title: Dietary habits in New France during the 17th and 18th centuries: An isotopic perspective.
abstract: Little attention has been given, so far, to the early colonial diet in New France from an isotopic perspective. Historical records that compare France to New France suggest a shift toward a more diverse diet, including a higher protein intake due to an improvement in living conditions in the New World, despite the retention of ancestral dietary habits. This hypothesis will be explored here.
  
  
  
  Stable carbon (organic and mineral) and nitrogen isotopes were measured on 43 individuals from Notre Dame cemetery (first Catholic parish church cemetery in Montreal, 1683-1803) as well as 13 French compatriots from La Rochelle, France (Protestant Hospital Cemetery, 1765-1792). Intragroup variation (age at death, sex, and/or burial location) was investigated and compared to compiled data from various northeastern North American sites (N = 99).
  
  
  
  The Notre Dame sample means are as follows: -19.6‰ versus VPDB for δ13Ccollagen, -12.22‰ versus VPDB for δ13Ccarbonate, and 11.5‰ versus AIR for δ15N. They are significantly lower than both La Rochelle (-18.4‰, -11.67‰, and 12.7‰, respectively, p ≤ .005) and the northeastern North American groups used for this comparison (p = .000).
  
  
  
  The isotopic values obtained from Notre Dame cemetery suggest that the diet was mainly based on C3resources with limited C4resources. Although different from all comparable contemporary sites, colonial Montreal's diet remains most similar to La Rochelle, France. This study agrees with historians who have suggested that French dietary traditions seem to have been retained among the early colonial inhabitants of Montreal.
authors.affiliation: Département d'anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7, Canada.|Geotop, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3P8, Canada.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vigeant
authors.affiliation: Département d'anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7, Canada.|Geotop, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3P8, Canada.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ribot
authors.affiliation: Geotop, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3P8, Canada.|Département des sciences de la Terre et de l'atmosphère, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3P8, Canada.
authors.forename: J-F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Hélie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D002048:Burial; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D004032:Diet / Q000266:history*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D011792:Quebec / Q000208:ethnology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes
keywords: Montreal; apatite; collagen; maize; stable isotopes