Although recent historical ecology studies have extended quantitative knowledge of eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua)exploitation back as far as the 16th century, the historical origin of the modern fishery remains obscure. Widespreadarchaeological evidence for cod consumption around the eastern Baltic littoral emerges around the 13th century, threecenturies before systematic documentation, but it is not clear whether this represents (1) development of a substantialeastern Baltic cod fishery, or (2) large-scale importation of preserved cod from elsewhere. To distinguish between thesehypotheses we use stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to determine likely catch regions of 74 cod vertebrae andcleithra from 19 Baltic archaeological sites dated from the 8th to the 16th centuries.d13C and d15N signatures for six possiblecatch regions were established using a larger sample of archaeological cod cranial bones (n=249). The data stronglysupport the second hypothesis, revealing widespread importation of cod during the 13th to 14th centuries, most of itprobably from Arctic Norway. By the 15th century, however, eastern Baltic cod dominate within our sample, indicating thedevelopment of a substantial late medieval fishery. Potential human impact on cod stocks in the eastern Baltic must thus betaken into account for at least the last 600 years

Peer Review, International Redaction Board, Impact Factor, Open Access

IF 2011 = 4,092