The aim of this project is to shed new light on pastoralism at the periphery of Europe in the late Iron Age and Early Medieval period (AD 500—1100), and to provide novel direct evidence for historical animal husbandry and management practices. The focus will be on determining grazing and foddering practices employed, and the management of animals, which could have contributed to optimising production in ‘fringe’ regions. Multi-method advanced zooarchaeological techniques will be employed, depending on the background and interests of the student. These will include, but are not restricted to, the analysis of diet through stable isotope analysis (carbon, nitrogen, sulphur), including intra-tooth approaches to illuminate seasonal feeding practices; dental microwear to provide further evidence of seasonal dietary composition; and/or the analysis of plant microfossils preserved within dental calculus. Other intra-tooth isotopic approaches (oxygen) could be employed to explore potential manipulation of birth seasonality and possible relationships to production mode (e.g., dairying). Case studies will be drawn from across Northern Europe, specifically Scotland and Fennoscandia.
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