High-resolution dietary reconstruction of victims of the 79 CE Vesuvius eruption at Herculaneum by compound-specific isotope analysis

Silvia Soncin; Helen M. Talbot; Ricardo Fernandes; Alison Harris; Matthew von Tersch; Harry K. Robson; Jan K. Bakker; Kristine K. Richter; Michelle Alexander; Steven Ellis; Gill Thompson; Valeria Amoretti; Massimo Osanna; Marina Caso; Francesco Sirano; Luciano Fattore; Andre C. Colonese; Peter Garnsey; Luca Bondioli; Oliver E. Craig

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abg5791

High-resolution dietary reconstruction of victims of the 79 CE Vesuvius eruption at Herculaneum by compound-specific isotope analysis

Silvia Soncin, Helen M. Talbot, Ricardo Fernandes, Alison Harris, Matthew von Tersch, Harry K. Robson, Jan K. Bakker, Kristine K. Richter, Michelle Alexander, Steven Ellis, Gill Thompson, Valeria Amoretti, Massimo Osanna, Marina Caso, Francesco Sirano, Luciano Fattore, Andre C. Colonese, Peter Garnsey, Luca Bondioli, Oliver E. Craig

Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The remains of those who perished at Herculaneum in 79 CE offer a unique opportunity to examine lifeways across an ancient community who lived and died together. Historical sources often allude to differential access to foodstuffs across Roman society but provide no direct or quantitative information. By determining the stable isotope values of amino acids from bone collagen and deploying Bayesian models that incorporate knowledge of protein synthesis, we were able to reconstruct the diets of 17 adults from Herculaneum with unprecedented resolution. Significant differences in the proportions of marine and terrestrial foods consumed were observed between males and females, implying that access to food was differentiated according to gender. The approach also provided dietary data of sufficient precision for comparison with assessments of food supply to modern populations, opening up the possibility of benchmarking ancient diets against contemporary settings where the consequences for health are better understood.

Original language	English
Article number	eabg5791
Number of pages	9
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	7
Issue number	35
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abg5791
Publication status	Published - 25 Aug 2021

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sciadv.abg5791
© 2021 The Authors
Final published version, 1.08 MBLicence: CC BY

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/35/eabg5791.abstract

Cite this

Soncin, S., Talbot, H. M., Fernandes, R., Harris, A., von Tersch, M., Robson, H. K., Bakker, J. K., Richter, K. K., Alexander, M., Ellis, S., Thompson, G., Amoretti, V., Osanna, M., Caso, M., Sirano, F., Fattore, L., Colonese, A. C., Garnsey, P., Bondioli, L., & Craig, O. E. (2021). High-resolution dietary reconstruction of victims of the 79 CE Vesuvius eruption at Herculaneum by compound-specific isotope analysis. Science Advances, 7(35), Article eabg5791. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abg5791

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title = "High-resolution dietary reconstruction of victims of the 79 CE Vesuvius eruption at Herculaneum by compound-specific isotope analysis",

abstract = "The remains of those who perished at Herculaneum in 79 CE offer a unique opportunity to examine lifeways across an ancient community who lived and died together. Historical sources often allude to differential access to foodstuffs across Roman society but provide no direct or quantitative information. By determining the stable isotope values of amino acids from bone collagen and deploying Bayesian models that incorporate knowledge of protein synthesis, we were able to reconstruct the diets of 17 adults from Herculaneum with unprecedented resolution. Significant differences in the proportions of marine and terrestrial foods consumed were observed between males and females, implying that access to food was differentiated according to gender. The approach also provided dietary data of sufficient precision for comparison with assessments of food supply to modern populations, opening up the possibility of benchmarking ancient diets against contemporary settings where the consequences for health are better understood.",

author = "Silvia Soncin and Talbot, {Helen M.} and Ricardo Fernandes and Alison Harris and {von Tersch}, Matthew and Robson, {Harry K.} and Bakker, {Jan K.} and Richter, {Kristine K.} and Michelle Alexander and Steven Ellis and Gill Thompson and Valeria Amoretti and Massimo Osanna and Marina Caso and Francesco Sirano and Luciano Fattore and Colonese, {Andre C.} and Peter Garnsey and Luca Bondioli and Craig, {Oliver E.}",

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doi = "10.1126/sciadv.abg5791",

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Soncin, S, Talbot, HM, Fernandes, R, Harris, A, von Tersch, M, Robson, HK, Bakker, JK, Richter, KK , Alexander, M, Ellis, S, Thompson, G, Amoretti, V, Osanna, M, Caso, M, Sirano, F, Fattore, L, Colonese, AC, Garnsey, P, Bondioli, L & Craig, OE 2021, 'High-resolution dietary reconstruction of victims of the 79 CE Vesuvius eruption at Herculaneum by compound-specific isotope analysis', Science Advances, vol. 7, no. 35, eabg5791. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abg5791

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T1 - High-resolution dietary reconstruction of victims of the 79 CE Vesuvius eruption at Herculaneum by compound-specific isotope analysis

AU - Soncin, Silvia

AU - Talbot, Helen M.

AU - Fernandes, Ricardo

AU - Harris, Alison

AU - von Tersch, Matthew

AU - Robson, Harry K.

AU - Bakker, Jan K.

AU - Richter, Kristine K.

AU - Alexander, Michelle

AU - Ellis, Steven

AU - Thompson, Gill

AU - Amoretti, Valeria

AU - Osanna, Massimo

AU - Caso, Marina

AU - Sirano, Francesco

AU - Fattore, Luciano

AU - Colonese, Andre C.

AU - Garnsey, Peter

AU - Bondioli, Luca

AU - Craig, Oliver E.

PY - 2021/8/25

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