Dietary reconstruction in Migration Period Central Germany: a carbon and nitrogen isotope study

Knipper, Corina; Peters, Daniel; Meyer, Christian; Maurer, Anne‐France; Muhl, Arnold; Schöne, Bernd R.; Alt, Kurt W.

doi:10.1007/s12520-012-0106-3

Cited by 42 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…Swine δ 13 C co and δ 15 N values respectively;Fig. 5 and Table 6) are clustered with cattle and ovicaprine values, which suggests a similar herbivorous diet Knipper et al, 2012;Prowse et al, 2004;Vika, 2011). Zooarchaeological analyses of the swine specimen were not able to distinguish between domestic pig and wild boar (Albarella et al, 2005;Valente and Carvalho, 2014) but, given the residential/farming status of the site, most of the swine remains can be attributed to domestic animals.…”

Section: Dietary Patternsmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Stable isotope and multi-analytical investigation of Monte da Cegonha: A Late Antiquity population in southern Portugal

Saragoça

Maurer

Šoberl

et al. 2016

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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This study presents for the first time the diet of a Late Antiquity population in southern Portugal (Civitas of Pax Julia), from the Roman villa of Monte da Cegonha (predominantly 7th century CE). Stable isotope analysis (δ 13 C, δ 15 N, δ 18 O, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) of human and faunal bone collagen and apatite was conducted in order to understand the influence of Roman subsistence strategies on the way of life of rural inhabitants of the area of Pax Julia and to explore their diet (types of ingested plants, amount of animal resources, terrestrial versus marine resources). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses were used to determine the degree of bone diagenesis and assess the reliability of the bone stable isotopic composition for palaeodietary reconstruction. Anthropological analysis revealed a cariogenic diet, rich in starchy food and carbohydrates, in at least in two individuals based on the frequency of dental caries. Collagen and apatite carbon isotopic analysis suggested that C 3 plants were the basis of the population's diet, complemented with some terrestrial meat and its byproducts as reflected by the observed bone collagen nitrogen isotopic composition. Moreover, whilst the fairly low apatite-collagen spacing recorded in some skeletons (at around 4‰) may have been due to freshwater organisms intake, the relatively low nitrogen values observed indicate that this consumption did not occur very often, unless in the form of fresh fish of low trophic level or fish sauces. There were no significant differences in isotopic values depending on gender or burial type. Strontium and oxygen isotopic composition of bone apatite revealed a sedentary community, with the exception of a male individual who probably did not spend his childhood in Monte da Cegonha.

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Section: Dietary Patternsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Collagen was extracted using the method of Longin (1971) with some modification (Britton et al, 2008;Knipper et al, 2012;Salesse et al, 2014). Between 300 and 500 mg of bone sample was demineralized in 10 ml 0.5 M HCl at 4°C for approximately 14 days, with regular vortex and an acid change after one week.…”

Section: Bone Collagen Extraction and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Stable isotope and multi-analytical investigation of Monte da Cegonha: A Late Antiquity population in southern Portugal

Saragoça

Maurer

Šoberl

et al. 2016

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

Self Cite

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“…In other medieval European populations, higher δ 13 C col has indicated either millet (Reitsema et al 2010;Reitsema and Vercellotti 2012;Salazar-García et al, 2014a;Alexander et al, 2015) or marine food (Müldner and Richards 2007;Salazar-García et al, 2016) consumption. The Dalheim population likely depended on C 3 plant foods given that the degree of 13 C enrichment from diet to human bone collagen is generally thought to be less than 5‰ (DeNiro and Epstein 1978; van der Merwe and Vogel 1978), but small amounts of animal protein consumption cannot be ruled out given that predator-to-prey differences in carbon-isotope ratios range from 0 to 2‰ (Bocherens and Drucker 2003 (Strott et al 2007;Doppler et al 2010;von Heyking 2012;Knipper et al 2013;Olsen 2013). If the Dalheim population had subsisted primarily on C 3 plants, the average nitrogen-isotope composition would resemble that of terrestrial herbivores (e.g., cows or sheep).…”

Section: Interpreting Dietmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isotopic anthropology of rural German medieval diet: intra- and inter-population variability

Olsen

White

Longstaffe

et al. 2016

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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This study investigates the diet of an eleventh century CE parish community located in northwestern Germany. We assessed the isotopic compositions of human (n = 24) and faunal (n = 17) bone collagen (δ 13 C col , δ 15 N col ) and human structural carbonate (δ 13 C sc ) using skeletal material recovered from the Dalheim cemetery. Traditional interpretation of the isotopic data indicates that Dalheim residents likely relied on a C 3 plant-based diet and consumed some terrestrial animal products without evidence of marine resource input in the diet. Bivariate and multivariate models used as an additional means to assess diet indicate minor consumption of C 4 plant foods in this community. The multivariate-isotope model identified regional similarities and differences in C 4 plant/marine food consumption and in dietary protein sources by comparing data from Dalheim with those of other medieval sites from the published literature. We did not observe sex differences in this population but differences in δ 15 N col suggest that juveniles consumed the lowest trophic level protein.

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“…The analytical procedure described in the following is mainly based on Müldner and Richards (2005) with modifications as described in Knipper et al (2013). Bone fragments were cut into smaller pieces and the surfaces and the cancellous portions were removed with dental cutting and milling equipment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The resultant liquid was transferred into AmiconÓ ultrafilters (Millipore; cut off 30 kDa) for the concentration of the long-chained collagen molecules. Prior to use the glycerol coating of these filters was removed by immersion in deionised H 2 O overnight and centrifugation of 0.1 M NaOH and three times deionised H 2 O for 10 min at 2800 rpm (Knipper et al, 2013) in order to avoid mixing of carbon from the glycerol and the samples which has been shown to affect the isotopic measurements (Bronk Ramsey et al, 2004). The purified solution was then frozen and lyophilised.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Same old in Middle Neolithic diets? A stable isotope study of bone collagen from the burial community of Jechtingen, southwest Germany

Mörseburg

Alt

Knipper

2015

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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Dietary reconstruction in Migration Period Central Germany: a carbon and nitrogen isotope study

Cited by 42 publications

References 78 publications

Stable isotope and multi-analytical investigation of Monte da Cegonha: A Late Antiquity population in southern Portugal

Stable isotope and multi-analytical investigation of Monte da Cegonha: A Late Antiquity population in southern Portugal

Isotopic anthropology of rural German medieval diet: intra- and inter-population variability

Same old in Middle Neolithic diets? A stable isotope study of bone collagen from the burial community of Jechtingen, southwest Germany

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