title: Deciphering diet and monitoring movement: Multiple stable isotope analysis of the viking age settlement at Hofstaðir, Lake Mývatn, Iceland.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A previous multi-isotope study of archaeological faunal samples from Skútustaðir, an early Viking age settlement on the southern shores of Lake Mývatn in north-east Iceland, demonstrated that there are clear differences in δ(34)S stable isotope values between animals deriving their dietary protein from terrestrial, freshwater, and marine reservoirs. The aim of this study was to use this information to more accurately determine the diet of humans excavated from a nearby late Viking age churchyard.
  
  
  METHODS
  δ(13)C, δ(15)N, and δ(34)S analyses were undertaken on terrestrial animal (n = 39) and human (n = 46) bone collagen from Hofstaðir, a high-status Viking-period farmstead ∼10 km north-west of Skútustaðir.
  
  
  RESULTS
  δ(34)S values for Hofstaðir herbivores were ∼6‰ higher relative to those from Skútustaðir (δ(34)S: 11.4 ± 2.3‰ versus 5.6 ± 2.8‰), while human δ(13)C, δ(15)N, and δ(34)S values were broad ranging (-20.2‰ to -17.3‰, 7.4‰ to 12.3‰, and 5.5‰ to 14.9‰, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest that the baseline δ(34)S value for the Mývatn region is higher than previously predicted due to a possible sea-spray effect, but the massive deposition of Tanytarsus gracilentus (midges) (δ(34)S: -3.9‰) in the soil in the immediate vicinity of the lake is potentially lowering this value. Several terrestrial herbivores displayed higher bone collagen δ(34)S values than their contemporaries, suggesting trade and/or movement of animals to the region from coastal areas. Broad ranging δ(13)C, δ(15)N, and δ(34)S values for humans suggest the population were consuming varied diets, while outliers within the dataset could conceivably have been migrants to the area.
authors.affiliation: Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, Scotland, G75 0QF, UK.
authors.forename: Kerry L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Sayle
authors.affiliation: Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, Scotland, G75 0QF, UK.
authors.forename: W Derek
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.affiliation: Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, Scotland, G75 0QF, UK.
authors.forename: Gordon T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park, East Kilbride, Scotland, G75 0QF, UK.
authors.forename: Philippa L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Ascough
authors.affiliation: Fornleifastofnun Íslands (Institute of Archaeology), Reykjavík, Iceland.
authors.forename: Hildur
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gestsdóttir
authors.affiliation: Hunter Zooarchaeology Laboratory, Hunter College CUNY, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: McGovern
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry; D066046:Diet, Paleolithic / Q000266:history*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D049690:History, Ancient; D063426:Human Migration / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D007055:Iceland; D007554:Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D014070:Tooth / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D007554:Isotopes; D003094:Collagen
keywords: Iceland; carbon; nitrogen; palaeodiet; sulfur