DIET IN TRANSITION: STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF HUMANS AND ANIMALS FROM MEDIEVAL SICILY

This research explores the dietary impacts of regime change in Medieval Sicily between the 5th century AD and the 13th century AD as part of the collaborative project Sicily in Transition (SICTRANSIT, York, Rome, Lecce). The overall aim of the project is to better understand the social, economic, and demographic changes that occurred through successive changes in socio-political and religious power (Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Swabian) in Sicily. Using stable isotope analysis of both humans and animals, our specific research questions are: can isotopes detect a change in diet and therefore in agriculture and society? If so, what form did these shifts take? Also, what can intra-population variation tell us about dietary diversity in different groups? Bulk Carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) bulk values of bone collagen have been obtained to directly assess individual diets from a range of sites, representing distinctive religious backgrounds (Christian, Muslim) over a c.1000 year time period. Contemporaneous animal remains have been analysed to build an isotopic baseline and offer information about changes in husbandry regime and agriculture practices. In addition to carbon and nitrogen bulk stable isotope analysis, the object of this project is to optimize and develop compound specific stable isotopes analysis of collagen amino acids (CSIA-AA) via GC-C-IRMS. This technique, only recently being applied to archaeological populations, offers an opportunity for better resolution on animal and human diets, particularly in circumstances where consumption of Mediterranean fish and C4 protein are difficult to disentangle.


CORRECTION: slide of the chickens at 11:00
Phase 1 darker blue
Phase 2 lighter blue



Author(s): Ughi, Alice - Alexander, Michelle (University of York, BioArCh)