Paleodiet: Stable isotope analyses in archaeology (in Greek)
Ευφροσύνη Βήκα Ανάσκαμμα 6 (2013): 39-48.
Abstract
In recent years, Greece has become one of the better-studied regions in terms of isotope analyses. Stable isotopes are analysed in order for an array of questions to be investigated, with diet, migration, environmental reconstructions and exploitation of resources being the most prominent. The understanding of diet and subsistence strategies is especially useful in investigating the links between humans and their environment. Traditionally, the effort to reconstruct diet for periods prior to historical records relied primarily on indirect approaches, as archaeobotanical and archaeozoological studies. The principle in measuring isotopes is that organisms incorporate necessary elements from their diet, thus the values of these elements correlated with the values in the sources can put together the picture of ancient ecosystems. The material that is most commonly used in isotopic studies is collagen extracted from bone. The quantity and quality of the extracted protein depends on the burial environment, but also on post-excavation treatment and storage of the bones. Collagen is temperature-sensitive and also affected by fluctuations in temperature and water levels. The important role of fish in later prehistoric economies is evidenced in both coastal and inland sites. The Neolithic lakeside settlement of Dispilio was built on a swamp at the edge of a well-vegetated, eutrophic lake (625 m altitude; 9,5 m actual lake depth), surrounded by the dense woodlands of neighbouring mount Vitsi. The economy of the Neolithic village relied equally on animal husbandry and fishing, while hunting played a secondary role. Fish bone samples were selected for isotope analysis, as part of a large project to investigate fish consumption in Greek antiquity by directly measuring fish isotopes from several sites. Most samples from Dispilio appear to have been affected by taphonomy and only five of the twenty yielded collagen. The percentage (25%) is small, but further research into the taphonomic conditions of the site will hopefully shed more light into the reasons behind the poor organic preservation. In Dispilio, all of the samples are from freshwater fish. Their δ13C ranges from –19.79‰ to –11.93‰, while their δ15N ranges from 4.91‰ to 9.53‰. The relatively wide range should be a reflection of the variability of values exhibited in a eutrophic lake. The results are very important as part of the wider study in which they are incorporated and show that for the Aegean fish isotopes between environments (freshwater vs seawater) are not as distinct as for other areas. This, in turn, demonstrates the need for a reinvestigation of the amount of fish in ancient Greek diets, especially for populations that were consuming mixed protein sources.
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