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Stable Isotope Data from the Early Christian Catacombs of Ancient Rome: New Insights Into the Dietary Habits of Rome’S Early Christians

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Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 1127–1134 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas Stable isotope data from the early Christian catacombs of ancient Rome: new insights into the dietary habits of Rome’s early Christians L.V. Rutgers a,*, M. van Strydonck b, M. Boudin b, C. van der Linde a a Department of History and Art History, Utrecht University, Drift 10, 3512 BS Utrecht, The Netherlands b Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Jubelpark 1, B 1000 Brussels, Belgium article info abstract Article history: This study reports on the first attempt that determines the diet of a small but conceivably representative Received 21 August 2008 section of Rome’s early Christian community by means of d13C and d15N measurements on collagen Received in revised form extracted from twenty-two samples of human bone. Samples derive from the Liberian Region in the 8 December 2008 catacombs of St. Callixtus on the Appian Waydan area that has been radiocarbon dated to the period Accepted 18 December 2008 from the mid-3rd through early 5th century AD. Comparing our results to those produced for several other sites, we argue that this population’s typical diet included freshwater fish. We also briefly discuss Keywords: breastfeeding and the freshwater reservoir effect, to then explore the dietary, art historical, and possible Stable isotopes Diet sociological ramifications of our results. Collagen Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Freshwater fish Roman Empire Rome Catacombs Burial Early Christianity Social history Italy Breastfeeding Freshwater reservoir effect 1. Introduction (Keenleyside et al., 2006), the Romans (Prowse et al., 2004, 2007), the inhabitants of the Byzantine Empire (Bourbou and Richards, Although first applied in the late 1970s (Van der Merwe and 2007) and a variety of Medieval populations (Polet and Katzenberg, Vogel, 1977), stable isotope analysis did not become a major tool in 2003; Mu¨ ldner and Richards, 2005, 2007a,b; Salamon et al., 2008). the study of palaeodiet until the early 1990s (Schwarcz and One historic group has remained beyond the purview of stable Schoeninger, 1991; Katzenberg and Harrison, 1997). One particu- isotope analysis so far: Rome’s early Christians. There are two larly important reason why the investigation of stable isotope ratios reasons why this is not surprising. First, much historical research impacts current work in food history so profoundly is that it allows into the origins of Christianity deals with what the first Christians one to determine the food intake of specific individuals or specific did not eat as it continues to focus on one of the most outstanding populations whose dietary habits would otherwise remain hidden. societal shifts in Roman history, namely the rise of asceticismda This explains why, in less than two decades, the study of stable severe form of renunciation that manifested itself particularly carbon and nitrogen isotopes as tracers of foodstuffs has revolu- strongly in the areas of food and sex (Brown, 1988; Clark, 1999; tionized our understanding, not just of the dietary habits of McGowan, 1999). Secondly, early Christian archaeology, especially prehistoric populations worldwide (Drucker and Bocherens, 2004; in Rome where the archaeological evidence is most plentiful, has Sponheimer et al., 2006; Homes Hogue and Melsheimer, 2008), but been slow to adapt to the new possibilities offered by science-based also of such diverse historic civilizations as the ancient Greeks archaeology, preferring a more traditional art historical and descriptive approach instead. As a result of these two emphases, we do not know whether Christianity made a difference in terms of * Corresponding author. what people normally ate. It is evident that a majority of early E-mail address: [email protected] (L.V. Rutgers). Christians did not practice an ascetic lifestyle. It is also clear that 0305-4403/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2008.12.015 1128 L.V. Rutgers et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 1127–1134 some ascetics may have had access to a significantly more varied gallery. In addition, flanking the Region’s central portion, an impres- diet than the more staunch ecclesiastical defenders of this practice sive series of monumental burial chambers (cubicula)havebeen would have us believedpaleobotanic evidence from Egypt, for hollowed out into the volcanic soil, each containing up to fifty graves example, clearly points into that direction (Rutgers, 1998)asdo as well. These architectural features justify the conclusion that the stable isotope studies on the skeletal remains of early Belgian