Isotopic palaeodiet studies of Ancient Egyptian fauna and humans
Isotopic palaeodiet studies of Ancient Egyptian fauna and humans
We report here stable carbon and nitrogen isotope results from human and faunal bone collagen from samples taken from sites in the Egyptian Nile Valley and surrounding region, dating from the Predynastic (c. 5500 BC) through to the Dynastic (c. 343 BC) periods. Isotopic values for the human population cluster together across this broad time range, with high ?15N ratios, and ?13C values indicating a largely C3 based diet.
The human data is not easily explained through comparison with our associated faunal data, and so may be explained by the consumption of protein from an ecosystem we did not adequately sample, such as freshwater fish or plants and fauna with unusually high ?15N values due to the extreme aridity of this region. The faunal isotopic data we did produce shows a great range in values between and within species, especially in cattle, and reflects the close proximity of three ecozones across a relatively narrow geographical area; the river, the immediate flood-plain area around the Nile and the desert surroundings.
stable isotopes, carbon, nitrogen, egypt
451-463
Thompson, Alexandra H.
8f3c2eca-f210-42f4-a792-ee7cb12d95f5
Richards, Michael P.
1096a3ea-e05c-43ce-8bfd-efeb447792e9
Shortland, Andrew
efa7c7de-d342-4aba-91de-8bc1de468333
Zakrzewski, Sonia R.
d80afd94-feff-4fe8-96e9-f3db79bba99d
2005
Thompson, Alexandra H.
8f3c2eca-f210-42f4-a792-ee7cb12d95f5
Richards, Michael P.
1096a3ea-e05c-43ce-8bfd-efeb447792e9
Shortland, Andrew
efa7c7de-d342-4aba-91de-8bc1de468333
Zakrzewski, Sonia R.
d80afd94-feff-4fe8-96e9-f3db79bba99d
Thompson, Alexandra H., Richards, Michael P., Shortland, Andrew and Zakrzewski, Sonia R.
(2005)
Isotopic palaeodiet studies of Ancient Egyptian fauna and humans.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 32 (3), .
(doi:10.1016/j.jas.2004.11.004).
Abstract
We report here stable carbon and nitrogen isotope results from human and faunal bone collagen from samples taken from sites in the Egyptian Nile Valley and surrounding region, dating from the Predynastic (c. 5500 BC) through to the Dynastic (c. 343 BC) periods. Isotopic values for the human population cluster together across this broad time range, with high ?15N ratios, and ?13C values indicating a largely C3 based diet.
The human data is not easily explained through comparison with our associated faunal data, and so may be explained by the consumption of protein from an ecosystem we did not adequately sample, such as freshwater fish or plants and fauna with unusually high ?15N values due to the extreme aridity of this region. The faunal isotopic data we did produce shows a great range in values between and within species, especially in cattle, and reflects the close proximity of three ecozones across a relatively narrow geographical area; the river, the immediate flood-plain area around the Nile and the desert surroundings.
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JAS_32_Egypt_diet_isotopes_451-463.pdf
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Published date: 2005
Keywords:
stable isotopes, carbon, nitrogen, egypt
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 28805
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/28805
ISSN: 0305-4403
PURE UUID: d8d4bf03-ee2e-4fe3-86e9-8a2b922adecf
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Date deposited: 05 May 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:32
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Author:
Alexandra H. Thompson
Author:
Michael P. Richards
Author:
Andrew Shortland
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