A diet study from the Middle Neolithic site Ire. Analyses of stable carbon isotopes, amino acids and trace elements

Abstract

This study is an attempt to enhance the knowledge of the diet from the middle neolithic site Ire' Gotland. In order to complement earlier research a comparison between analyses of trace elements, such as zinc and copper, and delta ¹³C on skull bones were made. Delta ¹³C gives information on the relation between marine versus terrestrial protein intake, and trace element analyses give information on the amount of different kinds of protein intake. It was found that the delta ¹³C results correlated well with the results of the trace clement analyses as well as with the earlier known osteological data. It could hereby be concluded that marine protein
dominated the dietary intake on Ire. It could be stated that though the food remains from the pottery was of a vegetable origin, vegetable protein did not contribute to a major part of the dietary intake.