AbstractsAnthropology

Neolithic farmers in Poland - A study of stable isotopes in human bones and teeth from Kichary Nowe in the south of Poland

by Staffan Lundmark




Institution: Stockholm University
Department:
Year: 2016
Keywords: stable isotopic study; archaeological science; Neolithic in southern Poland; Kichary Nowe 2 grave-field; diet study on Neolithic bone material; stabila isotoper studie; laborativ arkeologi; neolitikum i södra Polen; Kichary Nowe 2 gravfält; dietstudie på neolitiskt benmaterial; Humanities; History and Archaeology; Archaeology; Humaniora; Historia och arkeologi; Arkeologi
Posted: 02/05/2017
Record ID: 2075853
Full text PDF: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-125603


Abstract

The diet of the Stone Age cultures is a strong indicator to the social group, thus farmers and hunters can be distinguished through their diet. There is well-preserved and well excavated Polish skeletal material available for such a study but the material has not previously been subject to stable isotopes analyses and therefore the questions of diets has not been answered. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the cultures in the Kichary Nowe 2 area in the Lesser Poland district in southern Poland. Through analysis of the stable isotopes of Carbon, Nitrogen and Sulphur in the collagen of teeth and skeletal bones from the humans in the Kichary Nowe 2 grave-field and from bones from the fauna, coeval and from the same area, the study will establish whether there were any sharp changes of diets. The material from the grave-field comes from cultures with an established agricultural economy, where their cultural belonging has been anticipated from the burial context. The results from my study of stable isotopes from the bone material will be grouped by various parameters, culture, attribution to sex and age. The groups will then be compared to each other to investigate patterns within and between the groups.