%0 Book Section
%A Müldner, Gundula
%A Richards, Michael P.
%+ Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
%T Diet in Medieval England : The evidence from stable isotopes : 
%G eng
%U https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0010-01CB-6
%F EDOC: 301940
%R 10.1093/oso/9780199273492.003.0016
%D 2006
%* Review method: peer-reviewed
%X This chapter introduces a relatively novel method of exploring medieval food- ways, the direct measure of past human diets through stable isotope analysis of bone collagen. This analysis reflects long-term dietary averages and is used to gain information on broad categories of foods consumed by humans in the past. In medieval historical and archaeological studies there is a tendency to focus on the specifics of diet. Approaches such as isotope analysis, which provide evidence of general dietary patterns, have therefore only rarely been applied. By contrast, isotopic methods are widely used in prehistoric archaeology, as this field does not have the benefit of documentary sources. The method is briefly outlined here and then the chapter presents results of the isotope analyses for a number of English medieval sites. It aims to demonstrate that in combination with the rich textual evidence from this period, isotope analysis can tell us new and unique information about diet and its role in medieval society.
%B Food in medieval England : diet and nutrition
%E Woolgar, Christopher M.; Serjeantson, D.; Waldron, T.
%P 228 - 238
%I Oxford Univ. Press
%C Oxford [u.a.]
%S Medieval history and archaeology