14 May 2024, 12h CEST (UTC +2)
“Review of stable isotopic research on human diet, subsistence and mobility in Mesopotamia”
Prof. Arkadiusz Sołtysiak
Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Poland
Access the webinar here: https://bit.ly/GIAPseminars2024
Open event. No registration required. Hosted in Microsoft Teams (no Microsoft/Teams account needed).
Abstract:
Since 40 years, research on stable isotopes has become a very important tool in bioarchaeology, increasing our potential to reconstruct ancient economies and social complexities. So far, it was rarely used in research on human remains from ancient Mesopotamia and especially the southern alluvium is still almost a blank page in this respect. However, during recent decade a series of studies on populations living in northern Mesopotamia has been published, covering δ13C and δ15N values in human and animal collagen, 87Sr/86Sr and δ18O values in enamel bioapatite, sometimes combined with other bioarchaeological proxies of diet and mobility. Therefore we have now insight into diet, subsistence, mobility, food import, patterns of land use, weaning time, short time climate change etc. for a few archaeological sites, including Tell Arbid, Tell Brak, Tell Barri, Bakr Awa, Tell Masaikh, Tell Ashara, Tell Seh Hamad and Tell Bi’a. Although this dataset is still relatively limited, some general observations on temporal changes in economy between the Late Chalcolithic and the historical periods may be based on available evidence.
Keywords:
Ancient Mesopotamia, stable isotopes, biochemistry, subsistence economy
About Prof. Sołtysiak:
Arkadiusz Sołtysiak is a professor in the Department of Archaeology, University of Warsaw. He is a bioarcheologist working mainly in the Near East (Iran, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait) and the editor of “Bioarchaeology of the Near East”.
Links of interest:
- https://archeowiesci.pl/en/
- Facebook: /Archeowiesci
- Instagram: @archeowiesci
