The Ecological Approach: Understanding Past Diet and the Relationship Between Diet and Disease

Katzenberg, Anne

doi:10.1002/9781444345940.ch6

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Such an isotopic effect on the δ 13 C col values is supported by several experimental studies involving nutritionally stressed animals (e.g., Podlesak and McWilliams, 2006;Polischuk et al, 2001;Robb et al, 2015;Williams et al, 2007). However, one might wonder why similar effects are not observed in δ 15 N col values, even though δ 15 N col is often considered as a promising isotopic indicator of disease or nutritional stress (e.g., Fuller et al, 2005;Katzenberg, 2012). Some authors argued that instead of a continuum where the level of change in 15 N contents corresponds to the level of nutritional restriction, there may be a threshold level of nutritional stress below which isotopic changes are likely to be negligible (Ben David et al, 1999;Hatch, 2012;Kempster et al, 2007;Polischuk et al, 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

An isotopic case study of individuals with syphilis from the pathological-anatomical reference collection of the national museum in Prague (Czech Republic, 19th century A.D.)

Salesse

Kaupová

Brůžek

et al. 2019

International Journal of Paleopathology

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Objective: This paper aims at investigating the possible existence of isotopic offsets in δ 13 C col and δ 15 N col values in relation to tertiary syphilis. Material: Based on materials from the 19th c. A.D. deriving from the pathological-anatomical reference collection (the Jedlička collection) of the National Museum in Prague (Czech Republic), a comparative approach of ten individuals with syphilis and nine without the disease was undertaken. Methods: Bone powder samples were defatted according to the protocol of Liden et al. (1995). Bone collagen was extracted following the protocol of Bocherens et al. (1991). Results: Our results show that individuals with syphilis have lower δ 13 C col values than individuals without the disease; the observed difference between the two groups is about 0.3-0.4‰, which is relatively small but still meaningful. However, no difference between δ 15 N col values of the two groups has been noticed. Conclusions: Either diets prescribed by physicians to syphilitic patients or nutritional stress caused by cyclic appetite disturbance due to the disease itself or the administered medical treatment appeared to be possible explanations of the observed isotopic pattern. Overall, the response of the two isotopic proxies could argue for relatively limited nutritional restrictions. Significance: This is the first study examining bone collagen isotopic response to syphilis based on clinically documented human skeletal materials. Limitations: The sample sizes are relatively small and cautiousness must be taken regarding the interpretations of the data. Suggestions for further research: Compound-specific stable isotope investigations and analysis of mercury content could be helpful to better understand the observed isotopic effects.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

An isotopic case study of individuals with syphilis from the pathological-anatomical reference collection of the national museum in Prague (Czech Republic, 19th century A.D.)

Salesse

Kaupová

Brůžek

et al. 2019

International Journal of Paleopathology

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“…Furthermore, the fact that aquatic food chains tend to contain more trophic levels than terrestrial ones helps carbon isotope ratios to discriminate between the consumption of marine or C 4 terrestrial foods when samples are 13 C enriched (Schoeninger and De Niro, 1984). However, this type of analysis on bone collagen has some methodological limitations: it gives information only on protein consumption, and refers to the average of the last years of life of the individual (Katzenberg, 2012).…”

Section: Stable Isotopes and Buccal-microwear In Dietary Reconstructionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, in contrast to the information regarding the exploitation of plants and animals as potential food sources, the use of isotopic signatures does not allow to learn properly about specific diseases, because their link is not exclusively caused by diet (Katzenberg, 2012;Reitsema, 2013). Specifically, isotopic data in ancient populations from Mediterranean Iberia are often presented in isolation from other complementary evidence such as skeletal or dental pathological conditions (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A combined dietary approach using isotope and dental buccal-microwear analysis of human remains from the Neolithic, Roman and Medieval periods from the archaeological site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain)

Salazar‐García

Romero

García-Borja

et al. 2016

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Stable isotope and dental-microwear analysis are methods commonly used to reconstruct dietary habits in modern and ancient human populations. However, it is rare that they are both used together in the same study, and here both methods are combined to obtain information on human dietary habits from the site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain) through time. Middle Neolithic, Late Roman and Medieval (Islamic) individuals have been analyzed for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of bone collagen, as well as for buccal-dental microwear. Overall, δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotopic values show that for all periods the diet was mainly based on C 3 terrestrial resources. However, the isotopic signature suggests a small, but clear amount of marine protein consumption during the Neolithic period and possibly also for a few individuals from the Medieval period. When compared to other studies from the region, it is also possible to see that the consumption of C 4 resources was much more extensive during Medieval times than in previous periods. Microwear scratch density and length found for teeth from the Neolithic and Medieval periods reflect a diet in which tough foods predominated, requiring substantial pressure to chew in comparison with what was recorded for the Roman individuals. Combined with the δ 15 N data, the microwear signature suggests a higher input of marine/gritty resources among the Neolithic and Medieval populations compared to the Romans. Our findings also suggest that dietary patterns might be explained by cultural and technological population factors rather than habitat resource availability.

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“…Research is being conducted to establish past dietary habits by using stable isotope analysis to detect specific trace element ratios associated with particular dietary patterns [26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. Environmental contaminants, such as F or Pb in the water supply, will also be incorporated into the bone matrix [33].…”

Section: Anatomy Chemical Composition and Variability Of Bones And mentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical Differentiation of Osseous, Dental, and Non-skeletal Materials in Forensic Anthropology using Elemental Analysis

et al. 2015

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The Ecological Approach: Understanding Past Diet and the Relationship Between Diet and Disease

Cited by 18 publications

References 66 publications

An isotopic case study of individuals with syphilis from the pathological-anatomical reference collection of the national museum in Prague (Czech Republic, 19th century A.D.)

An isotopic case study of individuals with syphilis from the pathological-anatomical reference collection of the national museum in Prague (Czech Republic, 19th century A.D.)

A combined dietary approach using isotope and dental buccal-microwear analysis of human remains from the Neolithic, Roman and Medieval periods from the archaeological site of Tossal de les Basses (Alicante, Spain)

Chemical Differentiation of Osseous, Dental, and Non-skeletal Materials in Forensic Anthropology using Elemental Analysis

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