Changing diets in Pictish Portmahomack

Current Archaeology ^ | July 1, 2020 | Amy Brunskill

[SunkenCiv]

Interestingly, there is no evidence that this community ate any marine or freshwater fish, despite the fact that it would have been readily available in their coastal location. Archaeological evidence of naval bases, depictions of boats and sea beasts on Pictish stones, and references in literature demonstrate that Pictish communities had a relationship with the sea and would have been able to fish. However, images of salmon in Pictish carvings could indicate that fish had some symbolic importance, and it has been suggested that the consumption of all fish was deliberately avoided, or reserved for a select few.

The Picts who lived in the monastery that was built on the site c.AD 700 appear to have had a similar diet to their predecessors, although they may have consumed more meat. Additionally, a small quantity of fish bones was found, indicating that, although it was rare, fish was occasionally consumed by the monks. One burial, a middle-aged man, stood out from the others as having a much higher carbon-isotope ratio than the others, suggesting that he may have been a higher-status individual, perhaps the head of the monastery, who had privileged rights to eat fish.

The monastery declined after a Viking raid c.AD 800 (see CA 205 and 321), and it appears that the local lay population in the mid to late medieval period ate much more fish, possibly as a result of changing religious and cultural practices that allowed for the replacement of meat with fish during fasting, in addition to an increase in the fishing trade in Britain.

[SunkenCiv]

Old Tarbat Church. ©Tarbat Discovery Programme

[SunkenCiv]

[gundog]

Was their diet restricted to several species of small furry animals?

[ClearCase_guy]

Were they Paleo?

[SunkenCiv]

It was rough being a small furry animal.

[Varda]

Usually a change in culture after the Vikings have been somewhere means they massacred the locals. Case in point, Orkney Island.
My first question is the DNA from the locals the same pre and post “mid to late medieval period”?

[gundog]

’Twas ever thus.

[bassmaner]

... that were gathered together in a cave and grooving with them?

[SunkenCiv]

Mmm, must be Pictish thanksgiving!

[SunkenCiv]

The Vikings also settled some of those islands after they’d been abandoned, after earlier populations died out, or were the first settlement that has been found to date. They were happy enough to just kill all the men and take all the women. I’ve noticed that when talking with people who have also had their DNA done.

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/skarabrae/index

[married21]

Are there people today who claim Pictish heritage?

[SunkenCiv]

The ancestors of the Scots invaded and colonized from Ireland, and the Pictish population was subsumed into a probably numerically greater population. Pictish literacy vanished.

Not long after, the Vikings swarmed over the British Isles. Among people with British or mostly-British roots, it's not surprising to find in excess of 30 percent Scandinavian DNA even where there's no genealogical records to support it. I've got known Scottish (great-gma) and Irish (great-great-gms) roots, and I still have more Scandinavian DNA. :^)

[married21]

Interesting.

[SunkenCiv]

• DNA Test Can Detect Picts' Descendants [08/14/2006]

[Rebelbase]

Destiny arrives.

[SunkenCiv]

The rest of the Picts and Pictish keywords, chrono, duplicates out:

