Integrating buccal and occlusal dental microwear with isotope analyses for a complete paleodietary reconstruction of Holocene populations from Hungary

Raquel Hernando,Ágnes Király,Krisztián Kiss,Annamária Bárány,Judit Koós,Daniel Fernandes,Tamás Szeniczey,András Kalli,Piroska Csengeri,Kitti Köhler,Antónia Horváth,Tamás Hajdu,Beatriz Gamarra,Olivia Cheronet,Kendra Sirak,Ryan Schmidt,Eszter K Tutkovics ,Marina Lozano,Robin N M Feeney,Melinda L Hajdu ,R Patay ,Ashley Mccall,K Tóth ,Ron Pinhasi

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-86369-x

Abstract

Dietary reconstruction is used to make inferences about the subsistence strategies of ancient human populations, but it may also serve as a proxy to characterise their diverse cultural and technological manifestations. Dental microwear and stable isotope analyses have been shown to be successful techniques for paleodietary reconstruction of ancient populations but, despite yielding complementary dietary information, these techniques have rarely been combined within the same study. Here we present for the first time a comprehensive approach to interpreting ancient lifeways through the results of buccal and occlusal microwear, and δ13C and δ15N isotope analyses applied to the same individuals of prehistoric populations of Hungary from the Middle Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age periods. This study aimed to (a) assess if the combination of techniques yields a more precise assessment of past dietary and subsistence practices, and (b) contribute to our understanding of the dietary patterns of the prehistoric Hungarian populations. Overall, no correlations between microwear and δ13C and δ15N isotope variables were observed, except for a relationship between nitrogen and the vertical and horizontal index. However, we found that diachronic differences are influenced by the variation within the period. Particularly, we found differences in microwear and isotope variables between Middle Neolithic sites, indicating that there were different dietary practices among those populations. Additionally, microwear results suggest no changes in the abrasiveness of the diet, neither food processing methods, despite higher C4 plant resource consumption shown by carbon isotopic signal. Thus, we demonstrate that the integration of dental microwear and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope methodologies can provide complementary information for making inferences about paleodietary habits.

Highlights

IntroductionBiodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas 7, 4485‐661 Vairao, Porto, Portugal. 9Department of Biological Anthropology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, Budapest 1117, Hungary. 10Department of Anthropology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Ludovika tér 2, Budapest 1083, Hungary. 11Department of Archaeology, Hungarian National Museum, Múzeum krt. 14‐16, Budapest 1088, Hungary. 12Várkapitányság Integrált Területfejlesztési Központ Nonprofit Zrt., Daróczi Út 3., Budapest 1113, Hungary. 13Rétközi Museum, Csillag u. 5., Kisvárda 4600, Hungary. 14Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Loránd Eötvös Research Network, Tóth Kálmán utca 4, Budapest 1097, Hungary. 15Herman Ottó Museum, Görgey Artúr u. 28, Miskolc 3529, Hungary. 16Dornyay Béla Museum, Múzeum tér 2., Salgótarján 3100, Hungary. 17Department of Archaeology, Ferenczy Museum Center, Fő tér 2–5, Szentendre 2000, Hungary. 18School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. 19These authors contributed : Raquel Hernando and Beatriz Gamarra. *email: r.hernando90@
In the case of the Great Hungarian Plain (GHP), a series of changes in settlement patterns and subsistence strategies occurred from the Neolithic through the Copper Age and into the Bronze Age[13,14] (Table 1)
In Middle Neolithic to Late Bronze Age populations that lived in the GHP, dental microwear and stable isotope analyses have been shown to provide complementary information rather than correlated variables

Summary

Introduction

Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas 7, 4485‐661 Vairao, Porto, Portugal. 9Department of Biological Anthropology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, Budapest 1117, Hungary. 10Department of Anthropology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Ludovika tér 2, Budapest 1083, Hungary. 11Department of Archaeology, Hungarian National Museum, Múzeum krt. 14‐16, Budapest 1088, Hungary. 12Várkapitányság Integrált Területfejlesztési Központ Nonprofit Zrt., Daróczi Út 3., Budapest 1113, Hungary. 13Rétközi Museum, Csillag u. 5., Kisvárda 4600, Hungary. 14Institute of Archaeology, Research Centre for the Humanities, Loránd Eötvös Research Network, Tóth Kálmán utca 4, Budapest 1097, Hungary. 15Herman Ottó Museum, Görgey Artúr u. 28, Miskolc 3529, Hungary. 16Dornyay Béla Museum, Múzeum tér 2., Salgótarján 3100, Hungary. 17Department of Archaeology, Ferenczy Museum Center, Fő tér 2–5, Szentendre 2000, Hungary. 18School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. 19These authors contributed : Raquel Hernando and Beatriz Gamarra. *email: r.hernando90@. In the case of the Great Hungarian Plain (GHP), a series of changes in settlement patterns and subsistence strategies occurred from the Neolithic through the Copper Age and into the Bronze Age[13,14] (Table 1). Distinct dietary habits and food processing methods result in different microwear patterns, allowing for the distinction, for example, between individuals who ingested foodstuffs obtained through different subsistence practices, such as foraging and agriculture, or between farming and p astoralism[36,37,58,59]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion