dieta i zróżnicowanie.pdf

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 134:162–174 (2007)

Diet and Diversity at Later Medieval Fishergate:

The Isotopic Evidence

Gundula M¨ ldner 1 * and Michael P. Richards 2,3

1 Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 6AB, UK

2 Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology,

Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany

3 Department of Archaeology, University of Durham, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK

KEY WORDS stable isotope; bone; diet; gender; status

ABSTRACT We present the results of stable carbon

and nitrogen isotope analysis of bone collagen for 155

individuals buried at the Later Medieval (13th to early

16th century AD) Gilbertine priory of St. Andrew, Fish-

ergate in the city of York (UK). The data show signiﬁ-

cant variation in the consumption of marine foods

between males and females as well as between individ-

uals buried in different areas of the priory. Speciﬁcally,

individuals from the crossing of the church and the

cloister garth had consumed signiﬁcantly less marine

protein than those from other locations. Isotope data for

four individuals diagnosed with diffuse idiopathic skele-

tal hyperostosis (DISH) are consistent with a diet rich

in animal protein. We also observe that isotopic signals

of individuals with perimortem sharp force trauma are

unusual in the context of the Fishergate dataset. We

discusspossibleexplanationsforthesepatternsand

suggest that there may have been a specialist hospital

or a local tradition of burying victims of violent conﬂict

atthepriory.Theresultsdemonstratehowtheintegra-

tion of archaeological, osteological, and isotopic data

can provide novel information about Medieval burial

and society. Am J Phys Anthropol 134:162–174, 2007.

C 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Research into diet and nutrition has a long tradition

in anthropology where it is a well-known concept that

food consumption is governed by numerous social and

cultural preferences (see Parker Pearson, 2003). Gender,

age, social group, ethnicity, and religion are only some of

the factors that can signiﬁcantly affect what and how

humans eat, and diachronic trends in food consumption

patterns are often directly related to important cultural

or economic changes within a society (Goodman et al.,

2000; Spencer, 2004).

The investigation of diet has been an important theme

in Medieval studies since the 1960s, and today a sub-

stantial amount of scholarly literature is concerned with

the complex social relations that are expressed through

Medieval foodways (e.g. Flandrin and Montanari, 1996;

Carlin and Rosenthal, 1998; Woolgar et al., 2006). Stable

isotope analysis of bone collagen is a relatively recent

addition to the suite of techniques employed to study

Medieval diet (see M¨ ldner and Richards, 2006). Histori-

cal sources indicate substantial variation in the access to

plant and animal foods between different social groups.

Wealthy lay people and well-off monastic communities

consumed large amounts of meat and ﬁsh while the

lower classes derived most of their dietary protein from

plants and dairy products (Harvey, 1993; Dyer, 1998; for

a brief overview: M¨ ldner and Richards, 2005).

Although stable isotope data characterizes food con-

sumption only in rather broad terms, the differences in

the consumption of plant and animal protein, aquatic

and terrestrial foods outlined by documentary sources

are in principle well suited for investigation by stable

isotope analysis. Bone chemistry therefore has the poten-

tial to contribute new information to the study of social

variation in Medieval subsistence. In a small pilot study

(M¨ ldner and Richards, 2005), we observed large isotopic

differences between the rural village of Wharram Percy

and other Medieval sites in northern England which

could be explained by the historically attested differen-

ces between monastic, upper and lower class diets. How-

ever, other factors, such as chronology and geographical

locations of the sites under study, could be equally im-

portant (see M¨ ldner and Richards, 2006).

While this earlier investigation highlighted large vari-

ation between sites of different function, so far few iso-

topic studies have reported social variation in Medieval

diet within the same burial population, for example by

comparing humans from different burial locations (Mays,

1997), discrete age, and stature categories (Herrscher

et al., 2001) or individuals with certain pathological con-

ditions (Polet and Katzenberg, 2003). All of these investi-

gations were limited to relatively small sites or sample

sizes which make it difﬁcult to evaluate some of the ﬁnd-

ings.

