Relief food subsistence revealed by microparticle and proteomic analyses of dental calculus from victims of the Great Irish Famine

Abstract

Food and diet were class markers in 19th-century Ireland, which became evident as nearly 1 million people, primarily the poor and destitute, died as a consequence of the notorious Great Famine of 1845 to 1852. Famine took hold after a blight (Phytophthora infestans) destroyed virtually the only means of subsistence—the potato crop—for a significant proportion of the population. This study seeks to elucidate the variability of diet in mid–19th-century Ireland through microparticle and proteomic analysis of human dental calculus samples (n = 42) from victims of the famine. The samples derive from remains of people who died between August 1847 and March 1851 while receiving poor relief as inmates in the union workhouse in the city of Kilkenny (52°39′ N, −7°15′ W). The results corroborate the historical accounts of food provisions before and during the famine, with evidence of corn (maize), potato, and cereal starch granules from the microparticle analysis and milk protein from the proteomic analysis. Unexpectedly, there is also evidence of egg protein—a food source generally reserved only for export and the better-off social classes—which highlights the variability of the prefamine experience for those who died. Through historical contextualization, this study shows how the notoriously monotonous potato diet of the poor was opportunistically supplemented by other foodstuffs. While the Great Irish Famine was one of the worst subsistence crises in history, it was foremost a social disaster induced by the lack of access to food and not the lack of food availability.

Assessing the degradation of ancient milk proteins through site-specific deamidation patterns

“…Ancient milk proteins have been detected from a suite of archaeological artefacts, human remains, and objects of cultural heritage, including well-preserved whole cheese-like remains from Early Bronze Age China 12 , as well as from residues adhering to archaeological artefacts 13 – 15 . Milk proteins have also been extracted from ancient dental calculus in Europe 7 , 8 , 10 , 11 , Northeastern Africa 16 , and Central Asia 9 , providing direct evidence of dairy consumption as opposed to the evidence of dairy processing which is obtained from ceramic residues 15 or well-preserved remains 12 . Recently, dog-specific milk proteins were detected in the bones of a neonate dog, indicating the power of this methodology for detecting milk consumption from skeletal remains alone 17 .…”

Famine, tea, and bread in Ireland: C282Y and modern human microevolution

“…Both in maize and in cereals, niacin is bound and unavailable, so proper preparation and cooking techniques are needed to boost the bioavailability of niacin (Oduho et al, 1994). Maize‐consuming Indigenous populations in the Americas made niacin available through specific alkali‐based processing techniques using lime or plant ash (Aliseda, 2021; Brenton & Paine, 2007; Geber et al, 2019; Jewell & Fidler, 2021; Katz et al, 1974; North American Food Systems Network, 2020; Palacios‐Pola et al, 2022; Wacher, 2003). In the absence of niacin, the body is also able to engage an alternate pathway, generating niacin via metabolization of the amino acid tryptophan.…”

“…As laudable as the potato is, the kind of economics that forced so many to exist on such a monotonous diet must not be overlooked. Geber et al (2019:19384) quote an Irish laborer from the 1840s, before the Famine: “Never believe them that would want to make you think that we'd eat wet lumpers if we could get good bread.” The singular reliance upon the potato was a true and sobering indicator of the scope of poverty in Ireland prior to the Famine, another measure perhaps of the kind of suffering that could emerge under colonial influences (Geber, 2015; Radosh, 2009).…”

“…The workhouse was the only state aid supplied under the Irish Poor Law Acts of 1838, the starving and desperate would only receive support in return for their labor. Based on analyses of this collection, Jonny Geber (2014, 2015, 2016) and coworkers (Geber & Murphy, 2012, 2018; Geber & O'Donnabhain, 2020; Geber et al, 2019; additional analyses of the Kilkenny workhouse cemetery include Beaumont & Montgomery, 2016) have begun to build a broad, holistic perspective on the effects of poverty, diet, famine, and workhouse institutionalization on the Irish. Standard markers for life histories and acute and chronic stressors included Harris lines (bone growth arrest lines), whole body growth retardation, and cribra orbitalia, a porosity in orbital bones potentially attributable to iron deficiency.…”

The hidden secrets of the dental calculus: Calibration of a mass spectrometry protocol for dental calculus protein analysis

“…Accordingly, analysis of dental calculus offers a unique opportunity to reveal the everyday function of the individuals and gain insight into the lifestyle and dietary habits of prehistoric populations. In addition to other dietary molecules, the dental calculus specifically preserves food-related proteins, and by a proper extraction method, we can detect proteomic evidence of a variety of food ingredients 13 .…”