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HUMAN DIET DURING THE STONE AGE AND EARLY METAL PERIOD (7000–1 CAL BC) IN LITHUANIA: AN UPDATE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2022

Edvardas Simčenka Open the ORCID record for Edvardas Simčenka [Opens in a new window] ,
Justina Kozakaitė Open the ORCID record for Justina Kozakaitė [Opens in a new window] ,
Giedrė Piličiauskienė Open the ORCID record for Giedrė Piličiauskienė [Opens in a new window] ,
Lukas Gaižauskas  and
Gytis Piličiauskas Open the ORCID record for Gytis Piličiauskas [Opens in a new window]
Edvardas Simčenka
Affiliation:
Lithuanian Institute of History, Tilto 17 st. 5, 01101 Vilnius, Lithuania
Justina Kozakaitė
Affiliation:
Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, 03101 Vilnius, Lithuania
Giedrė Piličiauskienė
Affiliation:
Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, 03101 Vilnius, Lithuania
Lukas Gaižauskas
Affiliation:
Lithuanian Institute of History, Tilto 17 st. 5, 01101 Vilnius, Lithuania
Gytis Piličiauskas*
Affiliation:
Lithuanian Institute of History, Tilto 17 st. 5, 01101 Vilnius, Lithuania
*
*Corresponding author. Email: gytis.piliciauskas@gmail.com
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Abstract

In this study we present new carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope data of human (n=13) and animal (n=40) bone and/or dentine collagen samples, alongside accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dates of human remains (n=16). The studied material was sampled from Lithuanian sites dating from the Late Mesolithic to the pre-Roman Iron Age. For the first time, we present δ13C and δ15N data from Lithuanian freshwater fish as well as AMS 14C, δ13C, and δ15N measurements of human remains from six disturbed graves at the Donkalnis cemetery and from two pre-Roman Iron Age graves. According to the new results, human diet derived protein from the Late Mesolithic to Subneolithic (ca. 7000–2900 cal BC) was primarily based on freshwater fish. While previous macrobotanical and stable isotope studies has suggested that C4 plants, i.e., millet, became more widely used from the Late Bronze Age (1100–500 cal BC), our data suggests that millet consumption may have decreased during the pre-Roman Iron Age (500–1 cal BC) in the southeastern Baltic.

Keywords

14C datingδ13C and δ15N analysisdietLithuaniaStone Age and Early Metal Period
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 64 , Issue 5 , October 2022 , pp. 1171 - 1189
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

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