Toiling with teeth: An integrated dental analysis of sheep and cattle dentition in Iron Age and Viking–Late Norse Orkney

Norse Animal Husbandry in Liminal Environments: Stable Isotope Evidence from the Scottish North Atlantic Islands

“…The site of Earl's Bu, in Orkney, was a residence and associated manorial farm complex of the Orkney Earl's, the highest-ranking nobility in the islands, who were highly influential and well connected across the reach of the Scandinavian world. The site would have played an important role in meetings and feasting for the Earls and their associates (Crawford 2013;Batey 2003;Mainland et al 2016). The site dates from AD late 800s-mid 1100s; two main phases, an Earlier and a Later phase of occupation have been identified (Batey 2003 total of 22 specimens were sampled from Earl's Bu from the two phases of occupation at the site, including a single red deer specimen from the Earlier phase.…”

Seaweed-eating sheep and the adaptation of husbandry in Neolithic Orkney: new insights from Skara Brae

“…The introduction of seaweed to the diet of Orkney's Neolithic sheep, however, was not the start of an unbroken tradition that endures to the present. Winter seaweed consumption by sheep has been detected through isotope analysis for a single animal from the Iron Age site of Mine Howe (Figure 1; Balasse et al 2009), although microwear analysis on the same assemblage does not confirm seaweed-eating as a common pattern in sheep at the site (Mainland et al 2016). Further, the colonisation of Orkney by Viking settlers from Norway brought new animal husbandry practices, and the settlers may have imported their own livestock (Mainland et al 2016).…”

“…Winter seaweed consumption by sheep has been detected through isotope analysis for a single animal from the Iron Age site of Mine Howe (Figure 1; Balasse et al 2009), although microwear analysis on the same assemblage does not confirm seaweed-eating as a common pattern in sheep at the site (Mainland et al 2016). Further, the colonisation of Orkney by Viking settlers from Norway brought new animal husbandry practices, and the settlers may have imported their own livestock (Mainland et al 2016). Currently, both stable isotope (Balasse et al 2009) and tooth microwear analyses (Mainland et al 2016) suggest a year-round terrestrial diet for sheep at the Viking/Norse settlement at Earl's Bu (late 800s to mid 1100s AD).…”

“…Further, the colonisation of Orkney by Viking settlers from Norway brought new animal husbandry practices, and the settlers may have imported their own livestock (Mainland et al 2016). Currently, both stable isotope (Balasse et al 2009) and tooth microwear analyses (Mainland et al 2016) suggest a year-round terrestrial diet for sheep at the Viking/Norse settlement at Earl's Bu (late 800s to mid 1100s AD). There is, therefore, little evidence for unbroken continuity in the history of Orkney husbandry between the Neolithic and the present.…”

Diversity in pig husbandry from the Classical-Hellenistic to the Byzantine periods: An integrated dental analysis of Düzen Tepe and Sagalassos assemblages (Turkey)

“…Relatively newly developed methods, and their combined use (Balasse et al 2016;Mainland et al 2015), allow a better understanding of the past diversity of pig husbandry. Such new methods include dental microwear (Clavel and Sicard 2007;Ward and Mainland 1999;Wilkie et al 2007), linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) analysis (Clavel and Sicard 2007;Dobney and Ervynck 2000;Wang et al 2012;Teegen 2013), stable isotope analysis (e.g.…”