Multi-isotopic diet analysis of south-eastern Iberian megalithic populations: the cemeteries of El Barranquete and Panoría

• Published in: Archaeological and anthropological sciences Vol. 11; no. 8; pp. 3681 - 3698
• Main Authors: Díaz-Zorita Bonilla, Marta, Aranda Jiménez, Gonzalo, Bocherens, Hervé, Escudero Carrillo, Javier, Sánchez Romero, Margarita, Lozano Medina, Águeda, Alarcón García, Eva, Milesi García, Lara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.08.2019; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anthropology; Archaeology; Bronze Age; Carbon isotopes; Cemeteries; Chemistry/Food Science; Consumption; Diet; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Farming; Geography; Innovations; Life Sciences; Nitrogen; Original Paper; Palimpsests; Variability; Stable isotope analysis; Iberian Peninsula; Dietary patterns; Radiocarbon chronology; Bioarchaeology; Megalithism
• ISSN: 1866-9557; 1866-9565
• DOI: 10.1007/s12520-018-0769-5

The southern Iberian megalithic cemeteries of Panoría and El Barranquete offer an excellent opportunity to explore ancient dietary patterns. Due to the special nature of these funerary contexts as palimpsests, a multi-proxy approach including multi-isotopic determination and a high-resolution dating framework was carried out. As a result, 52 samples were isotopically measured, of which 48 were also radiocarbon dated. With this new isotopic series as a basis, three main conclusions can be drawn: (i) the diet was based on C 3 plants and terrestrial animals with no evidence of marine protein consumption; (ii) there is a general tendency for carbon isotope values to increase during the Bronze Age, which is consistent with the intensification of crop farming taking place at the time; and (iii) nitrogen isotope variability is especially remarkable when comparing collective to individual tombs. People buried individually show the highest and the most variable nitrogen ratios in contrast with those buried in collective tombs that show similar nitrogen values over time. These differences support the hypothesis of a conservative megalithic population resisting cultural innovations during the Argaric Bronze Age.