Abstract
During the Middle Ages, Portugal witnessed unprecedented socioeconomic and religious changes under transitioning religious political rule. The implications of changing ruling powers for urban food systems and individual diets in medieval Portugal is poorly understood. This study aimed to elucidate the dietary impact of the Islamic and Christian conquests. Radiocarbon dating, peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS) and stable isotope analysis (δ13 C, δ15 N) of animal (n=59) and human skeletal remains (n=205) from Muslim and Christian burials were used to characterize the diet of a large historical sample from Portugal. A Bayesian stable isotope mixing model (BSIMM) was used to estimate the contribution of marine protein to human diet. Early medieval (8-12th century), preconquest urban Muslim populations had mean (±1SD) values of -18.8 ± 0.4 ‰ for δ13 C 10.4 ± 1 ‰ for δ15 N, indicating a predominantly terrestrial diet, while late medieval (12-14th century) postconquest Muslim and Christian populations showed a greater reliance on marine resources with mean (±1SD) values of -17.9 ± 1.3‰ for δ13 C and 11.1 ± 1.1‰ for δ15 N. BSIMM estimation supported a significant increase in the contribution of marine resources to human diet. The results provide the first biomolecular evidence for a dietary revolution that is not evidenced in contemporaneous historical accounts. We find that society transitioned from a largely agro-pastoral economy under Islamic rule to one characterized by a new focus on marine resources under later Christian rule. This economic change led to the naissance of the marine economy that went on to characterize the early-modern period in Portugal and its global expansion.
Highlights
The application of biomolecular archeology in the Iberian Peninsula has enriched our understanding of one of the first multi-faith and multi-cultural societies in medieval Europe
During the early medieval period, historical sources indicate an economy based on agriculture and pastoralism throughout the Peninsula, while marine resources were exploited on a small scale, characterizing the subsistence strategies of coastal settlements (García-Sanchez, 1992)
Historical sources are more generous in information about the later Christian medieval period fishing practice and several species appear in city markets including the more expensive croaker, red porgy, red bream, and hake and freshwater catches such as salmon, lamprey and eel (Coelho, 1995) and less expensive fish like sardines, sole and allis shad (Catarino, 1998; Martins, 2016)
Summary
Historical sources are more generous in information about the later Christian medieval period fishing practice and several species appear in city markets including the more expensive croaker, red porgy, red bream, and hake and freshwater catches such as salmon, lamprey and eel (Coelho, 1995) and less expensive fish like sardines, sole and allis shad (Catarino, 1998; Martins, 2016) This trend could be associated with Christian abstinence from meat, economic ventures including contacts with the northern shores of the ocean led to the expansion of the fishing industry and brought Atlantic cod onto the table, which was salted (with salt from Aveiro and Viana do Castelo) or dried, to be preserved during the long journey back to Portugal (Azevedo, 1982; Cole, 1990). Fish and mollusks have been recorded from Islamic Santarém (Davis, 2008), Silves (Davis, 2008) and Loulé (Branco & Valente, 2015)
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