Tracing intensive fish and meat consumption using Zn isotope ratios: evidence from a historical Breton population (Rennes, France)

Abstract

Here we report Sr and Zn isotope ratios of teeth of medieval to early modern Breton people a population whose diet is known from historical, archeological and collagen isotope data. Most of the population, buried in the Dominican convent of Rennes, France, consists of parliamentary nobles, wealthy commoners and ecclesiastics, who had a diet rich in animal products. Our aim is to assess how the Zn isotope ratios of their teeth compare to those of other French historical populations previously studied, which were characterized by cereal-based diets, and those of modern French individuals, who daily eat animal products. We describe a clear offset (∼0.35‰) between local and non-local human individuals in Zn isotope ratios. The δ66Zntooth values of local individuals overlap that of modern French people, and are lower than those of local carnivores. Non-local δ66Zn values are similar to those of historical individuals analyzed previously. We conclude the lower Zn isotope ratios of local humans relative to the associated fauna can be explained by the consumption of carnivorous fish and pork, in agreement with historical, zooarchaeological and collagen (C, N, S) isotope data. Zn isotopes could therefore be a tracer of fish and/or substantial meat consumption in ancient populations.

Zinc isotopes in Late Pleistocene fossil teeth from a Southeast Asian cave setting preserve paleodietary information

“…multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) allows for the measurement of "nontraditional" stable isotopes from various elements (calcium, magnesium, zinc [Zn], and strontium [Sr]). Among these, Zn isotope ratios ( 66 Zn/ 64 Zn, expressed as δ 66 Zn value) constitute a promising dietary indicator (11,14,(16)(17)(18). Indeed, Zn is incorporated as trace element in the enamel bioapatite and, thus, has a better long-term preservation potential compared to collagen-bound nitrogen, showing promise for dietary reconstructions in archeology and paleontology (19).…”

“…This timeframe is even shorter (∼15 kyr) in arid and wet tropical settings that nonetheless often represent key regions in human evolution, such as Africa (4, 5) and Asia (6,7). However, beyond the classical collagen-bound nitrogen isotopes, trophic level reconstructions from enamel with different isotope systems have become feasible (8)(9)(10)(11) and were recently applied to fossil and archeological specimens (9,(12)(13)(14)(15). Using…”

Dynamic homeostasis modeling of Zn isotope ratios in the human body

“…1,2 Initial efforts by Stenberg et al (2002) to document these Zn isotope signatures focused on mammal organs with further primary research focusing on humans by Helal et al (2002), Stenberg et al (2005), and Ohno et al (2005). [3][4][5][6] However, it was not until 2011 that studies of human blood, bones and teeth [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] were conducted with large sample sizes. So far, these studies have constituted the bulk of the Zn isotope data available for human tissues.…”

“…We will discuss the influence of diet on Zn isotope ratios of blood, bones, and teeth by comparing the results of this model with actual isotope ratios measured in human and animal tissues. Due to the growing interest in Zn isotopes in archeological sciences 9,16,20 for dietary reconstruction, we will present and discuss the relationship between the isotope ratios of food products and those of body mineral tissues (bones and teeth).…”

“…7). 3,9,[26][27][28]32,33,51 Knowing the isotope composition of the diet and that of body organs and tissues measured in mice and sheep, 18,22,23 we can compare the coefficients of isotope fractionation during intestinal absorption deduced from the d 66 Zn values of plasma and diet a IÀP ¼ 1000 þ d 66 Zn diet À d 66 Zn plasma 1000…”