The number of bioarchaeologically-informed isotope reconstructions of diet in Medieval Italy is still low and even fewer studies have focussed on people buried in monastic cemeteries. The goal of our project is to start filling this gap in research by undertaking carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotope analyses on the bone collagen of individuals inhumated within the monastic complex of Badia Pozzeveri near Altopascio (Lucca) in Tuscany. A notable feature of this site is that it lay on the Via Francigena, the route taking pilgrims from France to Rome and ending in Apulia, where ships would set sail for the ‘Holy Land’. Badia Pozzeveri belonged to the Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine order and was an active monastery from the late 11th century until the late 14th century, definitively closing in 1408. This institution controlled numerous economic activities within its territory, including cereal cultivation and milling, cattle herding and the exploitation of aquatic resources from Lago di Sesto. Historical sources indicate that the diet of the monks included wheat, millet, eggs, beans, chestnuts, beef and fish (i.e. eels), as well as olive oil and wine. To investigate in what proportions these resources were consumed by the monks and by local people buried at Badia Pozzeveri, we sampled around 50 individuals dating to the 11th/12th and 12th/13th centuries, and whose biological profiles have been established through detailed bioarchaeological and palaeopathological examinations. Our study aims not only to reconstruct the diet of the inhumated individuals from the abbey, but also to evaluate their social status by combining archaeological, anthropological and isotopic sources of evidence. The result of our isotopic investigations on the bone collagen will also inform sampling of teeth for strontium isotope analyses, aimed at detecting possible pilgrims among the people inhumated at Pozzeveri.
Bioarchaeological and multi-isotopic investigations on Medieval human skeletons from the monastic graveyard at Badia Pozzeveri (Italy)
FORNACIARI A;GIUFFRA V;
2019-01-01
Abstract
The number of bioarchaeologically-informed isotope reconstructions of diet in Medieval Italy is still low and even fewer studies have focussed on people buried in monastic cemeteries. The goal of our project is to start filling this gap in research by undertaking carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotope analyses on the bone collagen of individuals inhumated within the monastic complex of Badia Pozzeveri near Altopascio (Lucca) in Tuscany. A notable feature of this site is that it lay on the Via Francigena, the route taking pilgrims from France to Rome and ending in Apulia, where ships would set sail for the ‘Holy Land’. Badia Pozzeveri belonged to the Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine order and was an active monastery from the late 11th century until the late 14th century, definitively closing in 1408. This institution controlled numerous economic activities within its territory, including cereal cultivation and milling, cattle herding and the exploitation of aquatic resources from Lago di Sesto. Historical sources indicate that the diet of the monks included wheat, millet, eggs, beans, chestnuts, beef and fish (i.e. eels), as well as olive oil and wine. To investigate in what proportions these resources were consumed by the monks and by local people buried at Badia Pozzeveri, we sampled around 50 individuals dating to the 11th/12th and 12th/13th centuries, and whose biological profiles have been established through detailed bioarchaeological and palaeopathological examinations. Our study aims not only to reconstruct the diet of the inhumated individuals from the abbey, but also to evaluate their social status by combining archaeological, anthropological and isotopic sources of evidence. The result of our isotopic investigations on the bone collagen will also inform sampling of teeth for strontium isotope analyses, aimed at detecting possible pilgrims among the people inhumated at Pozzeveri.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
