Nutritional traditions of Early Iron Age Don Forest-steppe population according to isotope research: new data and interpretations

Abstract

Introduction. The analysis of ancient populations economic systems using natural science methods is an acknowledged source of independent historical information. One of the possible directions of such research is making bioarchaeological reconstructions of nutritional features. At the same time, the development of such models makes it possible to identify the ways and timing of cultivated cereals distribution, often associated with a certain lifestyle and economic structure. This publication is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the chronological trend in food culture and agriculture development in the Don forest-steppe region territory in Early Iron Age. The new data is considered in the context of steppe and forest-steppe Eurasia culturally similar series.

Materials and methods. To construct a nutrition model bioarchaeological reconstruction, a method of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (d¹³C and d¹⁵N) variability in human and animal bones collagen analysis was used. Student and Mann-Whitney tests were applied to verify the statistical significance of the differences when comparing individual values in different groups. The study was carried out with introduction to scientific use of new data on the variability of isotopic composition in samples representing the VIII century BC - IV century AD regional population. Due to the Volkhonsky Vyselki monument materials, the series of d¹³C and d¹⁵N values for the buried dating back to the pre-Scythian period has been increased. For the first time, a representative individual data series on the d¹³C and d¹⁵N variability in bone collagen of individuals from of Sarmatian period kurgan graves has been obtained. The archeozoological materials were analyzed relate to grave goods or funeral feast remains discovered during the excavations of the Middle Don region Sarmatian burial mounds.

Results. The isotopic composition of collagen is interpreted in chronological dynamics, compared with funerary traditions and data known for other anthropological series of steppe and forest-steppe Eurasia. Based on an expanded series of d¹³C and d¹⁵N individual values, the previously expressed assumptions about the nature of nutritional and farming traditions in the region were verified.

Conclusion. A hypothesis is put forward about sustainable parallel existence of two food models in the forest-steppe region of Early Iron Age: those peculiar to nomads and settlement dwellers. A possible path of millet (Panicum miliaceum) distribution to the territory of Don river forest-steppe region is suggested.

Acknowledgements. The authors express their sincere gratitude to A.P. Medvedev; to V.D. Berezutsky, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Russian History, Voronezh State Pedagogical University; and to A.S. Zheludkov, researcher at the Lipetsk Regional Scientific Public Organization (LRSPO) “Archaeological Research,” for providing the anthropological materials. The authors also thank V.I. Danilevskaya, Junior Researcher at the Laboratory of Contextual Anthropology, for conducting collagen sample preparation.

Funding. This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), grant no. 24-18-004101, “Problems of Mobility Studies in Sedentary and Nomadic Societies Based on Isotopic Analysis of Paleoanthropological Materials.”

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