Dietary Practices of the Gauja Livs

the 11th–12th century CE. This region is presently lacking in bioarchaeological material (human bones
and ancient plant remains), which is typically used for decoding the ancient diet. To tackle this problem
pottery fragments from Turaida hillfort and Pūteļi cemetery were studied using Lipid Residue Analysis.
Samples included both pottery clay matrix and burnt foodcrusts. The main goal of the study was to
obtain direct information on the food substances consumed by the Gauja Livs, based on the pottery
material from Turaida hillfort and from the local cemetery to reassess existing assumptions about
their dietary practices both in mundane and ritual contexts. The lipid residue results revealed the main
food groups consumed by the community contained terrestrial animal and aquatic products, but also
provided insights into a potential mixing of different foodstuffs. Some of the expected foodstuffs
were not found in or on the analysed pottery, leaving the possibility for a hypothetical use of cooking
practices that might have excluded ceramic vessels. This research also gives preliminary indications
of gender-based dietary patterns if assessed in context with other studies from the eastern Baltic Sea
region in the pre-medieval and early medieval period.