Analysis of dietary habits in a prehistoric coastal population from İkiztepe, North Turkey, using stable isotopes of Carbon, Nitrogen, and sulphur

Abstract

This paper examines the dietary habits of a Late Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age (ca. 3200–2800 BCE) population from İkiztepe. Intra-population issues of dietary habits such as possible social divisions (e.g. between sexes, ages, and socio-economic status) were addressed.The research utilises the results of stable isotope analyses of carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N) and sulphur (δ34S) from human and animal bone collagen in conjunction with published archaeological data. Analysis of sulphur was conducted to investigate possible marine and freshwater resource consumption. The sample population from İkiztepe consists of 38 adults: 19 males and 19 females. A total of 20 (12 males and 8 females) adult individuals were sampled for the δ34S analysis.For sulphur (δ34S) the range in the sampled adult population is from 6.8‰ to 11.5‰. The respective means for δ13C and δ15N are −20 ± 0.3‰ and 8.9 ± 0.5‰. There is a greater range in the values of δ13C (1.4‰ compared to 0.9‰) and δ15N (2.6‰ compared to 1.9‰) for females, and males predominantly have δ15N values above 9.3‰.The dietary habits of the population were terrestrial C3 based and lacked significant marine or freshwater input despite the proximity of the settlement to the Black Sea and estuary of the Kızılırmak River. Furthermore, males had a slightly greater protein input than females in their diet. Animal management strategies and the exploitation of secondary products are also suggested.