To explore the potential of stable carbon and nitrogen

isotope data for studying Medieval food consumption pat-

terns on a larger scale, we conducted analyses of 155

adult individuals from the Later Medieval priory of St.

Andrew, Fishergate in York (northern England). Since

there is good evidence that the individuals buried in var-

Grant sponsor: Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) Ref-

erence 02/61246.

*Correspondence to: Gundula M¨ ldner, Department of Archaeol-

ogy, University of Reading, Whiteknights, PO Box 227, Reading,

RG6 6AB, UK. E-mail: g.h.mueldner@reading.ac.uk

Received 5 December 2006; accepted 5 April 2007

DOI 10.1002/ajpa.20647

Published online 13 June 2007 in Wiley InterScience

(www.interscience.wiley.com).

2007 WILEY-LISS, INC.

DIET AT FISHERGATE

163

ious locations throughout the priory’s precinct belonged

to different social groups, Fishergate is a key assemblage

for biocultural investigations into Medieval British soci-

ety and has been extensively studied osteologically

(Stroud and Kemp, 1993; Kemp and Graves, 1996; see

for example Kn ¨ sel et al., 1997; Sullivan, 2004; Rhodes

and Kn ¨ sel, 2005). A previous small-scale stable isotope

study of 19 individuals conducted by Mays (1997) has

also already shown signiﬁcant variations in carbon iso-

tope ratios within the population which suggested that

the inmates of the priory consumed more marine foods

than lay people buried at the site. Following on from

this earlier investigation, yet with a greatly increased

number of samples, the present study therefore aims to

test the hypothesis that stable isotope analysis of bone

collagen can trace the social variation in Medieval diet

which is indicated by the documentary evidence and

therefore that it can make a contribution to wider ques-

tions surrounding diet and society in the Middle Ages.

This work was part of a larger project exploring die-

tary change from the Roman to the Early Modern period

in York by stable isotope analysis (M ¨ ldner, 2005). While

a detailed discussion of diet at Fishergate within its

chronological context is presented elsewhere (M ¨ ldner

and Richards, 2007), this article will focus on intrapopu-

lation patterns in the isotopic data.

highly differentiated in terms of social background and

status of the deceased. Burial location especially, at a

particular church, cathedral, or monastery and ideally in

direct proximity to a sacred focus such as an altar or

shrine, was regarded as an important means, not only

for displaying the social position of the deceased to the

world, but also for assisting in the swift passage of the

soul through Purgatory and into Heaven (Daniell, 1997;

Hadley, 2001; Gilchrist and Sloane, 2005). The Medieval

tradition of lay burial within monasteries became

increasingly popular from the 12th century onwards and

was usually granted in exchange for a bequest of land or

money. A resting place in a religious house was not only

more prestigious than burial at the local parish church,

it also meant that the souls of the deceased were

included in the daily prayers of the community (Daniell,

1997).

The Gilbertines are the only monastic order to be

founded in Medieval England. They were established in

AD 1139 by St. Gilbert of Sempringham, who adopted

the Augustinian Rule to regulate the life of his followers.

Hence, male Gilbertine religious houses were priories,

with a complement of canons headed by a prior who

were aided by lay brothers in manual and administrative

tasks (Golding, 1995).

The Gilbertine priory at the Church of St. Andrew,

Fishergate in York was probably established in AD 1195

and existed until the Dissolution under Henry VIII c.

AD 1538. Construction of the ﬁrst priory buildings began

around AD 1200 (Period 6a) and reconstructions and

alterations were carried out throughout the 14th to early

16th century (Periods 6b–f). They provide stratigraphic

evidence for dating many of the burials on the priory

grounds (Kemp and Graves, 1996; see captions Table 1).

