Bronze Age innovations and impact on human diet: A multi-isotopic and multi-proxy study of western Switzerland

PLoS One. 2021 Jan 27;16(1):e0245726. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245726. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

The archaeological Bronze Age record in Europe reveals unprecedented changes in subsistence strategies due to innovative farming techniques and new crop cultivation. Increasing cultural exchanges affected the economic system. The inhabitants of Switzerland played a pivotal role in this European context through relationships with the Mediterranean, the High and Middle Danube regions and the Alps thanks to the area's central position. This research aims to reconstruct, for the first time in Switzerland, human socio-economic systems through the study of human diet, herding and farming practices and their changes throughout the Bronze Age (2200-800 BCE) by means of biochemical markers. The study includes 41 human, 22 terrestrial and aquatic animal specimens and 30 charred seeds and chaff samples from sites in western Switzerland. Stable isotope analyses were performed on cereal and legume seeds (δ13C, δ15N), animal bone collagen (δ13Ccoll, δ15N, δ34S), human bone and tooth dentine collagen (δ13Ccoll, δ15N,) and human tooth enamel (δ13Cenamel). The isotopic data suggest a) an intensification of soil fertilization and no hydric stress throughout the Bronze Age, b) a human diet mainly composed of terrestrial resources despite the proximity of Lake Geneva and the Rhone river, c) a diet based on C3 plants during the Early and Middle Bronze Age as opposed to the significant consumption of 13C-enriched resources (probably millet) by individuals from the Final Bronze Age, d) no important changes in dietary patterns throughout an individual's lifespan but a more varied diet in childhood compared to adulthood, e) no differences in diet according to biological criteria (age, sex) or funerary behavior (burial architecture, grave goods).

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bone and Bones / chemistry*
  • Carbon Isotopes / analysis*
  • Dental Enamel / chemistry*
  • Diet / history*
  • Feeding Behavior*
  • History, Ancient
  • Humans
  • Nitrogen Isotopes / analysis*
  • Switzerland

Substances

  • Carbon Isotopes
  • Nitrogen Isotopes

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Fyssen Foundation (AV) and by the Schmidheiny and Boninchi foundations (isotopic analyses) (MB). Laboratory work was possible thanks to additional funding from the Institut Danone France/Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale 2015 partnership (GG). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.