• Ancient Tap O' Noth hillfort in Aberdeenshire one of 'largest ever' [2020]
• Human remains at ancient Pictish cemetery on Orkney exposed by storms [2020]
• A Newly Discovered Pictish Stone for Easter Ross [2019]
• Pictish skeleton found at 1,400-year-old Highland cemetery [2019]
• Druids [2019]
• Early Roman 'horseshoes' dug up from Vindolanda fort ditch [2018]
• Medieval games board found in search for Pictish monastery [Hnefatafl] [2018]
• Archaeologists return to site of 'lost Pictish monastery' [2018]
• Digital exploration of the Sculptor's Cave [Moray, Scotland] [2017]
• Roman Silver Hoard Discovered in Scotland [2016]
• So, Just How Good Are You At Puzzles? [2015]
• Unearthed: hoard of Roman and Pictish silver found in Aberdeenshire field [2014]
• 'Early Pictish Royal remains' discovered at Rhynie [2013]
• New excavations to find lost Pictish kingdom [2013]
• World's most mysterious buildings [2012]
• Discovery of early medieval royal stronghold in southwest Scotland [ the Picts ] [2012]
• Dig team find proof there were Picts on the Brough of Deerness before the Vikings [2011]
• Pictish beast intrigues Highland archaeologists [2011]
• Dunning Iron Age find shows Roman-Pictish link [2011]
• King Arthur's round table may have been found by archaeologists in Scotland [2011]
• Sex, Tweets, and Rock Hard Pols [2011]
• Michelle Obama Depicted As Chubby And Greedy In Republican Cartoon [Picts] [2011]
• Ancient language mystery deepens (Scotland) [2010]
• Gene Study Shows Ties Long Veiled in Europe [repost] [2010]
• English and Welsh are races apart DNA [2010]
• Fatal assaults 30 times higher among poor Scots than among most affluent [2010]
• New Written Language of Ancient Scotland Discovered [2010]
• How seat fit for a king has cast new light on Scotland's dark ages [2009]
• 'Hardwired' to create rock doodles; professor says ancient art was 'an instinct' [2009]
• Clues to ancient invasion in DNA [ Scotland, Ireland, Picts, Vikings ] [2009]
• Archaeologists may reveal millennium stone secrets [ Picts , St Orland's stone ] [2008]
• Ancient palace found in dig on hill[UK] [2008]
• Pictish stone found by gravedigger most significant in decade - expert[Shetland] [2008]
• Lasers Conserve Pictish Treasures [2008]
• Peoples Of Britain [2007]
• 'Lost' Coronation Abbey Unearthed (Robert The Bruce) [2007]
• Giant flood separates Britain from Europe [2007]
• The Sea Peoples [2006]
• We're nearly all Celts under the skin [In Great Britain] [2006]
• Scotland's Whirling Goddess or the Holy Grail? [2006]
• Ancient Welsh city found [2006]
• DNA Test Can Detect Picts' Descendants [2006]
• World Heritage bid hope for wall [ Antonine Wall in Scotland ] [2006]
• Shetland's past comes to life amid the ruins [2006]
• Fairies stop developers' bulldozers in their tracks [2005]
• Dig Unearths 1,500 Year Old 'Tarbat Man' (Pict) [2005]
• Europe's oldest civilisation unearthed [2005]
• London - Red hair may be the genetic legacy of Neanderthals... [2005]
• Viking burial ground dispels myth of longship marauders [2004]
• The berber and Scots [2004]
• Ogham alphabet [2004]
• Split Between English and Scots Older Than Thought [2004]
• Roman Brooch find in Shetland extends ancient travel routes [2003]
• Y Chromosomes Rewrite British History [2003]
• Who Were The Celts? [2002]
• Lost Capital Of Scotland Uncovered [2002]
• English And Welsh Are Races Apart [2002]
• Genetic Survey Reveals Hidden Celts Of England [2001]

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Oh great. Now I’ll have to not only apologize for being white but for my Scandinavian heritage too.

[SunkenCiv]

The Picts... may have developed their own written language about 1,700 years ago, according to results from new excavations... these people may have gotten the idea for a written language from the Romans. The language is based on a series of symbols the Picts carved on stone, bone, metalwork and other artifacts. "In the last few decades, there has been a growing consensus that the symbols on these stones are an early form of language," Gordon Noble, head of archaeology at the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom and the senior author of the Antiquity paper, said in a statement. However, until now, it's been unclear when or how this language developed, with some scholars believing it was invented during the Middle Ages, after the Romans left Britain... At one of these sites, called Dunnicaer... the fort was in use between the second and fourth centuries A.D. That suggested that the Pictish stones, which were found near the fort's rampart wall during the 19th century, also date to that time, the scientists wrote in their paper. The researchers also studied a wooden enclosure found at another Pictish site, called Rhynie, where stone symbols have been found. New dating of the enclosure revealed that the site was in use between the fourth and sixth centuries A.D... Based on their research, the scientists concluded that the Pictish language was likely developed in the third or fourth century A.D., and it may have been inspired, to a degree, by the Romans, who also used a writing system at the time... The scientists also noted that around the time that the Picts developed their language, a writing system known today as Runes was developed in Scandinavia and parts of Germany. Another system, known as Ogham, emerged in Ireland... "As with Runes and Ogham, the Pictish symbols were also probably created beyond the frontier in response to Roman literacy," the researchers wrote. It is unlikely that Pictish will be deciphered, unless a text written in both Pictish and a known language is discovered, Noble told Live Science. "I guess something like that could be found, but [that] will rely on further excavations," Noble said.

'Painted People' in Scotland Developed Written Language 1,700 Years Ago

The Picts carved these symbols on stone and other artifacts. (Image credit: Fulcanelli/Shutterstock)

[Varda]

Maybe but this particular place was a Pictish settlement when the Vikings arrived.

[Varda]

Not to the Brits you don't. When I was there they were trying to concoct a story of the peaceful misunderstood Vikings who were slandered by those vicious hateful monks who made up stories.
Of course the they had trouble explaining why the last Pictish bodies on Orkney (man,woman,child not related to each other) were found in a dump dated to the time the Vikings established their colony there and Pictish DNA just happened to become rare at that time.