Diet of the Picts revealed in mass study of skeletons

The diet of the Pictish people has been revealed for the first time following a large-scale analysis of more than 100 skeletons buried in the Highlands.

The Picts avoided fish and preferred to eat barley, beef and other meats despite their seafaring ways and close proximity to the coast, the study has found.

Dr Shirley Curtis-summers, lecturer in archaeological and forensic sciences at the University of Bradford, studied 137 skeletons buried under the old Tarbat Parish Church in Portmahomack, Easter Ross.

The remains span hundreds of years of Highland history, including two periods of Pictish life: from the 6th century when the land was used by a farming community, and subsequently, as a Pictish monastery.

The skeletal analysis showed that a small Pictish community which settled between 550 and 700AD ate a healthy diet of plants such as barley, with some animal protein such as beef, lamb and pork, from both farming and small-scale hunting.

It is possible that fish wasn’t eaten given that salmon, for example, held an important and special place in Pictish folklore.

Dr Curtis-summers said: “Pictish sea power is evident from archaeological remains of naval bases, as at Burghead, and references to their ships in contemporary annals, so we know they were familiar with the sea and would surely have been able to fish.

“We also know from Pictish stone carvings that salmon was a very important symbol for them, possibly derived from earlier superstitious and folklore beliefs that include stories about magical fish, such as the ‘salmon of knowledge’, believed to have contained all the wisdom in the world.

“It’s likely that fish were considered so special by the Picts that consumption was deliberately avoided.”

The Picts were one of Scotland’s earliest civilisations, skilled in farming and with a sophisticated culture, but until now little has been known about what they ate.

Dr Curits-summers analysed the bones for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios and combined this with analysis of animal bones found at the site.

The study also revealed that Pictish males probably ate more animal meat than females, possibly because they needed more sustenance to hunt.