Paleodiet characterisation of an etrurian population of Pontecagnano (Italy) by Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) and Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS)

Abstract

Human bones recovered from the archaeological site of Pontecagnano (Salerno, Italy) have been studied to reconstruct the diet of an Etrurian population. Two different areas were investigated, named Library and Sant’ Antonio, with a total of 44 tombs containing human skeletal remains, ranging in age from the 8th to the 3rd century B.C. This time span was confirmed by 14C dating obtained using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) on one bone sample from each site.

Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) was used to extract information about the concentration of Sr, Zn, Ca elements in the bone inorganic fraction, whilst stable isotope ratio measurements (IRMS) were carried out on bone collagen to obtain the d13C and d15N. A reliable technique has been used to extract and separate the inorganic and organic fractions of the bone remains.

Both IRMS and AAS results suggest a mixed diet including C3 plant food and herbivore animals, consistent with archaeological indications.