Stable isotope and dental pathology evidence for diet in late Roman Winchester, England

Bonsall, Laura; Pickard, Catriona

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.01.009

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…This is also supported by the mean δ 13 C values of all groups being above -20.0‰, close to terrestrial end-point in diet (-21.0‰), and with no individual values exceeding -19.0‰. Likewise, the prevalence of dental diseases and the dietary carbon and nitrogen values observed in St Gertrude’s cemetery are consistent with data from Roman Winchester, whereby relatively high caries rates in the population were also explained by a diet based predominantly on carbohydrates [ 123 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Dental disease and dietary isotopes of individuals from St Gertrude Church cemetery, Riga, Latvia

et al. 2018

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This research explores oral health indicators and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data to explore diet, and differences in diet, between people buried in the four different contexts of the St Gertrude Church cemetery (15th– 17th centuries AD): the general cemetery, two mass graves, and a collective mass burial pit within the general cemetery. The main aim is to assess whether people buried in the mass graves were rural immigrants, or if they were more likely to be the victims of plague (or another epidemic) who lived in Riga and its suburbs. The data produced (from dental disease assessments and isotope analyses) were compared within, as well as between, the contexts. Most differences emerged when comparing the prevalence rates of dental diseases and other oral health indicators in males and females between the contexts, while isotope analysis revealed more individual, rather than context-specific, differences. The data suggested that the populations buried in the mass graves were different from those buried in the general cemetery, and support the theory that rural immigrants were buried in both mass graves. Significant differences were observed in some aspects of the data between the mass graves, however, possibly indicating that the people buried in them do not represent the same community.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 72%

Dental disease and dietary isotopes of individuals from St Gertrude Church cemetery, Riga, Latvia

et al. 2018

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“…Nevertheless, the presence of high rates of AMTL, caries, and calculus in both urban and rural settlements in Roman times suggests that urban as well as rural populations were consuming a diet that was high in carbohydrates. This is consistent with evidence from isotopic studies (Richards et al, 1998;Bonsall & Pickard, 2015) and with previous osteoarchaeological findings (e.g. Moore & Corbett, 1973;O'Sullivan et al, 1993).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Urbanization, Economic Change, and Dental Health in Roman and Medieval Britain

Griffin

2017

Eur. j. archaeol.

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In modern populations, inequalities in oral health have been observed between urban and rural communities, but to date the impact of the place of residence on oral health in archaeological populations has received only limited attention. This meta-study analyses dental palaeopathological data to examine the relationship between place of residence and oral health in Roman, early medieval, and late medieval Britain. Published data on ante-mortem tooth loss, calculus, caries, dental abscesses, and periodontal disease were analysed from cemeteries in urban and rural locations from each period. The results indicate that the place of residence influenced oral health in Roman and late medieval times, with urban populations enjoying better oral health than rural populations in Roman Britain, but poorer oral health in the late Middle Ages. These findings may reflect changes in the nature of urban settlements and in their relationship with their rural hinterlands over time.

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“…Moreover, diets low in carbohydrate and high in protein lead to minimal caries and elevated calculus rates (Keenleyside, 2008). The frequency of permanent teeth affected by caries (5.4%) and medium-level of dental calculus (12%) in the Medieval group from the Tossal de les Basses recovered individuals (Laguillo et al, 2009) suggest that animal products made a relative high contribution to diet (Bonsall and Pickard, 2015). Unfortunately, there are no available data from the Neolithic and Roman populations regarding oral disease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A combined dietary approach using isotope and dental buccal-microwear analysis of human remains from the Neolithic, Roman and Medieval periods from the archaeological site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain)

Salazar‐García

Romero

García-Borja

et al. 2016

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Stable isotope and dental-microwear analysis are methods commonly used to reconstruct dietary habits in modern and ancient human populations. However, it is rare that they are both used together in the same study, and here both methods are combined to obtain information on human dietary habits from the site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain) through time. Middle Neolithic, Late Roman and Medieval (Islamic) individuals have been analyzed for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of bone collagen, as well as for buccal-dental microwear. Overall, δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotopic values show that for all periods the diet was mainly based on C 3 terrestrial resources. However, the isotopic signature suggests a small, but clear amount of marine protein consumption during the Neolithic period and possibly also for a few individuals from the Medieval period. When compared to other studies from the region, it is also possible to see that the consumption of C 4 resources was much more extensive during Medieval times than in previous periods. Microwear scratch density and length found for teeth from the Neolithic and Medieval periods reflect a diet in which tough foods predominated, requiring substantial pressure to chew in comparison with what was recorded for the Roman individuals. Combined with the δ 15 N data, the microwear signature suggests a higher input of marine/gritty resources among the Neolithic and Medieval populations compared to the Romans. Our findings also suggest that dietary patterns might be explained by cultural and technological population factors rather than habitat resource availability.

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Stable isotope and dental pathology evidence for diet in late Roman Winchester, England

Cited by 14 publications

References 88 publications

Dental disease and dietary isotopes of individuals from St Gertrude Church cemetery, Riga, Latvia

Dental disease and dietary isotopes of individuals from St Gertrude Church cemetery, Riga, Latvia

Urbanization, Economic Change, and Dental Health in Roman and Medieval Britain

A combined dietary approach using isotope and dental buccal-microwear analysis of human remains from the Neolithic, Roman and Medieval periods from the archaeological site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain)

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