Abstract
Medieval societies exhibited significant stratification and food was a prominent social status marker. Individual’s social standing was often discernible through their dietary habits, as revealed by isotopic analyses of medieval skeletal remains. My research hypothesises that individuals with higher wealth and possessions held more significant influence over resource distribution and control within the community, resulting in distinct socio-economic hierarchies and disparities in resource access among different societal strata in medieval Oslo. This stratification extends to the food chain, where higher social classes typically access more exclusive foods due to their broader resource pool, while lower classes have simpler dietary choices. My thesis utilises stable carbon and nitrogen results from 36 individuals within St. Nicholas's churchyard in Gamlebyen, Oslo (Norway), spanning the 13th to 15th centuries as a case study. This case study aims to explore dietary habits and answer whether the diets of individuals in the churchyard were uniform or diverse. Additionally, by examining location-based patterns within the churchyard, a broader understanding of rank-related behavioural tendencies alongside dietary practices in medieval Norwegian societies is developed. Ultimately, I examine the correlation between dietary patterns identified through stable isotope analyses and the differences in inferred social status based on the burial locations within St. Nicholas's churchyard. The stable isotope results indicate that most individuals' diets encompass various food sources, incorporating contributions from both land and sea. Notably, terrestrial input has a significant presence, indicating a high-protein diet. The isotopic findings across three burial areas do not reflect significant differences in diet, suggesting a uniform dietary pattern among individuals. This lack of distinction makes it challenging to confirm the presence of social stratification at the churchyard based on dietary differences.