You are what you grow: How can strontium isotope and concentration analysis help to detect developments in farming and subsistence practices.

Abstract

Both the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age were periods of significant cultural change throughout Europe. In the northern Scheldt Basin, modern-day Belgium, this manifested through the widespread adoption of the so-called Urnfield Culture and cremation practices. As populations began to experience possible external pressures such as demographic expansion, the collapse of Bronze Age trading networks, and potential climate change events, how were individuals impacted on a local scale. The diaphyses from 108 graves pertaining to four sites have been analysed diachronically using strontium isotope and concentration analysis (87Sr/86Sr, δ88Sr and [Sr]). These results show that in the northern Scheldt Basin, populations continued to exploit specific microregions for subsistence, and highlights how the landscape was deliberately used and structured. However, a shift in the dietary proxies ([Sr] and δ88Sr) between the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age highlights that the means of growing food or what was being consumed did change, despite a continuity in location. This could suggest the introduction or intensification of new farming techniques, such as manuring, or the emergence of new crops like millet.

Keywords

• Diet
• Strontium
• Bronze Age
• Belgium
• Urnfield
• Iron Age