HUMAN DIET DURING THE STONE AGE AND EARLY METAL PERIOD (7000–1 CAL BC) IN LITHUANIA: AN UPDATE

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this study we present new carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope data of human (n=13) and animal (n=40) bone and/or dentine collagen samples, alongside accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dates of human remains (n=16). The studied material was sampled from Lithuanian sites dating from the Late Mesolithic to the pre-Roman Iron Age. For the first time, we present δ13C and δ15N data from Lithuanian freshwater fish as well as AMS 14C, δ13C, and δ15N measurements of human remains from six disturbed graves at the Donkalnis cemetery and from two pre-Roman Iron Age graves. According to the new results, human diet derived protein from the Late Mesolithic to Subneolithic (ca. 7000–2900 cal BC) was primarily based on freshwater fish. While previous macrobotanical and stable isotope studies has suggested that C4 plants, i.e., millet, became more widely used from the Late Bronze Age (1100–500 cal BC), our data suggests that millet consumption may have decreased during the pre-Roman Iron Age (500–1 cal BC) in the southeastern Baltic.