Isotopic reconstruction of diet in Medieval Thebes (Greece)

In the present isotopic study we assess the dietary patterns of a medieval population in Greece. Three isotopes were measured (δ13Ccoll, δ13Cap, δ15Ν) in a skeletal sample from Thebes, consisting of 16 adult individuals (7 males, 9 females) dated at 13th–14th c. CE. According to historical sources many different ethnicities co-existed in Thebes during the stated period, as Greece was under the Crusader's occupation. Thus, a possible dietary diversity could be expected. The basic aims of the present study are to reconstruct the dietary habits of the stated population by quantifying the individual human diet, to detect possible dietary differentiations in relation to sex and age and to compare our results with the ones of other medieval sites primarily in Greece and secondly in the Mediterranean. According to the isotopic and statistical analysis the population studied showed a significant diversity, as half of the sample assessed seemed to have been reliant on a typical C3 terrestrial diet, whereas the other half consumed both C3 and C4 sources. In particular, C4 items (i.e. millet) seem to have been a major staple for a singular female adult (Th22; δ13Ccoll: −11‰; δ15N: 10‰; δ13Cap: −5.5‰). In addition, based on the Δ13Cap-coll values, it seems possible that aquatic sources constituted a food source for three specific adults. Therefore, this study sheds light to the importance of identifying singular cases in generic isotopic patterns, and encourages the inclusion of apatite's signature in palaeodietary reconstructions of populations from Greece.