The presence of numerous females and nonadults

among the individuals recovered from the priory site

indicates that the canons were accommodating lay bur-

ial. Although Fishergate was not a particularly pros-

perous community and it probably never attracted the

patronage of exceptionally wealthy benefactors, the pat-

terns of burials in different areas, in open cemeteries to

the south and east of the church as well as in various

locations inside the priory buildings (Fig. 1), allow some

differentiation of individuals in terms of their occupation

and social status (Stroud and Kemp, 1993; Kemp and

Graves, 1996). These will be outlined below.

BONE COLLAGEN STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS

AND DIETARY RECONSTRUCTION

with each trophic level. d 15 N ratios

can consequently be employed to infer the relative

importance of plant and animal products in the diet

(Katzenberg, 2000; Sealy, 2001). Crucially, however, they

cannot distinguish between meat and dairy products

from the same animal (O’Connell and Hedges, 1999).

Stable isotope measurements of skeletal remains are

most frequently obtained from bone collagen, not only

because it is the only signiﬁcant source of nitrogen in

bone, but also because its preservation can be assessed

by chemical indicators during routine analysis (DeNiro,

1985; van Klinken, 1999). Collagen is synthesized chieﬂy

from dietary protein (‘‘protein routing’’) and the isotopic

data are therefore biased towards high protein foods

(Ambrose and Norr, 1993; Tieszen and Fagre, 1993). Col-

lagen turnover rates vary between different types of

bone but available data for adults indicate that the iso-

topic composition of bone collagen reﬂects an average of

the dietary protein consumed over the last 10–30 years

of life (Wild et al., 2000).

The eastern cemetery

The individuals buried east of the priory church were

identiﬁed almost without exception as male and are

thought to represent members of the monastic commu-

nity. In particular, a distinct group of early burials

immediately east of the church, has been interpreted as

that of inmates of the priory, perhaps the initial comple-

ment of the House (Stroud and Kemp, 1993; Kemp and

Graves, 1996).

The southern cemetery

Graves in the cemetery south of the church were often

shallow, and it has been suggested that many of the

servants or laborers employed by the canons were

interred here. Among these, the burials of two priests

(YFG1428 and YFG6128) can be identiﬁed by the inclu-

sion of a mortuary chalice and/or paten in the graves

(Stroud and Kemp, 1993; see Daniell, 1997).

BURIAL AND SOCIAL STATUS AT THE

GILBERTINE PRIORY AT FISHERGATE

Despite the lack of grave goods and the apparent uni-

formity of the burial rite, Later Medieval burials were

American Journal of Physical Anthropology—DOI 10.1002/ajpa

Stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen for die-

tary reconstruction is based on the principle that the iso-

topic composition of body tissues reﬂects that of the food

consumed by individuals during tissue formation. Stable

carbon isotope ratios (d 13 C) differ characteristically

between foods from certain environments, such as plants

of different photosynthetic pathways (C 3 and C 4 )or

between (C 3 -based) terrestrial, and marine ecosystems

(Schwarcz and Schoeninger, 1991). Stable nitrogen iso-

tope ratios (d 15 N) are generally higher in aquatic than in

terrestrial ecosystems, but most importantly, they

increase by 3–5

164

G. M ¨ LDNER AND M.P. RICHARDS

TABLE 1. d 13 C and 15 N ratios, collagen quality indicators, osteological, and archaeological information

for humans from later Medieval Fishergate

Sample (YFG)

