# Food & Agriculture in Prehistoric & Medieval Scotland with Maureen Kilpatrick

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-british-food-history-podcast-4064947/food-agriculture-in-prehistoric-medieval-scotland-with-maureen-kilpatrick.md
Podcast: [The British Food History Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-british-food-history-podcast-4064947)
Published: 2026-06-27T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://the-british-food-history-podcast.captivate.fm
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/episodes.captivate.fm/episode/5248a307-40ae-4b6a-894b-982a82f2ad67.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2318

## Resource

Today I am speaking with Maureen Kilpatrick of Guard Archaeology, a Scottish archaeology firm that has dug sites all over Scotland, but today we are focusing on one site called Guardbridge, in Fife, where the timespan the finds ranged from is astounding: from the Stone Age to the 13th century. Several finds were food-related. The site is amazing – there’s an Iron Age fort, there are field demarcations, evidence of food and how it was processed and cooked, as well as lots of evidence of the community moving from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a settled farming one. We talk about the material objects found on site, such as saddle querns, axes and ploughing tools, food remains like emmer wheat, barley, cockles and the indestructible hazelnut, non-slip pottery and the surprisingly late appearance of oats, amongst many other things. Those listening to the secret podcast get some bonus material where we discuss whether modern agriculture with its mechanised ploughs is a help or a hindrance to archaeologists these days. Read the full report: ARO61: Guardbridge, Fife: A multi-period settlement with a multi-vallate fort Follow Guard Archaeology in X/Twitter @GUARD_Archaeol Season 10 of the podcast is sponsored by Netherton Foundry, makers of high-quality kitchen and outdoor cookware. Netherton Foundry ships to several countries outside of the UK, including the USA and Canada. Visit www.netherton-foundry.co.uk to find out more about their wonderful products – approved not just by me but by folk such as Tom Parker-Bowles, Diana Henry and Nigella Lawson. The mixing and sound engineering were done by Thomas Ndinas of The Delicious Legacy podcast If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus…

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