Dietary continuity vs. discontinuity in Bronze Age Italy. The isotopic evidence from Arano di Cellore (Illasi, Verona, Italy)

Abstract

This paper explores dietary practices in Bronze Age northern Italy through the isotopic investigation of human and animal collagen from the Early Bronze Age (EBA) necropolis of Arano di Cellore (Illasi, Verona). An earlier study had recently dated to the Bronze Age the introduction of C4 crops in the Po Plain in a way that makes this region of Europe a key area to explore Bronze Age economic strategies. Our study shows that diet at Arano was based on the consumption of C3 cereal-type plants, with isotope values clustered in a narrow range: this distribution would indicate a rather homogeneous diet with only slight differences in accordance to sex of the individuals. The evidence from Arano seems to suggest that during the EBA, food consumption was strongly rooted in earlier traditions likely going back to the Neolithic, either in terms of type of crops consumed or relative contribution of plants and animal proteins to the diet. Thanks to the evidence from Arano, we are now able to firmly place the shift in crop use in the region at a transition phase between the late phases of the EBA and the beginning of the MBA. When comparing Arano's results with those from EBA Mediterranean sites similar isotopic patterns are identified. A general uniformity of dietary practices for the south of Europe could be advocated, so that the consumption of C4 plants identified in the Po Plain during the MBA might have been limited to very specific sites.