d 13 C d 15 N C/N %C %N %Coll. a

Sex Age Period Location Comments

1,082

18.7 13.5 3.3 45.1 15.7

12.4 M 36–45

S cem

1,085

19.4 11.1 3.2 41.8 15.5

1.6

F 26–35

S cem

1,410

19.6 11.2 3.4 43.4 14.9

3.9 M 46 þ

S cem

1,425

18.4 13.3 3.2 44.3 16.2

2.3 M 18–25

S cem

1,428

18.9 13.8 3.2 45.2 16.4

4.9 M 26–35

S cem

1,432

18.5 13.3 3.3 42.7 15.0

2.5 M 46 þ

S cem

1,436

18.9 12.9 3.4 45.2 15.6

5.2 M 18–25

S cem

1,443

19.7 10.3 3.3 45.0 15.7

5.9

F 26–35

S cem

1,457

18.9 13.4 3.3 41.4 14.6

2.9 M 26–35

S cem

1,464

19.9 10.2 3.4 44.9 15.6

10.2

F 18–25

S cem

1,479

19.4 12.2 3.3 41.5 14.7

2.4 M 18–25

S cem

1,494

19.0 14.4 3.2 44.8 16.5

7.2 M 26–35

S cem sc; priest

1,550

18.8 13.8 3.2 41.7 15.0

4.4 M 46 þ

S cem

1,562

19.4 11.7 3.3 42.4 15.3

2.4 M 18–25

S cem

1,585

20.2 10.8 3.3 42.6 15.1

3.2 M 18–25

S cem eg; blade

1,592

19.2 13.3 3.2 42.3 15.6

2.3 M 18–25

S cem eg; blad

1,722

19.2 11.9 3.3 44.3 15.5

4.0 M 18–25

S cem

2,049

18.1 14.8 3.3 44.0 15.6

3.0 M 26–35

nave

2,086

18.8 14.3 3.3 42.7 15.1

1.8 M 26–35

nave

2,094

18.3 14.7 3.3 43.8 15.6

3.1 M 46

nave

2,123

18.9 13.5 3.3 42.1 15.0

1.0 M 26–35

nave

2,125

17.9 15.2 3.3 43.5 15.6

3.6 M 46

nave

2,148

19.5 13.3 3.2 43.4 15.6

2.2

F 46

nave

2,157

18.7 13.4 3.3 42.5 15.1

2.4 M 46

nave

2,159

19.0 14.4 3.3 40.7 14.5

1.8 M 26–35

nave

2,163

18.7 12.9 3.6 44.7 14.8

1.5

F 18–25

nave

eg;