saints Liberian Region marks a transitional phase during which early (Van Strydonck et al., 2006). Christianity in Rome transformed from a closely knit minority religion The current investigation is the first attempt to use evidence to a much more loosely arranged, but numerically strong force. from the early Christian catacombs of ancient Rome to write food The principles on which stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes history whilst performing d13C and d15N measurements on collagen analysis is based are knownwell enough (Mays,1998; Schwarcz,1991; extracted from human bone. It arises out of a larger project in the Sealy, 2001; Privat et al., 2002; Le Hurray et al., 2006) and do not Jewish and early Christian catacombs of Rome that seeks, amongst require further elaboration here. Of course, this is not to say that other things, to determine the chronology of these catacombs current methods and working hypotheses are no longer evolving or through radiocarbon dating and that, in the process, also needed to that they escape scrutiny (Hedges and Reynard, 2007). In addition, we address the issue of a possible fresh- or seawater reservoir effect would like to recall that stable isotope analysis of the type performed (Rutgers et al., 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007). here provides information relating to long-term food intake only. The catacombs of Rome are enormous subterranean cemeteries (Pergola, 1997; Rutgers, 2000; Fiocchi Nicolai, 2001). They were 2. Materials and methods used for burial from the second through the early fifth century AD and contain the earliest remains of Christians that can be identified 2.1. Samples as such. With an estimated total of 500,000 tombs, surprisingly little work has been done in the areas of historical demography and As is evident from their identifiers, samples were gathered physical anthropology (Mancinelli and Vargiu, 1994; Rutgers, 2006; throughout the Liberian Region (Table 1). Eleven samples were Blanchard et al., 2007). obtained from simple loculus graves. Eleven further samples derive Our samples derive from the Liberian Region in the Christian from loculi located in a set of more monumental cubicula. The catacomb of St. Callixtus. The catacomb of St. Callixtus on the Appian particular nature of the loculi gravesdshelve graves that are Way is one of the largest early Christian catacombs (De Rossi, 1864– separated from other such graves on all sides by means of 1867). It originated in the early third century AD through papal a substantial layer of tuffa-rockdguarantees that our samples intervention as cemetery for the Christian poor (Fiocchi Nicolai and derive from 22 individual graves. While all graves in the Liberian Guyon, 2006). Soon after, other subterranean areas were added, Region have been broken into at some time in the past by looters, including the so-called Liberian Region (Fig.1). This region, which has we selected only those graves for analysis where the effects of been radiocarbon dated to the period from the mid third through looting could be shown to not have significantly disturbed the early fifth century AD (Rutgers et al., 2005, 2007), consists of an original configuration of the burial. Identifiers in Table 1 specify intricate network of underground galleries into the side-walls of a sample’s exact location in the catacomb. As an example, sample which simple shelve graves (loculi) have been cut in sheer endless A3-N-XIV-2 derives from a grave on the North side of gallery A 3, piles, with up to eight graves per pile, on both sides of each individual fourteenth row of graves from the main entrance gallery H1, second Fig. 1. Plan of the Liberian Region of the catacombs of St. Callixtus with designation of individual galleries and burial rooms. L.V. Rutgers et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 1127–1134 1129 Table 1 Isotopic values of bone samples derived from the Liberian Region. Shaded cases indicate low collagen yields. The radiocarbon samples have been calibrated by OxCal v3.10 (Bronk Ramsey, 1995) using the atmospheric data from Reimer et al. (2002). 14C samples were prepared at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels, and measured at the Leibniz Labor fu¨ r Altersbestimmung und Isotopenforschung, Christian-Albrechts-Universita¨t, Kiel, Germany. Grave number Age at death [years] Bone d13C d15N C:N Collagen yields % Lab. # and 14C age [BP] 2s-Calendar age [year] PDB AIR A3-N-XIV-2 Adult Foot phalanx À20.2 9.7 3.2 5.1 A3-Z-I-1 Æ6 Radius À20.2 11.0 3.3 0.9 A11-N-X-4 Adult Foot phalanx À19.9 10.5 3.2 1.9 A20-O-IV-3 Adult Foot phalanx À19.4 11.0 3.2 12.9 KIA-28751: 1770 Æ 25 130–350 cal AD A20-W-IV-3 Adult Foot phalanx À19.5 10.8 3.2 20.9 B6-W-IV-5 9 Hand phalanx À20.3 10.4 3.2 14.6 KIA-28785: 1825 Æ 25 120–260 cal AD B6-O-IV-3 8 Foot phalanx À19.9 10.1 3.2 14.5 B13-O-IV-3 13
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