Lead isotope data from the teeth of the two people showed that for both of them, their principal source of lead exposure was from manufactured objects which contained lead from UK ore sources rather than from foodstuffs. This is typical for Roman and medieval people, but means that the data cannot be used to comment on their place of childhood residence, other than to say it was a place where the main source of lead metal was the British Isles. The lead concentrations within their teeth were comparatively low for medieval people however, certainly no higher than people today. Strontium and oxygen isotope data were much more revealing of the place of childhood residence. The nearest areas where strontium isotopes this high could be found would be the Lake District of Cumbria to the west and south-western Scotland.
Oxygen isotopes tell a similar story.
Although the later, Christian had childhood drinking water of a similar composition to that of rain falling in the centre or east of northern England, the earlier man with the grave goods grew up drinking water with a composition that can only be found in the Lake District and western coastal areas of south-western Scotland. Our results show that it is unlikely that either of these people grew up in the immediate area of Bamburgh, but almost certainly to the west or north-west. Although we are less certain about the specific place at which our Christian grew up, it is most likely that the earlier individual spent early childhood at the western periphery of Northumbrian influence. The suggestion that Bamburgh drew people to the royal court from it's entire territory would appear to be supported by this new evidence, although only the analysis of many more of the people buried there will allow us to complete the picture. The closing years of the 7 th century AD were turbulent times in the Kingdom of Northumbria in the north eastern corner of what would much later come to be the unified nation of England.