Subsistence strategies of Meshchera lowlands populations during the Eneolithic period – The Bronze Age: Results from a multidisciplinary approach

Abstract

A multidisciplinary research project was undertaken to investigate the subsistence strategies adopted by populations living in the vicinity of Lake Shagara in the forest zone of Eastern Europe during the Eneolithic period and the Bronze Age. The analyses focused on the graves from the Shagara cemetery located near Lake Shagara.The diets of three populations were investigated: Volosovo (Eneolithic), Shagara 1 (the end of the Middle Bronze Age) and Shagara 2 (the end of the Middle Bronze Age). The latter two belong to the same cultural group (Shagara) but were distinguished in function of their spatial distribution at the Shagara cemetery. The research included archaeological, archaeozoological and stable isotope analyses. Quantitative diet reconstruction relying on human and food isotopic data was performed using the Bayesian mixing model FRUITS.The isotopic results and the Bayesian analysis showed that the diets of the Volosovo and Shagara 1 populations were relatively similar. These diets relied primarily on terrestrial foods as a source of calories and on terrestrial animals and freshwater fish as a source of protein. Small differences in estimates, albeit not statistically significant, could indicate that for the Shagara 1 population, relative to the Volosovo population, there was an increase in the consumption of plant foods and a lower protein intake. Bayesian estimates for Shagara 2 individuals clearly showed that their main source of calories was terrestrial plants and that these individuals had a comparatively low level of protein intake.The results obtained in this research demonstrate that there was a shift in subsistence strategies during the Eneolithic period – the Bronze Age transition at Shagara. However, without a more precise local chronology it is not possible to establish if this was a gradual transition or if groups adopting different subsistence strategies coexisted during the Bronze Age. This issue will be addressed in a future radiocarbon dating research programme.