Restriction lift date: 2029-05-31
An isotopic examination of mobility and female identity in early medieval Ireland
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Date
2023
Authors
Daly, Niamh
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University College Cork
Published Version
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to enhance the visibility and understanding of female activities in Early Medieval Ireland, thus, bridging a gap in the historical narrative. It is hypothesised that residential mobility patterns at an individual level will enable us to differentiate between cultural ideologies (as expressed through historical sources) and the lived experience of individual agents in early medieval Ireland (c.400-1200AD). Stable carbon (δ13C), and oxygen (δ18O) and radiogenic strontium (Sr87/Sr86) isotopic analysis was undertaken on human enamel sampled from (n=33 individuals (26 adult females/7 adult males) from four early medieval cemeteries from Co. Galway in the west of Ireland and two early medieval cemeteries from Co. Kildare in the east of Ireland. This research identified individuals from both regions who may not have been ‘local’ to the regions under study, based on the creation of unique Sr87/Sr86 baseline datasets from archaeological faunal and modern vegetation on which to compare the data to. Thus, demonstrating that the isotopic analysis of human remains sampled from two different regions in Ireland can further our understanding of residential mobility patterns in early medieval Ireland. Ultimately, this study aimed to increase the visibility of the female narrative in this period of Irish history.
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Keywords
Isotope analysis , Early medieval Ireland , Residential mobility , Female
Citation
Daly, N. 2023. An isotopic examination of mobility and female identity in early medieval Ireland. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.