First data on diet of the medieval population of Belarus (based on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysys in bone collagen)

Abstract

This article discusses issues related to the nutrition of the population on the territory of Belarus in the 10^th-19^th centuries, based on human skeletons from burial grounds studied using anthropological and isotopic methods. Data were obtained on 63 samples from 24 archaeological sites in Belarus, which can be divided into two main groups: 1) the urban population; 2) the rural population. It was found that the urban population consumed mainly terrestrial animal products (meat and milk), and to a lesser extent cereal crops (rye, wheat, oats, barley, and other grains). Rural residents sustained mainly on cereal crops, as did the urban population, but in some cases it can be assumed that they also consumed millet. Animal food was an additional source of protein for the rural inhabitants. These results are comparable with the data based on the analysis of the Medieval diet of the population in central Russian Plain obtained with the help of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen, conducted by the authors of this work. They indicate the important role of the social factor, which largely determined the structure of nutrition of various groups — the elite, urban and rural inhabitants of Medieval Eastern Europe.