Dietary habits of the medieval Nogais in the Lower Don region: comparative analysis of historical and scientific data

Abstract

Introduction. The paper explores the dietary system of a Nogai group from kurgan 3 at the Sukhaya Termista II in the Rostov region, typical nomads who lived in the Sal river basin at the end of the 16th–early 17th centuries. The analysis of the δ¹³С and δ¹⁵N values of bone collagen helped gain a better understanding of possible components of their dietary system and provided the basis for comparing the results obtained and historical and ethnographic data and the data of geochemical analysis.

Materials and methods. This study intends to analyze written records on dietary preferences of nomadic medieval populations left by travelers in the 13th–19th centuries. The study included the analyses of the funerary rite and demographic characteristics as well as the δ¹³С and δ¹⁵N values of bone tissue collagen. To assess the contribution of the dietary intake components from various trophic levels, we used the δ¹³С and δ¹⁵N data on the plants and animals from the medieval period, cereal crops from the Bronze Age, the Early Iron Age and the 19th century as well as modern fish. To verify the studied dietary system, a comparative analysis using isotopic data obtained for individuals from the graves dating to the Mongol Empire period of the 13th–early 14th centuries as well as the populations of China who lived in the Huang He river basin (the Yangshao culture) in the Bronze Age and for whom millet was a staple food was conducted.

Results and discussion. The analysis of the stable nitrogen and carbon isotope composition shows that Nogai infants were breastfed; the dietary components of adult males and females and some children was the same. The comparison of isotopic composition of the core group of the individuals with that of various dietary components reveals that the local Nogais did not consume millet. The comparison with the reference dataset enabled us to determine substantial inter-group differences in the stable nitrogen and carbon isotope composition of the bone tissue of the Nogais and the Mongol elite of the 13th–14th centuries as well as the Yangshao population of the Bronze Age.

Conclusion. The δ¹³С and δ¹⁵N data of the Nogai bone tissue from Sukhaya Termista and food components of various trophic levels suggest that livestock products were staple food; millet was not consumed. Presumably river fish and mollusks were not components of the dietary system, though some individuals have a higher δ¹⁵N value. © 2025. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

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