The consilience of historical and isotopic approaches in reconstructing the medieval Mediterranean diet

Salamon, Mariusz A.; Coppa, Alfredo; McCormick, Michael; Rubini, Mauro; Vargiu, Rita; Tuross, Noreen

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2007.11.015

Cited by 54 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…b Site map with excavated areas indicated by diagonallined boxes. While the majority of human burials were recovered from area B (now covered by an outbuilding), some human remains were also excavated in area G. Isolated faunal bones were found in grave fill and in a location adjacent to the north side of the church (area W) medieval European sites using isotopic analyses (e.g., Barrett and Richards 2004;Müldner and Richards 2007;Salamon et al 2008;Barrett et al 2008Barrett et al , 2011Salazar-García et al 2014a;Alexander et al 2015;Salazar-García et al 2016). Even though saltwater fish is believed to have been a part of most medieval European diets by the fourteenth century, historical documents suggest that rural Central European populations far removed from the ocean were more likely to consume freshwater fish (e.g., pike and perch) than marine foods (Adamson 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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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Section: Introductionmentioning

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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“…Figure 4 presents a comparison between carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data of all roman sites previously mentioned, as well as data from Leptiminus (Tunisia,. Isotopic values recorded at Leptiminus witness a large consumption of fish/marine foodstuffs by this population, mixed with terrestrial plant resources (Keenleyside et al 2009 (Salamon et al 2008). Indeed, as for La Selvicciola, the subsistence economy of Castro dei Volsci (6th AD) is based on land foodstuffs with a variation of animal protein intake between individuals, while a significant amount of fish resources seems to contribute to the diet of subjects living in Rome during the 15th century (Salamon et al 2008).…”

Section: Antiquity and The Middle Agesmentioning

confidence: 92%

Eski̇ Topluluklarin Yaşam Bi̇çi̇mleri̇ni̇n Tanimi Akdeni̇z Havzasi'nda Beslenme, Kemi̇kler Ve İzotoplar

Bras-Goude¹

2011

tubaar

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“…6), those with similar δ 13 C and δ 15 N averages are Koksijde (from a coastal Belgian monastery; Polet and Katzenberg 2003) and Rome (from an Italian mass grave; Salamon et al 2008). Contrary with what would be expected, the stable isotope values from Tomar are closer to the Belgian sample (Polet and Katzenberg 2003) than to the other Iberian samples (Lubritto et al 2013;Alexander et al 2015), which may be related to religious dietary requirements, particularly low meat consumption, as the Belgian sample represents a monastic community (Polet and Katzenberg 2003).…”

Section: Other European Studiesmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…A2) allow a comparison between the two locations, despite their geographical and social differences. The impact of religious directives of the Catholic Church on the diet has been registered before (Salamon et al 2008). This was facilitated by industrial-scale fishing in the Atlantic (Barret et al 2004) and improvement of food preservation methods (Heinrich 1986).…”

Section: Other European Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Did military orders influence the general population diet? Stable isotope analysis from Medieval Tomar, Portugal

Curto

Maurer

Dias

et al. 2018

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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This study integrates bone collagen stable isotope data (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur) from 33 human adult tibiae (15 females; 18 males) and 13 faunal remains from Tomar, while it was under the Military Orders domain (eleventh-seventeenth centuries). Historical literature indicates that the amount of meat consumption amongst Templars was lower than in individuals with similar social status. In Medieval times, these Military Orders had total control of towns and angling and fishing rights, but their influence on the general population diet remains unknown. While no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) were found between sexes, social status, or for bone collagen δ 13 C and δ 34Sbetween age groups, δ 15 N did differ significantly with age, which may be related to tooth loss in old individuals. Additionally, the human samples have higher stable isotope differences, in comparison with faunal samples, than would be expected within the food web, particularly for δ 13 C. This human bone collagen δ 13 C enrichment may reflect a diet rich in aquatic protein intake, which is also supported by δ 34 S archived in human and faunal samples, and the presence of oysters and cockles shells at the excavation. The religious diet restrictions might have led to a higher intake of aquatic protein when meat consumption was not allowed.

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The consilience of historical and isotopic approaches in reconstructing the medieval Mediterranean diet

Cited by 54 publications

References 28 publications

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

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

Eski̇ Topluluklarin Yaşam Bi̇çi̇mleri̇ni̇n Tanimi Akdeni̇z Havzasi'nda Beslenme, Kemi̇kler Ve İzotoplar

Did military orders influence the general population diet? Stable isotope analysis from Medieval Tomar, Portugal

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