Diet in high mediaeval florence through stable isotope analysis of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur

Abstract

In this paper, we aim to reconstruct the dietary habits of supposedly lower rank nobles or middle-class High Middle Ages individuals recovered from the cloister arcade of San Pier Scheraggio within the Uffizi Museum complex in Florence, Italy. Notably, the High Middle Ages was a period of cultural and social changes, which is partly reflected in the dietary habits, as suggested by historical sources. Here we apply stable carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur isotope analysis on humans (n = 34) and animals (n = 13) from San Pier Scheraggio to directly investigate food consumption in this peculiar assemblage. The diet of human individuals was based on terrestrial C₃ sources without clear contribution of marine fish (δ¹³C mean and 1SD: −19.5 ± 0.7 ‰; δ¹⁵N mean and 1SD: 9.6 ± 0.4 ‰; δ³⁴S values are mean and 1SD: 7.6 ± 1.2 ‰). The comparison with animal and human samples from other Italian Middle Ages contexts shows that the overall diet of the population buried at San Pier Scheraggio is in line with that of other mediaeval communities in Italy, although with a generally higher contribution of terrestrial animal products. Our data seem to suggest that at the site there was no dietary differentiation concerning age at death or biological sex of the individuals. Some differences, however, can be outlined, for example, in the contribution of C₄ crops. In addition to this, we identify two individuals as possible non-locals.