuel resources, the occupants of these sites used a combination of alternative fuels.

The thesis examines the evidence for migration from Northern Britain to Ireland associated with the activity of the Church. It has a particular focus on British and Pictish individuals. Making use of a wide range of sources from the early medieval period onwards, detailed case-studies consider individual men and women whose activities can be discerned. They assess how the movements of these individuals contributed towards wider trends in the dynamics of migration between Northern Britain and Ireland from the coming of Christianity until the close of the eighth century. The investigation also charts the manner in which such migration was perceived in later centuries and how these perceptions changed as time progressed. A picture emerges of how the ‘migration narrative’ was developed and engaged with in both Ireland and Scotland. This was to have a significant effect on how the character of the early Church was understood.