A Stable Isotopic Investigation into Diet and Mobility at the Medieval Cemetery at Sutton Road, Milton, Oxfordshire

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

A stable isotope investigation of diet and mobility was conducted on individuals excavated from the medieval cemetery of Sutton Road, Milton, Oxfordshire. Fifty individuals were excavated from the cemetery, many of whom exhibited evidence for degenerative diseases and trauma. Skeletal analysis also indicates a significantly older population than is common in a medieval cemetery. These characteristics indicate that Sutton Road may have been a center for healing, and the stable isotope analysis was conducted to determine whether the population was composed of primarily local or non-local individuals. Rib and femur samples from forty-two individuals were analyzed for carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N), and sulphur (δ34S) isotope values to reconstruct adult diet and mobility. Enamel samples were taken from first and/or second molars from seven individuals for oxygen (δ18O) isotope analysis to reconstruct childhood mobility. Results from two of the seven individuals have oxygen values not compatible with Britain. Overall, isotopic data indicate that over 50% of the burial population settled in Oxfordshire in adulthood. This suggests that the Sutton Road community was likely a center for healing or pilgrimage based on the identification of numerous individuals from outside of Oxfordshire.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36892.0