2,170

18.8 13.2 3.3 41.2 14.5

1.5 M 26–35

nave

2,172

18.6 13.1 3.3 37.0 13.0

1.2 M 26–35

nave

2,173

18.9 13.5 3.3 45.4 15.9

3.5

F 36–45

nave

2,178

18.7 14.2 3.3 43.6 15.5

2.7 M 36–45

nave

2,183

19.5 11.1 3.3 42.3 14.9

2.3

F 26–35

6a/b

nave

2,185

18.7 14.4 3.3 41.8 14.8

3.5 M 46 þ

nave

2,196

18.4 15.2 3.3 44.7 16.0

3.7 M 36–45

nave

eg; DISH

2,220

18.9 12.4 3.3 39.3 13.9

0.9 M 26–35

nave

2,222

19.6 13.3 3.3 46.3 16.5

11.6

F 36–45

6a/b

nave

2,227

17.9 14.0 3.4 45.9 15.8

9.6 M 46 þ

6a/b

nave

2,231

19.5 11.6 3.2 42.9 15.6

2.8

F 18–25

6a/b

nave

2,237

18.7 13.5 3.3 42.0 14.9

2.2

F 26–45

nave

2,244

18.6 14.1 3.4 43.3 15.0

2.5 M 36–45

nave

2,246

19.3 11.5 3.3 41.2 14.6

1.9

?F 36–45

6a/b

nave

2,255

19.2 12.9 3.5 31.2 10.3

0.9 M 18–25

6a/b

nave

2,257

18.9 14.0 3.3 40.3 14.4

1.4 M 36–45

nave

2,261

19.1 12.4 3.5 41.4 13.8

1.2 M 36–45

6a/b

nave

2,270

18.8 13.4 3.4 43.0 15.3

5.2 M 26–35

nave

2,291

19.6 13.1 3.3 39.6 13.8

5.4

F 36–45

6a/b

nave

2,297

20.0 11.7 3.3 41.8 15.0

2.4 M 36–45

nave

2,306

18.7 13.0 3.4 44.3 15.2

5.1

F 26–35

nave

2,309

18.9 12.7 3.2 42.3 15.2

2.3 M 26–35

nave

2,322

20.5

9.1 3.3 44.5 15.5

3.5

F 18–25

nave

2,325

19.4

9.8 3.3 43.4 15.3

1.6 M 18–25

nave

eg; blade

2,336

18.7 12.8 3.3 43.3 15.5

1.8 M 46

nave

2,344

19.5 11.8 3.3 39.1 13.7

4.2

F 36–45

nave

3,111

18.4 14.3 3.2 44.9 16.7

6.1 M 26–35

6a/b

ChH

3,152

18.4 14.2 3.3 42.1 15.3

2.5 M 18–25

alley

3,195

18.8 13.7 3.4 42.1 14.8

1.4 M 36–45

6a/b

ChH

3,202

19.2 12.8 3.4 44.2 15.5

2.3 M 18–25

alley

3,203

19.0 13.8 3.5 38.0 12.8

3.1 M 18–25

alley

3,258

19.0 13.3 3.4 42.8 14.5

1.7

F 36–45

alley

3,365

19.2 12.9 3.5 43.1 14.6

0.7

F adult

alley

3,522

19.4 12.8 3.2 41.7 15.0

7.0

F 26–35

alley

3,527

19.8 10.3 3.3 44.3 15.5

8.5

F 26–35

alley

3,530

18.7 13.6 3.3 45.4 16.0

7.8 M 36–45

alley

3,536

19.5 13.8 3.3 45.1 15.7

5.3

?M 36–45

alley

3,557

17.9 14.9 3.3 44.4 15.5

5.3 M 26–45

alley

3,567

19.4 13.4 3.5 41.3 13.7

0.5

F 36–45

alley

4,460

19.2 12.7 3.3 41.8 15.3

7.7 M 46 þ

alley

5,022

19.1 11.4 3.3 42.7 14.9

1.4 M 26–35

6a/b E cem

5,023

18.2 12.8 3.5 43.7 14.7

2.8 M 18–25

6a/b E cem

5,024

19.0 11.9 3.4 44.0 15.1

1.7 M 26–35

6a/b E cem

(continued)

American Journal of Physical Anthropology—DOI 10.1002/ajpa

DIET AT FISHERGATE

165

TABLE 1. (Continued)

Sample (YFG)

