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Food plays an important role in cultural identity, and can be used in archaeology to identify patterns of migration and assimilation. The early medieval inhabitants of Scandinavia are known to have had a marine-focused diet, but the extent to which they brought these culinary traditions with them to England is not fully understood. A new study by researchers from the University of York has sought to address this by exploring whether fish played a role in the cultural integration of Vikings into early medieval England.
During this research (the full results of which are published in Antiquity, https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2026.10288), the team examined the lipid residue profiles of more than 350 medieval ceramic vessels, 270 of which provided sufficient quantities of fatty acids for analysis. By comparing the distribution of C16:0 and C18:0 fatty acids with reference marine and freshwater fish oils, they could identify whether these containers had held aquatic products. This method has its drawbacks, however, as it can be difficult to interpret results for vessels that were also used to cook other foodstuffs. The researchers therefore also looked specifically for alkylphenyl alkanoic acids (APAAs), formed during the protracted heating of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which are found in large concentrations in fish oils.
The team found that only 4.4% of the vessels contained evidence of aquatic products. This is in sharp contrast to previously analysed ceramics from Norse contexts in Shetland and Orkney, as well as from Aarhus and Ribe in Denmark, where around 60% were found to contain fish oils. The more recent findings were remarkably consistent, however, despite the team analysing a wide variety of pottery – including jars, pitchers, bowls, and other vessel types – spanning the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries. They had diverse geographical origins, too, coming from northern, central, and southern England, and deriving from both rural and urban contexts. Rather than seafood, these containers appear to have been predominantly used to cook the meat of animals such as sheep/goats, cattle, deer, pigs, and poultry, as well as dairy products.
The distinct absence of fish was surprising, as many of the vessels were of a type that appeared in England following the invasion of the Great Viking Army in the 9th century, and had been linked with the arrival of Scandinavians. Despite this pottery revolution, it appears that the Vikings were not able to convince the local population to use these new vessels to cook their traditional cuisine, as there was no difference between the residue in these pots and that in their Anglo-Saxon precursors in terms of fish products.
This does not mean that aquatic proteins were not being consumed at all, however. In the archaeological record, particularly from c.AD 1000, fish bones become more prevalent in refuse dumps – a phenomenon known as the Fish Event Horizon. It is possible that fish was instead cooked using methods that did not involve pottery. So, while the consumption of fish does appear to have increased in England following the invasion of the Vikings, particularly from c.AD 1000 onwards, it does not seem that Scandinavian cooking methods were as successful in their introduction.
The team note: ‘What is often taken as the most distinctive marker of “Viking” culinary identity – fish – does not appear to have made a substantial imprint on the material culture of Anglo-Saxon England. Instead, the culinary habits of communities living in pre-Viking and Viking Age England share remarkable similarities in relation to aquatic products, in contrast to what is seen in pre-Viking and Viking Age Scandinavia.’
Text: Kathryn Krakowka / Photo: Dr Steven Ashby
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