Isotopic examination of links between diet, social differentiation, and DISH at the post‐medieval Carmelite Friary of Aalst, Belgium

Abstract

Stable isotope ratios (δ(13) C and δ(15) N) were measured in human burials from the post-medieval (16th-18th c. AD) Carmelite friary burial grounds at Aalst, a town in Flanders, Belgium. Dietary patterns of 39 adult individuals were analyzed, from a mixed monastic and lay population buried in three different locations, reflecting groups with differing social status. The data show significant variation in the consumption of perhaps meat, but certainly also marine protein between females and males. This result represents a remarkable continuity with medieval dietary patterns, suggesting that the social and economic changes of the early modern period had a limited effect on everyday life. When both sexes were examined together, individuals buried in the cloister garth consumed significantly less marine protein compared to people buried in the church, likely reflecting social stratification. No statistical differences were observed between isotopic values from the church and the cloister alley, suggesting a similarly diverse diet of the monastic part of the buried population and that of the richer lay population. Finally, the hypothesis that diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is linked to a diet rich in animal protein was tested. No systematic or statistically significant differences between pathological and non-pathological bones from the same individuals affected with DISH were observed, and no statistical differences were found between individuals with DISH and individuals without DISH.

Social status in late medieval and early modern Brittany: insights from stable isotope analysis

“…Isotopic analyses are widely used to unravel dietary differences between social status in late medieval and early modern times in several European regions (Polet and Katzenberg 2003;Richards 2005, 2007;Fornaciari 2008, Kjellström et al 2009Mundee 2010;Yoder 2012;Lubritto et al 2013;Quintelier et al 2014;Lamb et al 2014;Alexander et al 2015;Olsen et al 2016, van der Sluis et al 2016. In France, the diet of urban poor individuals was documented (Bocherens 1991;Herrscher et al 2001Herrscher et al , 2003Herrscher et al , 2004, but differences between socio-economic groups have yet to be investigated.…”

Talking heads: Morphological variation in the human mandible over the last 500 years in the Netherlands

“…The proposal that inter-population differences and variation in the anatomy of the dimorphism of the skeletal structure in humans has not yet been performed. Also, Quintelier et al (2014) demonstrated, based on isotopic evidence, that males from post-Medieval Belgium (16th-18th century) probably had a higher intake of animal protein (meat and fish). A difference in meat consumption could potentially contribute to the differences in the shape and size (or just one of these) of male versus female mandibles, since the differences in structure between foods, or even between processed and un-processed foods, can have an impact on the muscle activity needed for chewing (Zink and Lieberman, 2016).…”

Dating Human Remains from the Historical Period in Belgium: Diet Changes and the Impact of Marine and Freshwater Reservoir Effects

“…Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope compositions were measured as the ratios of the heavier isotopes to the lighter isotopes 15 N) data for fish and terrestrial domestic mammals from archaeological sites in the Scheldt Basin, Belgium (after Fuller et al 2012;Quintelier et al 2014). Marine fish included sturgeon, shad, plaice, flounder, flatfish, halibut, herring, haddock, whiting, and cod; freshwater fish included roach, ide, tench, carp, pike, and cyprinids.…”