Masson-MacLean, EdouardNiehaus, SesiliaFraser, ElizabethLee, VeronicaPrado, ShalenCzére, OrsolyaFawcett, JovitaO'Driscoll, JamesGirdland-Flink, LinusNoble, GordonBritton, Kate2023-08-222023-08-222023-08-14Masson-MacLean, E, Niehaus, S, Fraser, E, Lee, V, Prado, S, Czére, O, Fawcett, J, O'Driscoll, J, Girdland-Flink, L, Noble, G & Britton, K 2023, 'New zooarchaeological evidence from Pictish sites in Scotland : implications for early medieval economies and animal-human relationships', Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, vol. 2, 1208908. https://doi.org/10.3389/fearc.2023.12089082813-432XBibtex: 10.3389/fearc.2023.1208908ORCID: /0000-0001-5789-6846/work/141302552ORCID: /0000-0002-9732-4583/work/176228734https://hdl.handle.net/2164/21517Funding This research was part of the Northern Picts Project (2009–2015), The Comparative Kingship Project (since 2017) funded by the Leverhulme Trust as part of a Research Leadership Award under Grant RL-2016-069, and Historic Environment Scotland Citadel project—code is RG15531-10. KB was supported by the Leverhulme Trust (PLP-2019–284). Acknowledgments We wish to thank the two reviewers for their constructive comments that have improved the original version of this paper. We thank the University of Aberdeen students and volunteer excavators who participated in the excavations and the onsite collection of samples as well as helping clean and sort the faunal material. We also wish to thank Zena Timmons and Jerry Herman (National Museum of Scotland) for access to NMS collections and for their time. Thanks to funding from Don and Elizabeth Cruickshank that allowed many of the excavations referenced here to take place and enabled publication of results.10884173engSubstantive connection via eligible employment contractanimal remainsagriculturepastoralismsubsistencedieteconomyCC ArchaeologySupplementary DataCCJournal article10.3389/fearc.2023.12089082