Dietary Variation in an Urbanizing City: A Temporal Analysis of Diet in Late Medieval London Using Stable Isotope Analysis

Walter, Brittany S.; DeWitte, Sharon N.; Dupras, Tosha L.; Beaumont, Julia

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-53417-2_5

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…were found in medieval London, which the authors link to the large variety of available foods there (Walter et al, 2020). Moreover, differences in isotope ratios between males and females are noted in Alkmaar, but not Blokhuizen.…”

Section: Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopesmentioning

confidence: 79%

Diet and urbanisation in medieval Holland. Studying dietary change through carious lesions and stable isotope analysis

Schats

Hattum

Kootker

et al. 2021

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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In the late medieval period, Holland experienced substantial socio‐economic change. While the region was largely undeveloped prior to 1200 CE, the period after was characterised by extensive urbanisation and flourishing international trade, changes that would have impacted many aspects of life. This paper investigates the effect of these changes on diet by comparing skeletal collections from the early/central medieval rural village of Blokhuizen (800–1200 CE) to the late medieval urban town of Alkmaar (1448–1572 CE) using a combination of the prevalence and location of carious lesions (nteeth = 3475) and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data (n = 50). Results show that the urban Alkmaar population had a significantly higher caries frequency (7.4% vs. 16.1%), starting at a younger age. Moreover, Alkmaar had significantly more approximal caries. These results point to increased consumption of cariogenic products, such as sugars and starches, by the urban citizens. Dietary differences are also demonstrated by the stable isotope data. Alkmaar individuals have significantly enriched δ15N ratios and more variable δ13C ratios compared with rural Blokhuizen. The elevated δ15N values may be due to increased consumption of fish or animals such as omnivorous pigs and chickens. The combination of caries and isotopic data points to clear changes in diet suggesting that urban individuals in the late medieval period had a substantially different diet compared with early rural inhabitants from the same area. Specifically, an increase in market dependence, availability of international trade products, and the growth of commercial fishing in the late medieval period may have contributed to this dietary shift. Future research should include a late medieval rural population to better understand the effects of late medieval socio‐economic developments outside of the urban environment. This study demonstrates that the integration of palaeopathology and stable isotopic research provides a more complete understanding of dietary changes in medieval Holland.

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Section: Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopesmentioning

confidence: 79%

Diet and urbanisation in medieval Holland. Studying dietary change through carious lesions and stable isotope analysis

Schats

Hattum

Kootker

et al. 2021

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…The results indicate a shift in diet as antemortem tooth loss increased and dental wear decreased. Walter et al (2020) also find evidence of changing diet with increasing urbanization in their stable isotope analysis of an urbanizing population in medieval (1120–1539 CE) London. Britton et al (2018) explore infant diet and weaning patterns in Scotland (12th–15th centuries CE), finding a decrease in breastfeeding length as urbanization increased.…”

Section: Bioarchaeological Studies Of Urbanizationmentioning

confidence: 93%

Toward a bioarchaeology of urbanization: Demography, health, and behavior in cities in the past

Betsinger

DeWitte

2021

American J Phys Anthropol

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Urbanization is one of the most important settlement shifts in human history and has been the focus of research within bioarchaeology for decades. However, there have been limited attempts to synthesize the results of these studies in order to gain a broader perspective on whether or how urbanization affects the biology, demography, and behavior of humans, and how these potential effects are embodied in the human skeleton. This paper outlines how bioarchaeology is well-suited to examine urbanization in the past, and we provide an overview and examples of three main ways in which urbanization is studied in bioarchaeological research: comparison of (often contemporaneous) urban and rural sites, synchronic studies of the variation that exists within and between urban sites, and investigations of changes that occur within urban sites over time. Studies of urbanization, both within bioarchaeology and in other fields of study, face a number of limitations, including a lack of a consensus regarding what urban and urbanization mean, the assumed dichotomous nature of urban versus rural settlements, the supposition that urbanization is universally bad for people, and the assumption (at least in practice) of homogeneity within urban and rural populations. Bioarchaeologists can address these limitations by utilizing a wide array of data and methods, and the studies described here collectively demonstrate the complex, nuanced, and highly variable effects of urbanization.

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“…Stephen 's Chapel,Westminster (Sk 1,2,3,4 and 5), and mean bone collagen isotope ratios for High Medieval (HM) and Late Medieval (LM) populations from York Richards 2007: Müldner and and from London (Walter et al 2020a;Walter et al 2020b) [3] has a gradually rising profile for δ 13 C, rising across the age of tooth development by 0.7 ‰. δ 15 N is high at birth, falling rapidly from 13.8‰ to a minimum of 11.6 ‰ at age 2 years.…”

Section: Figure 5 Plot Of Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Ratios For Bone Collagen And Mean Dentine Collagen From Individuals From Stmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As there is little published faunal data from London during this period, these data have been divided into High Medieval (PWC92 1, 2 and 3) and Late Medieval individuals (PWC92 4 and 5) for comparison with human bulk bone δ 13 C and δ 15 N from contemporary sites from York, England (Müldner and Hedges 2007;Müldner and Richards 2007) and well-dated individuals from medieval St Mary Spital, London, England (Walter et al 2020a;Walter et al 2020b). The data from this study are shown with the published bulk bone collagen means for the High Medieval and Late Medieval populations from York and London (Fig.…”

Section: Contemporaneous English δ 13 C and δ 15 N Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure5Plot of carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios for bone collagen and mean dentine collagen from individuals from StStephen's Chapel, Westminster (Sk 1,2,3,4 and 5), and mean bone collagen isotope ratios for High Medieval (HM) and Late Medieval (LM) populations from YorkRichards 2007: Müldner and and from London(Walter et al 2020a;Walter et al 2020b) with error bars denoting 1sdNote: Determination of marine protein and trophic level are discussed in the text. [Colour figure can be viewed atwileyonlinelibrary.com] …”

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confidence: 99%

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Identifying Cohorts Using Isotope Mass Spectrometry: The Potential of Temporal Resolution and Dietary Profiles

et al. 2021

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Archaeological skeletal material from most sites represents a cross-sectional, opportunistic sample of the burials. These are influenced by the proportion and area of the site that is excavated, the taphonomic conditions, and survival of tissues. This may not be representative of the population, and in an attritional cemetery may represent a long period of use, during which humans will have differing life courses. Here we describe a commingled skeletal assemblage, the only human remains recovered from the historically significant medieval site of St Stephen's Chapel, Palace of Westminster, London. Using carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) stable isotope ratios of bulk bone collagen and incremental dentine to investigate dietary life histories from five individuals, we combine the evidence with radiocarbon dating to assign them to two different temporal cohorts.

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Dietary Variation in an Urbanizing City: A Temporal Analysis of Diet in Late Medieval London Using Stable Isotope Analysis

Cited by 5 publications

References 59 publications

Diet and urbanisation in medieval Holland. Studying dietary change through carious lesions and stable isotope analysis

Diet and urbanisation in medieval Holland. Studying dietary change through carious lesions and stable isotope analysis

Toward a bioarchaeology of urbanization: Demography, health, and behavior in cities in the past

Identifying Cohorts Using Isotope Mass Spectrometry: The Potential of Temporal Resolution and Dietary Profiles

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