Food for Thought: Evidence for Dietary and Weaning Practices in a Byzantine Urban Monastery in Jerusalem (original) (raw)
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In the last decades, analysis of human skeletal remains from Greece includes material from previously under-examined time periods, like the Byzantine and post-Byzantine. Although such studies have contributed considerably to our knowledge of the biological profile of these populations, few analyses have dealt with the reconstruction of their diet. Traditionally, dietary patterns have been reconstructed using documentary evidence and/or artistic representations. However, stable isotope analysis of archaeological skeletal remains is an established and powerful method for the reconstruction of dietary behaviour in past populations (e.g., human reliance on marine versus terrestrial foods, or reliance on animal versus vegetable protein). In this paper we will discuss the importance of animal and dairy products in the Byzantine diet, as evidenced by the available-to-date stable isotope analysis.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2020
The aim of the research focuses on reconstructing diet of the seventeenth-eighteenth century Basilian monks who were buried in the crypt beneath the Holy Trinity Uniate Church in Vilnius, Lithuania. For this aim, stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope analyses of human bone collagen samples (n = 74, of which 39 yielded reliable isotopic data) were performed. In order to establish the isotopic dietary baseline for the Basilian monks, we sampled faunal bones (n = 47, of which 34 yielded reliable isotopic data) recovered during archaeological investigations in the area around the Vilnius Lower Castle and the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. Faunal samples were comprised of various domestic and wild terrestrial animals, freshwater and anadromous fish, and migratory and non-migratory birds. In total, 121 human and faunal samples were analysed. The isotopic data collected in our study suggest that C 3 plant and domestic animal products were the main components in the diets of the Basilian monks, while freshwater fish played a noticeable, yet a much smaller dietary role. However, historical sources describe a reverse dietary picture, i.e. a higher dietary contribution from fish and a lower from animal products. The potential reasons for this incongruity between isotopic and historical dietary evidence were also explored. Finally, the isotopic data of the Basilian monks were compared with that of contemporary Lithuanian nobles and commoners. The comparisons indicate that monastic dietary patterns were more similar to those of the nobility than those of the commoners.
Studying infant diet and feeding practices through stable isotope analysis provides direct insight into the life and health of vulnerable population groups in the past. Although the general diet in medieval and early modern Livonia has been reconstructed from written sources, little is known about childhood diet during this tumultuous period of Eastern European history. This study presents a comparative investigation of the staple non-adult diet in urban/ rural communities during the 13th-17th centuries AD, with a special focus on feeding practices. We aim to reveal the impact of socioeconomic circumstances on early childhood nutrition, which affects the physical development and overall survival of this susceptible population group. Bone collagen samples from 176 individuals between the fetal and the 7-15 age categories from four urban/rural South-Estonian cemeteries were cross-sectionally analyzed via EA-IRMS (Elemental Analysis with Isotope Ratio Mass Spectroscopy) for δ 13 C and δ 15 N. Results suggest that South-Estonian children had a staple terrestrial C 3 diet integrated with animal proteins. Significant divergences were observed between urban and rural sites and slight variation occurred among rural subgroups, possibly resulting from a wider food choice available in towns, different consumption of C 4 foods, and/or secular changes. This study provides the first data regarding infant feeding practices in medieval and early modern Livonia. These practices were similar among the different contexts, indicating comparable cultural traditions in child rearing. Breastfeeding was likely practiced for 1-2 years, with supplementary foods introduced around 1 year of age. The weaning process was probably concluded around the age of 3. The δ 13 C and δ 15 N values of older children are comparable to those of the adults from the same sites, indicating their diets became similar after weaning, when they started working and obtained a more mature social status.