“These boots were made for walking”: The isotopic analysis of a C₄ Roman inhumation from Gravesend, Kent, UK

Abstract

As part of the road widening scheme between London and Dover, Oxford Archaeology South uncovered a large boundary ditch of Iron Age origin that contained Iron Age and Roman inhumations, adjacent to which was a small mid-late Roman cemetery, interpreted as a rural cemetery for Romano-British farmers. Grave goods in the cemetery were restricted to a few individuals with hobnailed boots. Bulk bone collagen isotopic analysis of 11 skeletons of Iron Age and Roman date gave a typical C(3) terrestrial signal (average δ(13) C = -19.8‰, δ(15) N = 9.3‰), but also revealed one (SK12671) with a diet which included a substantial C(4) component (δ(13) C = -15.2‰, δ(15) N = 11.2‰). This is only the second such diet reported in Roman Britain. Subsequent δ(18) O(c) and (87) Sr/(86) Sr measurements on the dental enamel in this individual were, however, consistent with a "local" origin, indicating that either C(4) protein was consumed in Late Roman Britain, or that he came from somewhere else, but where conditions gave rise to similar isotopic values. If we accept the latter, then it indicates that using oxygen and strontium isotopes alone to identify "incomers" may be problematic. The provision of hobnailed boots for the dead appears to have had a strong symbolic element in Late Roman Britain. We suggest that in this case the boots may be significant, in that he was being equipped for the long march home.

Stable isotope and multi-analytical investigation of Monte da Cegonha: A Late Antiquity population in southern Portugal

“…Comparison with other roughly contemporaneous European sites revealed similar diets as well as dietary practices which rarely show sex and age related patterns (Chenery et al, 2010;Killgrove and Tykot, 2013;Müldner et al, 2011;Pollard et al, 2011;Prowse et al, 2004Prowse et al, , 2005Rutgers et al, 2009;Stevens et al, 2012). Overall, these studies (including the results discussed herein) show that the diet of these populations was more dependent on the environment and local availability of food sources rather than on cultural habits.…”

Going south of the river: A multidisciplinary analysis of ancestry, mobility and diet in a population from Roman Southwark, London

“…The results from the ten successfully analysed individuals are shown in Fig. 3 in comparison to other results on adults from Roman Britain [data for Dorset (Redfern, et al, 2010, Richards, et al, 1998, Queenford Farm (Fuller, et al, 2006), York (Müldner, et al, 2011b, Müldner andRichards, 2007), Catterick (Chenery, et al, 2011), Gravesend (Pollard, et al, 2011a), Gloucester , Cheung, et al, 2012, Cummings, 2008, Lankhills, Alchester, Asthall, Hucclecote, Stanton Harcourt (Cummings, 2008) and Tubney (Nehlich, et al, 2011) any, freshwater fish protein input into the diet. Within these results there are no significant differences in δ 13 C or δ 15 N by sex, ancestry or century (Table 4), though with such as small sample size, only gross differences would be detectable.…”

“…Eckardt et al (2010), (Müldner, 2013) and Pollard et al (2011a) suggest that dietary isotopes can also indicate mobility, as millet and other C 4 plants were rare in Roman Britain (Cool, 2006, van der Veen, et al, 2008. One person with this dietary signature has been found in London (L. Bell, pers.…”

“…Britain may exhibit high carbon isotope ratios (e.g., at Gravesend, see Pollard et al (2011a)), but it is unlikely there were sufficient imports of millet to make a measurable difference to the isotopic composition of the bones of those who resided solely in Roman Britain. Within terrestrial diets, increasing δ 15 N values distinguish protein sourced from plants, meat or freshwater fish, while marine foods tend to elevate δ 15 N collagen values Brown, 2011, Lee-Thorp, 2008).…”

Beyond the Grave. Excavating the Dead in the Late Roman Provinces

“…30 Results of stable isotope studies from non-urban cemeteries also hint at no less diverse population origins, for example at Wasperton, Warwickshire (Carver et al (2009)) or Gravesend, Kent (Pollard et al (2011)). Studies collected by Budd et al (2004) suggest similar pre-and post-Roman mobility.…”