title: Investigation of diachronic dietary patterns on the islands of Ibiza and formentera, Spain: Evidence from carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratio analysis.
abstract: To examine how dietary patterns may have changed in the western Mediterranean through time, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were measured on extracted bone collagen from fauna (n = 75) and humans (n = 135) spanning four distinct chronological periods: Chalcolithic (c.2100-1600 BC), Punic (6th-2nd/1st century BC), Late Antiquity-Early Byzantine (4th-7th century AD), and Islamic (c.10th-13th century AD) on the islands of Ibiza and Formentera, Spain. The Chalcolithic, Punic, and Late Antiquity-Byzantine societies all showed evidence of a predominately C(3) terrestrial-based diet with a possible input of a small amount of marine and/or C(4) dietary resources. In contrast, the Islamic population on Ibiza had a subsistence strategy that was reliant on a significant amount of C(4) plants and/or animals fed a C(4) diet, likely millet. These results indicate a fairly constant C(3) terrestrial-based diet on the islands of Ibiza and Formentera through time, with a shift to C(4) dietary resources during the Islamic Period. Further research is needed from other Islamic populations in and around the Mediterranean to better understand this unique dietary adaptation. Am J Phys Anthropol 143:512-522, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. ben_fuller@eva.mpg.de
authors.forename: Benjamin T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Fuller
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Márquez-Grant
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Richards
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000885:Anthropology, Physical / Q000379:methods*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D024042:Collagen Type I / Q000737:chemistry; D004032:Diet / Q000145:classification / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history*; D005260:Female; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D024042:Collagen Type I; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes