Isotopic dietary patterns of monks: results from stable isotope analyses of a seventeenth–eighteenth century Basilian monastic community in Vilnius, Lithuania

Abstract

The aim of the research focuses on reconstructing diet of the seventeenth–eighteenth century Basilian monks who were buried in the crypt beneath the Holy Trinity Uniate Church in Vilnius, Lithuania. For this aim, stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analyses of human bone collagen samples (n = 74, of which 39 yielded reliable isotopic data) were performed. In order to establish the isotopic dietary baseline for the Basilian monks, we sampled faunal bones (n = 47, of which 34 yielded reliable isotopic data) recovered during archaeological investigations in the area around the Vilnius Lower Castle and the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. Faunal samples were comprised of various domestic and wild terrestrial animals, freshwater and anadromous fish, and migratory and non-migratory birds. In total, 121 human and faunal samples were analysed. The isotopic data collected in our study suggest that C3 plant and domestic animal products were the main components in the diets of the Basilian monks, while freshwater fish played a noticeable, yet a much smaller dietary role. However, historical sources describe a reverse dietary picture, i.e. a higher dietary contribution from fish and a lower from animal products. The potential reasons for this incongruity between isotopic and historical dietary evidence were also explored. Finally, the isotopic data of the Basilian monks were compared with that of contemporary Lithuanian nobles and commoners. The comparisons indicate that monastic dietary patterns were more similar to those of the nobility than those of the commoners.