Carbon and nitrogen isotope data of archaeological cereals and red deer from northern France, Late Iron Age and Romam period (600 BCE-500AD)

Abstract

This dataset reports stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope values from charred cereals (spelt, emmer, free-threshing wheats and barley) and bone collagen of red deer, from 73 archaeological sites in the northern half of France, dating from the Late Iron Age and Roman period. The dataset was produced as part of a doctoral thesis by Sammy Ben Makhad and postdoctoral research by Mònica Aguilera at the National Museum of Natural History (Paris, France), focusing on field fertilization management during Antiquity. This research received financial support from the European Research Council Advanced Grant RurLand project (Rural Landscape in North-Eastern Roman Gaul, dir. M. Reddé), the DIM Région - Île-de-France “Matériaux Anciens et Patrimoniaux” (“AGROFER” project 2018-2021, dir. VM, MB, and FM), the MNHN ATM (“AgroFertil” project 2020; dir VM and MB) and by the Sorbonne Université OPUS programm (“AGALITT” project 2019, dir. MB and VM). Stable isotope analyses were conducted at the SSMIM (MNHN Paris).

Keywords

• Manuring
• Late Iron Age
• Roman Period
• France
• Bone collagen
• Charred cereals