NEW DATA ON THE NUTRITION SYSTEM OF THE 1ST –2ND CENTURY POPULATION FROM THE DON FOREST–STEPPE REGION
Abstract
This publication presents a bioarchaeological reconstruction of the average diet of four individuals discovered during excavations at the First and Second Chertovitsky Burial Mounds (1st-2nd centuries CE). The data on the isotopic composition of bone collagen from individuals buried at these sites have been introduced into scientific discourse for the first time. The results are compared with previously obtained values for six individuals buried at the Maloye Storozhevoye Settlement, as well as with a series of kurgan burials from the Lower Volga region (2nd-4th centuries CE).
For the new materials from the Chertovitsky burial grounds, the mean δ¹³C value was –14.37‰, and the mean δ¹⁵N value was 10.44‰ (with standard deviations of 0.7 and 0.2, respectively).
A comparison of dietary patterns between individuals buried according to kurgan (First and Second Chertovitsky burial grounds) and non-kurgan (Maloye Storozhevoye Settlement, First Chertovitsky burial ground) rites revealed differences in the extent of millet incorporation into subsistence systems: this incorporation was more pronounced in the latter group. Distinctions were also observed in the dietary patterns of individuals from the Chertovitsky burial grounds and those interred in Middle Sarmatian kurgans of the Lower Volga region. Millet- based foods appeared substantially more frequently in the diet of the former group. These differences may be attributed to varying paleoeconomic models or individual dietary preferences.At this stage of sample formation, no visible dietary differences between males and females have been identified.
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