Who were the first urban settlers of Oslo? A discussion of early medieval urbanization based on isotopic analyses of human remains

Abstract

This paper investigates the process of early urbanization in Oslo, Norway, during the initial period of early 11th–late 12th Century using a bioarchaeological approach. Through the use of isotope analyses performed on teeth and bone from 20 humans buried in Oslo during the first phases of urban settlement, individual dietary change and mobility are reconstructed. Oslo is traditionally perceived as one of many urban settlements initiated by royal power, and this paper contributes to this discussion by investigating the origin of the first settlers, and also how the early urban process affected their way of living. Results suggest that most individuals in the study were of local origin, and had a constant diet throughout life from childhood to its last phase. The absence of individual dietary change sharply contrasts the dynamic dietary patterns observed in people from the Viking age. Dietary variation between individuals does suggest, however, social differences among the early urban population of Oslo.

Food, Everyday Practice, and the Self in Medieval Oslo: A Study of Identities Based on Dietary Reconstructions from Human Remains

“…The isotopic results do not reflect any trend of increased marine consumption, either throughout a single individual's lifetime or between generations (Naumann et al 2019). This is confirmed by dietary results from individuals buried in Oslo in the late-medieval period, suggesting that people consumed the same amount of fish at that time as they did during the first generations of urban settlement (Jensen 2018).…”

“…In a recent study, 20 individuals buried during the first centuries of urban Oslo were analyzed for stable isotopes ( 13 C and 15 N) and strontium, enabling both a dietary reconstruction and a discussion of place of origin for the analysed individuals (Naumann et al 2019): see Appendix 1 in this article. The stable isotope analyses applied facilitate a general estimation of primary protein sources, distinguishing between land-based plants, animals, and marine species (Naumann et al 2019). The analyzed pool consisted of 11 women, 7 men, and 2 persons of unknown sex, ranging in age from approximately 13 to +60 at time of death.…”

“…The analyzed pool consisted of 11 women, 7 men, and 2 persons of unknown sex, ranging in age from approximately 13 to +60 at time of death. All 20 were buried in Oslo's earliest known graveyard, in the grounds of St. Clement's Church (Eide 1974), which later possibly functioned as a parish church (Nordeide and Gulliksen 2007;Naumann et al 2019). The analyzed individuals might therefore represent people who lived within the urban settlement, as well as people who belonged to surrounding farms that were part of the extended urban environment.…”

“…There was certainly variation between individualsthere is disparity in the diets of the 20 people that were analyzed (Naumann et al 2019)but each person seems to have consumed more or less the same composition or mix of foods from early childhood up until the time of death. These results contrast sharply with individual dietary variations during the Viking Age in northern Norway, where a change in diet, sometimes radical, over a lifetime seems to have been more common than dietary continuity Naumann, Price, and Richards 2014).…”

“…The isotopic data reveals that she ate a combination of different foods, including a significant proportion of fish. The 13 C values, used as the most reliable indicator of individual dietary change (Lovell, Nelson, and Schwarcz 1986), suggest that no or very little change occurred in her dietary habits during her childhood, and also between childhood and the last years of life (Naumann et al 2019). This information communicates a range of daily social practices that she engaged in, directly or indirectly, in relation to the procurement, preparation, and the consumption of food.…”