Fish Bones, Isotopes, and Microscopes: A Pilot Study in Applying Analytical Methods to Iron Age Faunal Remains

Previous research on the Iron Age in Britain has argued that no fishing occurred during this period in Britain. This argument has now been complicated by large assemblages of fish bones that have been excavated from Iron Age sites in the Northern Isles. Further investigation into this issue became the focus of the author's MSc dissertation research in 2016, specifically on the recently excavated fish bone assemblages from the site of Swandro on Rousay, Orkney. Analytical methods, including stable isotope analysis and scanning electron microscopy, were applied in an attempt to determine how the fish may have been utilised at the site. Results have revealed evidence that could be interpreted as fishing activity and possible consumption by humans at Swandro. This paper disseminates and further examines these results and considers how this particular project is useful as a pilot study in the application of analytical methodologies to problematic faunal remains such as fish, and why this could be important to future zooarchaeological and environmental archaeological research.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10454/19024

Version

Published version

Citation

Fitzpatrick AL (2019) Fish Bones, Isotopes, and Microscopes: A Pilot Study in Applying Analytical Methods to Iron Age Faunal Remains. 17: 1-10.

Type

Article