d 13 C d 15 N C/N %C %N %Coll. a

Sex Age Period Location Comments

5,062

19.2 12.6 3.4 44.2 15.3

3.2 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,063

18.6 12.5 3.3 43.4 15.3

3.2 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,064

18.6 13.3 3.5 46.3 15.2

2.9 M 46 þ

6a/b E cem

5,070

18.2 14.1 3.3 43.2 15.1

2.7 M 46 þ

6a/b E cem nc; DISH

5,071

18.4 13.2 3.2 44.3 16.2

6.1 M 26–35

6a/b E cem

5,075

18.7 12.7 3.4 43.3 14.9

2.8 M 26–35

6a/b E cem

5,076

19.3 12.7 3.3 43.9 15.4

2.3 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,078

19.3 13.1 3.3 43.7 15.4

3.6 M 46 þ

6a/b E cem

5,079

19.2 13.2 3.4 44.8 15.3

4.9 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,082

19.2 13.1 3.2 43.6 15.9

7.3 M 36–45

E cem

5,086

19.2 11.8 3.4 43.7 14.8

2.7 M 26–35

6a/b E cem

5,089

18.6 12.0 3.3 43.0 15.2

3.2 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,090

19.0 13.0 3.3 45.2 16.0

4.5 M 46 þ

6a/b E cem

5,095

19.2 12.9 3.3 40.7 14.6

2.3 M 46 þ

6a/b E cem

5,099

18.4 14.2 3.3 44.8 15.9

3.4 M 46 þ

6a/b E cem

5,120

18.9 13.3 3.3 43.4 15.4

5.6 M 26–35

6a/b E cem

5,133

18.9 12.7 3.3 44.6 15.8

3.0 M 26–35

6a/b E cem

5,136

18.3 12.7 3.4 43.2 14.8

1.9 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,137

18.8 13.5 3.2 45.5 16.4

6.1 M 26–45

6a/b

trans

5,138

18.5 14.7 3.3 42.1 15.1

3.2 M 18–25

6a/b

trans

5,149

19.0 13.7 3.2 44.1 15.7

3.8

F 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,150

19.7 10.7 3.3 44.3 15.9

4.3 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,156

18.5 14.0 3.3 44.9 15.9

4.5 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,157

19.2 12.3 3.3 44.6 15.6

1.5 M 26–35

6a/b E cem

5,162

19.0 13.7 3.2 44.6 15.8

7.2 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,183

18.8 12.4 3.3 45.4 16.1

3.5 M 46

6a/b E cem

5,190

19.3 12.8 3.3 44.3 15.7

9.3

F 46

6a/b

trans

5,192

18.7 12.5 3.3 45.0 16.0

4.4 M 26–35

6a/b E cem

5,251

18.7 14.4 3.3 43.9 15.7

4.4 M 36–45

cross

5,253

19.2 13.3 3.4 43.1 14.8

2.2

F 46

6a/b

trans

5,259

19.4 12.7 3.2 44.6 16.1

8.2 M 26–35

6a/b

trans

5,266

20.2 11.2 3.3 43.6 15.5

1.9 M 36–45

cross

5,301

20.2

9.9 3.3 40.1 14.2

1.6 M 36–45

cross

5,313

19.8 11.4 3.3 43.5 15.4

3.3 M 18–25

cross

5,315

19.7 11.4 3.4 44.7 15.6

2.9

F 36–45

cross

5,324

20.3 10.7 3.3 45.4 15.9

2.1

F 36–45

cross

5,325

20.4 10.4 3.3 43.4 15.5

1.6

F 26–35

cross

5,327

20.1 10.7 3.3 43.7 15.5

3.7

F 26–35

cross

5,331

20.6 10.7 3.3 44.3 15.7

8.0 M 36–45

cross

5,332

18.1 14.0 3.3 42.2 15.0

2.1 M 46 þ

6a/b E cem

5,334

19.4 11.2 3.3 44.7 15.9

3.8 M 26–35

6a/b E cem

5,335

18.8 13.7 3.2 41.6 14.9

9.9 M 18–25

6a/b E cem

5,336

19.6 11.7 3.3 43.1 15.1

1.9 M 18–25

6a/b E cem

5,340

18.9 12.7 3.2 44.9 16.1

4.7 M 18–25

6a/b

Presb

5,341

18.8 13.8 3.3 45.1 16.1

10.9 M 46 þ

6a/b

Presb

lime

5,349

18.4 14.2 3.2 44.7 16.2

5.4 M 36–45

6a/b

Presb

5,350

18.3 13.8 3.3 44.5 15.8

3.2 M adult

6a/b E cem

5,351

18.6 13.8 3.2 44.9 16.5

7.2 M 46

6a/b E cem nc; DISH

5,354

20.8

9.8 3.3 42.3 14.8

1.7 M 26–35

cross

nc; blade

5,356

19.9 10.8 3.2 43.7 15.7

2.7 M 26–35

cross

