Bibliography: leaves 141-184. / In medieval archaeology, diet is often inferred from excavated faunal remains. Recently, researchers have started to apply stable isotope techniques to diet reconstruction. Most studies have focused on the analysis of human bone collagen. In this research, human skeletal remains were not available, so ¹³C/¹²C and ¹⁵N/¹⁴N analyses were made on animal bones and soil samples from a medieval fisherman's village, Walraversijde. In addition, samples were analysed from four other late medieval sites: Ostend, Bruges, Aalst and Namur. Bone collagen samples fiorn Walraversijde showed an ocean-derived saline influence on the isotopic values of especially sheep/goats. Dogs, often used in prehistoric research as dietary proxies for humans, are unsuitable at this site because of huge variability in δ¹⁵N values. Pigs showed the most positive δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of all the terrestrial animal species. It seems likely that the residues after fish processing were collected and fed to them in pens, thus indicating that a waste management system existed. Analysis of sequential samples of pig teeth showed that piglets were probably bought at inland markets and brought to the village for fattening. These resuits call for an extended survey of animal isotopic values. δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N analysis was also carried out on soil samples, including a number taken from excavated cesspits. This is the first time that a study of this kind has been undertaken. The results are very promising as there seems to be less routing of dietary components than in human bone collagen. The cesspits at Narnur, the site furthest from the coast, yielded the lowest δ¹⁵N values, indicating a low trophic level diet with little influence from fish. The highest trophic level diet was recorded in the cesspit at Aalst. At Walraversijde, the low representation of marine foods was very surprising, apparently contradicting the abundance of fish remains found at the site. Fish seems to have been more important for its commercial value than as an item of diet. Clearly, more research is needed into the economy of the village and its organization.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/8585 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Schietecatte, Liesbet |
| Contributors | Sealy, Judith |
| Publisher | University of Cape Town, Faculty of Science, Department of Archaeology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MSc |
| Format | application/pdf |
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