Social status in late medieval and early modern Brittany: insights from stable isotope analysis

Rozenn Colleter,Sylvie Duchesne,Norbert Telmon,Ludovic Schmitt,Klervia Jaouen,Michael P Richards,Anita Pietrzak,Benoît Clavel,Éric Crubézy

doi:10.1007/s12520-017-0547-9

Abstract

We document for the first time the diet of a privileged French population from Brittany, a region that was the center of battles between the Kingdoms of England and France until the end of the fifteenth century. We present here the results of stable isotope analyses of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur of human and animal bone and tooth collagen for a late medieval to early modern Breton population. The isotopic values observed for the Dominican convent of Rennes, Brittany, are very similar to those reported for medieval archaeological populations in Great Britain, namely they have enriched δ15N values combined with almost entirely terrestrial carbon signals. We discuss the consumption of young animals in a diet made up of terrestrial, marine, and freshwater resources. We report dietary differences between socio-economic groups and gender, with women and nobles (male and female) showing patterns consistent with high animal product consumption and lower mobility. The S isotope ratios of both humans and fauna are very homogeneous and generally have coastal δ34S values. The convent is known to have been an interregional pilgrimage site during the early modern period, but the isotope values indicate that the identified migrants were not pilgrims. Stable isotope analysis therefore complements the available historical information on human diets and mobility.

Highlights

Stable isotope studies of late medieval and early modern Western European populations Isotopic analyses are widely used to unravel dietary differences between social status in late medieval and early modern times in several European regions (Polet and Katzenberg 2003; Müldner and Richards 2005, 2007; Fornaciari 2008, Kjellström et al 2009; Mundee 2010; Yoder 2012; Lubritto et al 2013; Quintelier et al 2014; Lamb et al 2014; Alexander et al 2015; Olsen et al 2016, van der Sluis et al 2016)
The bone and tooth stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen isotope values of commoners, ecclesiastics, and privileged individuals buried in the Dominican convent of Rennes clearly highlight differences in diet related to social class
We documented quite elevated N isotope signature of the local terrestrial animals. This indicates that the high δ15N and low δ13C isotope compositions of European medieval individuals could be explained by the consumption of young animals and not necessarily by an intense use of freshwater or migratory fish resources

Summary

Introduction

Stable isotope studies of late medieval and early modern Western European populations Isotopic analyses are widely used to unravel dietary differences between social status in late medieval and early modern times in several European regions (Polet and Katzenberg 2003; Müldner and Richards 2005, 2007; Fornaciari 2008, Kjellström et al 2009; Mundee 2010; Yoder 2012; Lubritto et al 2013; Quintelier et al 2014; Lamb et al 2014; Alexander et al 2015; Olsen et al 2016, van der Sluis et al 2016). The diet of ecclesiastics and privileged European populations probably included the consumption of food with a higher trophic level such as omnivore meat (pig, fowl) or freshwater fish (Müldner and Richards 2005). S isotope analyses are being utilized more often to investigate this issue, as they can trace the consumption of marine, terrestrial and sometimes freshwater food (Nehlich 2015; Sayle et al 2016). In coastal regions, terrestrial and aquatic food products have similar S isotope signature (Lamb et al 2012; Nehlich 2015). In this context, S isotopes are usually utilized to identify migrants coming from inland regions (Richards et al 2003)

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