Isotopic paleodiet analysis at 2nd c AD Rogowo, PL Laurie J. Reitsema and Tomasz Kozłowski ANTHROPOLOGICAL REVIEW • Vol. 76 (1), 1–22 (2013) Diet and society in Poland before the state: stable isotope evidence from a Wielbark population (2nd c. AD) Laurie J. Reitsema1, Tomasz Kozłowski2 1Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, 250 Baldwin Hall, Jackson St., Athens, Georgia, 30602, USA 2 Department of Anthropology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, ul. Lwowska 1, 87-100, Toruń, Poland ABSTRACT: The 1st–4th c. AD Wielbark culture of Eastern Europe is relatively understudied bioarchaeolog- ically due to the fragmentary nature of its cemeteries. Here, we report the first stable isotope analysis of Wielbark diet using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope signatures from both collagen and carbonate of 30 individuals from Rogowo, a 2nd c. Wielbark cemetery in North-Central Poland. Diet at Rogowo was pri- marily based on terrestrial foods and included millet, a C4 plant cultivated by many Slavic populations in Europe. Anadromous fish likely supplemented the diet, which is clarified when considering collagen and carbonate data in tandem. Stable isotope differences between the sexes indicate that men and women may have consumed different foods, although there is a possibility that women immigrated to Rogowo from an isotopically different region of Europe. No significant differences are noted in δ13C or δ15N of women with and without grave goods, suggesting little social differentiation within the Wielbark culture, at least in terms of daily food access. Reconstructing human diet in Europe through stable isotope analysis is problematic because of the relative isotopic homogeneity in this region of the world. This study further demonstrates the utility of using both carbonate and collagen stable isotope data in tandem to reconstruct past European diet. KEY WORDS: paleodiet, Roman era, Wielbark culture, isotopes, Poland Introduction riod of Roman influence or the Roman The archaeological culture known era by archaeologists, although the ge- as the Wielbark occupied regions of ographic regions of modern-day Poland North-Central Europe between the 1st were never incorporated into the Roman and 4th centuries AD (Barford 2001). Empire. Initially settled in the areas sur- This time period is referred to as the pe- rounding the Vistula River in Pomera- Original Article: Received September 13, 2013; Accepted for publication October 21, 2013 DOI: 110.2478/anre-2013-0010 © 2013 Polish Anthropological Society 2 Laurie J. Reitsema and Tomasz Kozłowski nia (Wołgiewicz 1981, Godłowski and Two archaeological trademarks of the Kozłowski 1985), the Wielbark culture Wielbark culture are bi-ritual cemeteries expanded during the first half of the 2nd that include both inhumation and crema- c. AD to Southeast Poland and Wielko- tion burials, and a characteristic lack of polska (Kozak-Zychman 1996). Origins weapons and tools as grave goods (Go- of the Wielbark culture are uncertain. It dłowski and Kozłowski 1985). Wielbark may have developed indigenously from settlements are generally open and un- the Oksywie culture in and around the fortified. A degree of social differenti- Vistula River basin (e.g., Godłowski ation is manifest in the facts that some and Kozłowski 1985; Dąbrowski 2006), graves are cremations whereas some but some believe it may represent im- are inhumations, and that ornaments migrant populations of Germanic Goths and jewelry grave goods are present in and Gepids from Scandinavia (Czeka- burials. However, in general, Wielbark nowski 1955; Godłowski and Kozłowski populations appear to have been rela- 1985; Heather 1996; Kozak-Zychman tively egalitarian (Gieysztor et al. 1979). 1996; Wołgiewicz 1981). The issue of Although linked to the Roman world by Wielbark origins and relationships with trade, Slavic populations in Antiquity other Roman era European populations are scarcely described in written records; remains unresolved. After their appear- thus, it falls to archaeology to illuminate ance in North-Central Poland, Wielbark the daily lives of modern-day Poland’s settlements eventually shift further populations in the early centuries AD. south, replacing the Przeworsk culture In terms of the subsistence econo- in Southern Poland, and apparently de- my, wheat, millet, rye and barley were veloping into the Černjachov culture in the most commonly grown crops by the modern-day Ukraine and surrounding Wielbark culture (Pyrgała 1975). Cattle areas. The relationship between the were the most common domesticated Wielbark culture and later, medieval animal in Roman era Poland, comprising Slavic populations from the Oder and approximately 50 to 80% of the total ar- the Vistula rivers basins is also incom- chaeozoological assemblages (Gładykow- pletely defined (c.f., Kozak-Zychman ska-Rzeczycka et al. 1997; Makowiecki 1996; Dąbrowski 2006). Anthropologi- 2006; Reitsema et al. 2013). Land was cal examinations of skull and tooth mor- tilled on a household level but was prob- phology suggest biological continuity ably collectively owned during the tribal between Antiquity and the early medie- period (Gieysztor et al. 1979). For this val period (Piontek et al. 2008). Recent reason, little within-group dietary differ- preliminary aDNA analyses of a small entiation based on status may be expect- number of Iron Age and medieval skel- ed at this time. etons from Poland suggest genetic dis- Because most Wielbark cemeteries continuity between these times (Juras comprise cremains and fragmented skel- 2012). Although inconclusive thus far, etal remains, only a limited number of bi- contributions from biological anthro- oarchaeological investigations contribute pology, such as these recent examples, to our understanding of these peoples are desirable to clarify the Wielbark cul- (e.g., Dąbrowski 2006; Kozak-Zychman ture’s relationship to other European 1996, Krenz-Niedbala and Kozłowski populations. 2013; Piontek et al. 2006; Segeda et al. Isotopic paleodiet analysis at 2nd c AD Rogowo, PL 3 2007; Smrćka et al. 2000). Here we pres- tios (δ15N) are reported according to the ent the first stable isotope evidence of equation Wielbark diet from Rogowo, a cemetery [δ=(Rsample – Rstandard)/Rstandard x1000]. with unusually complete skeletal materi- Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope als, in Kujavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship ratios provide differing information of North-Central Poland. In addition to about human diet. δ13C variation in the reconstructing diet of this Wielbark pop- plant kingdom exists due to differences ulation, we consider relationships be- in photosynthetic pathways used to me- tween diet and sex, age, and presence/ tabolize atmospheric carbon (Park and absence of grave goods to better under- Epstein 1960; Smith and Epstein 1971). stand the dual influences of cultural and δ13C ratios in human tissues therefore biological variables in influencing diet of reflect the local ecosystem, identifying this tribal population. which types of plants were consumed and the influence of environmental pa- 13 Stable Isotope Background rameters on plant δ C values (DeNiro and Epstein 1978; Heaton 1999). The Analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen δ13C values of fish often (though not al- isotopes from human bones is an effec- ways) fall outside the typical ranges of tive tool in archaeology for reconstruct- terrestrial foods, and can in many cases ing individual diets of past populations be identified isotopically in diet as a re- (c.f., Katzenberg 2008; Schoeninger sult (Chisholm et al. 1982; Dufour et al. 2011). Plants and animals exhibit sys- 1999; Grupe et al. 1999; Schoeninger and tematic isotopic variation due to differ- DeNiro 1984). ences in their environments, physiolo- Stable carbon isotope ratios can be gies and diets (Ambrose 2000; Park and measured from either bone collagen or δ13 Epstein 1961; Schoeninger and Moore apatite (referred to henceforth as Ccoll δ13 1992; van Klinken et al. 2000). Stable and Cap, respectively). Because collagen isotope signatures are incorporated is formed from amino acids, it primari- into consumer tissues, including bones, ly reflects protein in the diet ( Ambrose which come to represent a composite of and Norr 1993; Tieszen and Fagre 1993). the stable isotope signatures of foods Apa tite is formed from dissolved bicarbo- eaten in life. By measuring stable iso- nate in the bloodstream which contains tope ratios of ancient bones and com- carbon from all macronutrients; thus, paring the signatures to known ratios carbonate from apatite better reflects en- of various food types, it is possible to ergy sources in diet (i.e., carbohydrates). estimate the types of foods a person typ- Collagen and carbonate provide different ically consumed on a daily basis. Stable and complementary information about isotope values are expressed as a permil foods consumed and when used togeth- (‰) ratio of one of an element’s iso- er, have been shown to be highly effec- topes to another in relation to a stand- tive for reconstructing diet (e.g., Kellner ard of known abundance: Vienna Pee and Schoeninger 2007). Dee Belemnite (VPDB) for δ13C and the The δ13C values of consumers are not Ambient Inhalable Reservoir (AIR) for identical to the values of foods. Rather, δ15N. Both stable carbon isotope ratios there are systematic diet-tissue spacing (δ13C) and stable nitrogen isotope ra- relationships that can be considered in 4 Laurie J. Reitsema and Tomasz Kozłowski order to backtrack from the stable iso- the use of manure or other methods used tope ratios of a consumer to those of to improve soils (ploughing; burning) on δ13 its foods. In general, collagen Ccoll is which domestic animals were grazed. For approximately 5‰ higher in consum- δ13C, the wild/domestic animal difference ers than in the bulk protein diet (van likely represents variations in canopy der Merwe and Vogel 1978). The rela- cover on forage lands, with forest plants δ13 tionship between Cap and diet is less and animals exhibiting lower values due well-established. Controlled laboratory to the “canopy effect” (for more informa- experiments reveal the diet-to-apatite tion on the canopy effect in Europe, see space for δ13C to be approximately 9.5‰ Bocherens and Drucker (2003)).