nc; blade

5,357

20.4 11.1 3.3 44.0 15.5

1.8

F 26–35

cross

5,362

18.4 13.3 3.3 44.0 15.5

3.2 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,585

19.6 12.4 3.2 45.3 16.7

5.9 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,641

19.0 13.7 3.2 43.9 15.9

7.5 M 46

6a/b E cem

5,642

18.3 14.7 3.3 43.9 15.5

5.7 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

5,690

18.8 13.2 3.3 45.2 16.2

7.2 M 46

E cem sts; DISH

5,720

16.5 17.2 3.2 45.1 16.4

2.9 M 18–25

6a/b

ChH nc; blade

5,724

18.7 13.1 3.3 44.5 15.7

2.6 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

6,063

19.3 12.8 3.4 41.0 14.2

1.7

F 46

nave

6,068

18.4 12.5 3.4 44.6 15.2

3.6 M 26–35

nave

6,082

19.1 13.4 3.4 44.8 15.2

3.3 M 36–45

nave

6,094

19.4 12.7 3.5 44.2 14.9

2.3

F 46 þ

nave

6,097

18.7 14.5 3.3 45.2 16.0

13.4 M 18–25

nave

6,109

18.7 12.5 3.4 44.9 15.5

4.5 M 26–35

nave

6,128

18.1 14.4 3.4 45.2 15.6

12.6 M 36–45

S cem eg; priest

6,171

18.7 12.7 3.3 41.4 14.8

12.5

F 26–35

S cem

6,183

19.4 12.5 3.3 41.9 15.0

2.7 M 26–35

S cem

6,187

19.2 12.0 3.2 41.5 15.0

2.4 M 36–45

S cem

6,189

20.0 11.6 3.3 40.0 14.1

1.7

F 26–35

S cem

6,192

19.7 12.4 3.3 43.7 15.6

2.9 M 26–35

S cem

6,218

19.4 12.4 3.3 45.2 16.0

5.9 M 36–45

S cem

(continued)

American Journal of Physical Anthropology—DOI 10.1002/ajpa

166

G. M ¨ LDNER AND M.P. RICHARDS

TABLE 1. (Continued)

Sample (YFG)

d 13 C d 15 N C/N %C %N %Coll. a

Sex Age Period Location Comments

6,245

18.7 13.4 3.4 38.0 13.1

1.9 M 46 þ

S cem

6,250

19.7 12.0 3.2 45.5 16.8

2.8 M 46 þ

S cem

6,256

19.5 12.1 3.2 42.6 15.7

8.6

F 36–45

S cem

6,274

19.4 11.4 3.2 42.8 15.7

1.4

F 26–35

S cem

6,277

19.1 12.3 3.3 42.6 15.1

0.9 M 18–25

S cem

6,303

20.0 11.8 3.3 44.8 16.0

5.1 M 36–45

S cem

6,367

20.0 12.4 3.3 43.6 15.3

4.1 M 46 þ

S cem

7,016

20.6 11.2 3.2 44.2 16.1

4.7 M 26–35

garth

7050

20.3 10.9 3.3 43.0 15.3

2.4 M 18–25

garth

nc; blade

7,052

19.3 10.7 3.3 42.3 15.0

3.4 M 18–25

garth

nc; blade

7,053

19.8 10.8 3.3 40.1 14.4

3.6 M 18–25

garth

nc; blade

10,013

19.2 12.9 3.3 43.1 15.5

2.9

F 36–45

6a/b E cem

10,266

18.0 14.3 3.3 43.6 15.6

13.2 M 36–45

6a/b E cem

10,268

19.9 12.7 3.3 42.0 15.0

2.1

F 26–35

6a/b E cem

10,269

18.5 14.6 3.2 41.5 14.9

2.1 M 46 þ

6a/b E cem

Osteological data after (Stroud and Kemp, 1993, age categories modiﬁed after assessment by GM (see M ¨ ldner, 2005).

Period key: 6a ¼ AD1195 – late 13th century; 6b ¼ late 13th to early 14th century; 6c ¼ early – mid 14th century; 6z ¼ 13th to 16th century.

Locations key: alley ¼ cloister alley; ChH ¼ chapter house; cross ¼ church crossing; E cem ¼ eastern cemetery; garth ¼ cloister

garth; presb ¼ presbytery; S cem ¼ southern cemetery; trans ¼ northern transept chapel.

Comments key: blade ¼ with perimortem sharp force trauma; eg ¼ earth grave; nc ¼ no grave cut observed; priest ¼ priest burial identiﬁed

by mortuary chalice and/or paten; sc ¼ stone cofﬁn; sts ¼ stone slabs; tg ¼ tile grave (see Stroud and Kemp 1993, for details on burial types).

a Note that the use of ultraﬁlters reduces collagen yields by 50% or more (GM, unpublished data).

