Diet and mobility during the Christian conquest of Iberia: The multi-isotopic investigation of a 12th–13th century military order in Évora, Portugal

Abstract

The Kingdom of Portugal was established with the help of military-monastic orders, which provided important defence against Muslim armies during the 12th-13th century Christian conquest. While historical sources document the main events of this period, this research seeks to elucidate individual lifestyles and movement, aspects typically absent from written records. A multi-isotopic approach was used on skeletal material from eight Christian and two Muslim burials from Évora, Portugal (11th-13th centuries). Anthropological and archaeological evidence suggests the Christian adults belonged to the Évora Militia, which we seek to confirm through the reconstructed diet and mobility of these individuals. Stable carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotopes were measured in bone collagen, and radiogenic strontium, carbonate stable oxygen and apatite stable carbon isotopes were measured in tooth enamel. Results of the stable oxygen and radiogenic strontium isotopes indicated diverse origins of the Christian population, while at least one individual was local. The Muslim adult was local, as anticipated. The δ 13 C en (enamel) values provide evidence of childhood consumption of different cereals (C 3 and C 4 ), possibly linked to social status. The δ 13 C col (bone collagen) human values indicated mostly C 3 diets with varying inputs of C 4 , while δ 15 N reflected high protein intake overall. The mean diet-consumer spacing of this population was compared to other isotopic studies from Medieval Iberia and other European monastic/convent populations. A visible trend emerged in populations that likely followed religious fasting rules, including the Évora Christians. The results of this study indicate that the Order of Évora was composed of members from diverse geographic and possibly social origins, an aspect previously unclear in written sources. applied stable isotopes to reconstruct the way of life of medieval populations. This approach is used here to investigate the Christian conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, which was a period of significant cultural, religious and ideological change. During the 12th and 13th centuries, military monastic orders were established and expanded throughout Spain and Portugal to capture cities and towns from Islamic control and protect them against recurring attacks (Faria, 2001;Farwell and Molleson, 1993). A series of excavations in the museum cellars in

Sex differences in diet and life conditions in a rural Medieval Islamic population from Spain (La Torrecilla, Granada): An isotopic and osteological approach to gender differentiation inal‐Andalus

“…Spain and Portugal has focused on paleodietary and mobility reconstructions (Alexander et al, 2015;Alexander et al, 2019;Fuller et al, 2010;Guede et al, 2017;Inskip et al, 2018;MacRoberts et al, 2020;Mundee, 2010;Osipov et al, 2020;Prevedorou et al, 2005;Salazar-García et al, 2014;Salazar-García et al, 2016;Toso et al, 2019), and to a lesser extent, on the analysis of health and physical activity patterns (e.g., al-Oumaoui et al, 2004;Inskip, 2013;Jiménez-Brobeil et al, 2012;Laffranchi, Martín Flórez, et al, 2016;Osipov et al, 2020;Pomeroy & Zakrzewski, 2009). Intrapopulation differences suggestive of a gender differentiation in diet were found in the rural community of Tauste (Guede et al, 2017) and the S ao Jorge Castle of Lisbon (Toso et al, 2019).…”

“…Bioarchaeological research on Medieval Islamic populations in Spain and Portugal has focused on paleodietary and mobility reconstructions (Alexander et al, 2015; Alexander et al, 2019; Fuller et al, 2010; Guede et al, 2017; Inskip et al, 2018; MacRoberts et al, 2020; Mundee, 2010; Osipov et al, 2020; Prevedorou et al, 2005; Salazar‐García et al, 2014; Salazar‐García et al, 2016; Toso et al, 2019), and to a lesser extent, on the analysis of health and physical activity patterns (e.g., al‐Oumaoui et al, 2004; Inskip, 2013; Jiménez‐Brobeil et al, 2012; Laffranchi, Martín Flórez, et al, 2016; Osipov et al, 2020; Pomeroy & Zakrzewski, 2009).…”

Diversity aboard a Tudor warship: investigating the origins of theMary Rosecrew using multi-isotope analysis

“…FCS-70 and FCS-81 have 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values consistent with various Mesozoic lithologies around the Mediterranean [ 110 , 127 ]. They have higher δ 18 O p values than would generally be expected of residents of southern Europe (FCS-70 = 21.2‰, FCS-81 = 19.8‰), especially FCS-70 [ 128 – 130 ] (but see [ 131 ]). They also have very low δ 34 S values (0.6‰ and −3.3‰, respectively), which excludes origins within coastal zones and raises the possibility of areas of wetland/impervious geology [ 58 , 60 , 61 ].…”

“…Although an δ 18 O p value of 21.2‰ is rather high for residence in Europe [ 128 – 130 ] (but see [ 131 ]), warmer southern regions of Europe certainly cannot be ruled out. Interestingly FCS-70 (the ‘Royal Archer’) had a leather wristguard bearing the symbol of a pomegranate, associated with the Moors in the medieval and early modern periods, as a fruit that they had brought to Europe from Africa, and was also a symbol used for Catherine of Aragon's branch of the English royal family [ 20 ].…”

Paleomobility in Iberia: 12 years of strontium isotope research

“…To date, our database includes 1635 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isotopic values from 33 publications ( Alt et al 2016;Albizuri et al 2019;Balsera et al 2016;Carvalho et al 2015, Carvalho et al 2019Díaz-del-Río et al, 2017a;Díaz-del-Río et al, 2017b;Díaz-Zorita Bonilla et al 2009;Díaz-Zorita Bonilla, 2013;Díaz-Zorita Bonilla et al 2018;Díaz-Zorita Bonilla et al, 2021;García-Rivero et al 2020;Fernández-Crespo et al 2020a, Fernández-Crespo et al 2020bGuede et al 2017, Guede, 2018Lillios et al 2015;MacRoberts et al 2020;Merner, 2017;Ortega et al 2013;Prevedorou et al 2010;Saragoça et al 2016;Sarasketa-Gartzia et al 2018, Sarasketa-Gartzia et al 2019Valenzuela-Lamas et al 2016, Valenzuela-Lamas et al 2018Valenzuela-Suau et al 2021;Valera et al 2020, Villalba-Mouco et al 2020Waterman, 2012;Wright et al 2019;Žalait ė, 2016, Žalait ė et al 2018. The bulk (80 %) have been published since 2017 (Fig.…”