Institut für Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie und Provinzialrömische Archäologie, and ArchaeoBioCenter, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, 80539, Munchen, Germany.
Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Str. 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2023 Mar 11;13(1):4078. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-30706-9.
Medieval southern Italy is typically viewed as a region where political, religious, and cultural systems coexisted and clashed. Written sources often focus on elites and give an image of a hierarchical feudal society supported by a farming economy. We undertook an interdisciplinary study combining historical and archaeological evidence with Bayesian modelling of multi-isotope data from human (n = 134) and faunal (n = 21) skeletal remains to inform on the socioeconomic organisation, cultural practices, and demographics of medieval communities in Capitanata (southern Italy). Isotopic results show significant dietary differences within local populations supportive of marked socioeconomic hierarchies. Bayesian dietary modelling suggested that cereal production, followed by animal management practices, was the economic basis of the region. However, minor consumption of marine fish, potentially associated with Christian practices, revealed intra-regional trade. At the site of Tertiveri, isotope-based clustering and Bayesian spatial modelling identified migrant individuals likely from the Alpine region plus one Muslim individual from the Mediterranean coastline. Our results align with the prevailing image of Medieval southern Italy but they also showcase how Bayesian methods and multi-isotope data can be used to directly inform on the history of local communities and of the legacy that these left.
中世纪意大利南部通常被视为一个政治、宗教和文化体系并存和冲突的地区。书面资料通常侧重于精英阶层，描绘了一个以农业经济为支撑的等级制封建社会的形象。我们进行了一项跨学科研究，结合历史和考古证据，以及对来自人类（n=134）和动物（n=21）骨骼遗骸的多同位素数据进行贝叶斯建模，以了解卡皮塔纳塔（意大利南部）中世纪社区的社会经济组织、文化习俗和人口统计学情况。同位素结果显示，当地人口的饮食存在显著差异，支持明显的社会经济等级制度。贝叶斯饮食模型表明，谷物生产，其次是动物管理实践，是该地区的经济基础。然而，对海洋鱼类的少量消费，可能与基督教习俗有关，揭示了区域内的贸易。在泰尔蒂韦里遗址，基于同位素的聚类和贝叶斯空间模型确定了可能来自阿尔卑斯地区的移民个体，以及来自地中海沿岸的一名穆斯林个体。我们的研究结果与中世纪意大利南部的普遍形象一致，但也展示了贝叶斯方法和多同位素数据如何能够直接提供有关当地社区历史和这些社区所留下遗产的信息。
