VARALLI A., DESIDERI J., GOUDE G., DAVID-ELBIALI M., HONEGGER M., BESSE M. 2018. Changing times, changing diet ? Isotopic investigation of adult and childhood feeding practices in Switzerland in late prehistory. Poster, 20th Annual Conference of BABAO, Cranfield (UK), September 2018 (original) (raw)

2018, 20th Annual Conference of the British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO)

Childhood is an important life step since sub-adults, even after weaning, are still dependent on their community. Biogeochemical methods using stable isotopes on different human tissues (e.g. bone, teeth, hair) offers direct proxies for the investigation of dietary intake during an individual’s life. Current knowledge of adult and sub-adult feeding practices for late Prehistory is still quite limited. We investigate whether changes in subsistence strategies attested in the Mediterranean area during the Bronze Age are recorded in western Europe and if they affected human diet during childhood as well as during adulthood. The analyses were conducted on 41 individuals from 3 cemeteries in western Switzerland (Collombey-Muraz/Barmaz, Vufflens-la-Ville/En Sency, Tolochenaz/Le Boiron et La Caroline), dated from Early to Final Bronze Age (2200-800 cal. BCE). We performed multielement/multi-tissue stable isotope analysis (C, N, S on bone and dentine collagen; C on apatite enamel of M2) to infer the human diet from childhood to adult life, excluding weaning signal. In addition, 22 bone and teeth remains from terrestrial and aquatic animal species and 30 charred grains of cultivated plants were analysed to reconstruct the local isotopic baseline of the potential food resources. Results indicate diachronic changes in food habits during the Bronze Age, possibly due to the introduction of new cereals like C4 plants (millets) beginning from the Final Bronze Age, i.e. at a later time when compared to other southern European countries (e.g. Italy). Additionally, apatite data suggest the direct consumption of C4 plants. The diet during childhood and adult life was generally similar, albeit with some exceptions, whatever the chronological period considered. This study suggests that C4 plants became a staple food during Final Bronze Age, rapidly after the introduction of this new crop in Lemanic basin.