The church and claustral buildings

All samples were prepared according to a modiﬁed

Longin method (Brown et al., 1988) as described in

M ¨ ldner and Richards (2005), and analyzed by continu-

ous-ﬂow isotope ratio mass spectrometry in the Depart-

ment of Archaeological Science, University of Bradford.

The analytical error (1 r ) affecting the isotopic measure-

ment was calculated from repeat analysis of internal lab-

oratory standards and was determined to be 60.2 % for

both elements.

The Fishergate dataset does not fulﬁll the conditions

for the application of parametric statistical tests (normal

distribution, equality of variances) and also has other

properties (presence of outliers, large differences in

group sizes) that make it unsuitable for the application

of the t test. Since the nonparametric equivalent, the

Mann-Whitney test, also assumes equality of variances

(Kasuya, 2001), the less well-known and conservative

two-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test was chosen

to statistically validate interpretations of the dataset

(Conover, 1999). All statistics were computed with the

assistance of SPSS 11.5 for Windows.

Inside the priory church, several burial zones were

identiﬁed. The presence of females in the nave, the

crossing and the northern transept chapel indicates that

these areas probably contained the graves of lay benefac-

tors. Burial in the presbytery, the eastern end of the

church where the canons were seated, may have been re-

served for members of the clergy (Stroud and Kemp,

1993; Kemp and Graves, 1996). A similar classiﬁcation is

possible for the burial areas north of the church: the

chapterhouse, cloister garth, and eastern cloister alley.

Only the alley contains female burials, although the

presence of males with peri-mortem blade injuries

(sharp-force trauma consistent with a sword or other

large blade weapon which showed no evidence of healing

before death) in both the cloister garth and the chapter-

house caused the excavators to question whether these

places were exclusive to members of the order or rather

locations of special signiﬁcance that also accommodated

lay burial (Stroud and Kemp, 1993, see further discus-

sion below; Kemp and Graves, 1996).

RESULTS

METHODOLOGY

Collagen quality indicators of all 155 samples were

within the accepted range (DeNiro, 1985; van Klinken,

1999; see Table 1). Basic statistics for the data-set are

skewed by the presence of one extreme outlier

(YFG5720) which exhibits carbon and nitrogen isotope

values that are more than three standard deviations

greater than the population means: d 13 C ratios of the

whole population range over 4.3 % (2.9 % without

YFG5720), from 20.8 to 16.5 % ( 17.9 % ), with a

mean of 19.1 % 6 0.6 % (1 r ) (unchanged). d 15 N values

range over 8.1 % (6.1 % without YFG5720), from 9.1 to

17.2

Altogether 271 individuals (males, females, and nona-

dults) were recovered from the priory excavations. The

male/female ratio of about 3.1 (173 males vs. 55 females)

likely reﬂects the monastic character of the site but also

the fact that lay burial in monasteries was requested

more often for men than for women (Stroud and Kemp,

1993; Daniell, 1997).

A total of 155 individuals were sampled for isotope

analysis. This selection originally comprised all adult

individuals for whom a well-deﬁned age and sex category

had been determined and who could be assigned to one

of the more closely dated sub-phases 6a–c (see Stroud

and Kemp, 1993). This sample was then modiﬁed to

include individuals from all burial locations. Basic bio-

logical and archaeological information for each individ-

ual is presented in Table 1.

(15.2

), with a mean of 12.8

1.3

(unchanged).

The distribution of isotope values for males and

females show signiﬁcant overlap (male mean

18.9

% 6

0.6

, 13.0

% 6 1.3

; female mean

19.5

% 6 0.5

). However, it is notable that the highest

values (d 13 C>

% 6 1.2

18.5

and d 15 N > 14.0

) are exhibited

American Journal of Physical Anthropology—DOI 10.1002/ajpa

12.1

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