Department of Legal Medicine, Toxicology and Physical Anthropology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
Department of Physical Anthropology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
PLoS One. 2024 Jun 5;19(6):e0304313. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304313. eCollection 2024.
The Middle Ages in the Iberian Peninsula is a period of special interest for studying the relationship of climate change with historical and socioeconomic processes. Between the 8th and 15th centuries AD, the Peninsula was characterized not only by complex political, cultural, and social transitions but also by major variations in the climate. The objective of this study was to examine differences in diet and mobility between distinct populations of the Peninsula and explore the possible relationship of diet, mobility, and culture with environmental variables and geographical settings. For this purpose, we obtained stable isotopic ratios of carbon and oxygen (δ13C and δ18O) from the enamel apatite of first upper incisors from 145 individuals at eight archeological sites that represent both Christian and Islamic communities and both rural and urban social settings. Results revealed a dietary difference between Christian and Islamic populations, observing a greater contribution of C4 plants, possibly sorghum, in the diet of the latter, especially in a rural setting. The disparity in oxygen isotopic ratios between populations from the North and South of the Peninsula is consistent with modern climatic differences between these regions. In this line, intraregional variability in oxygen isotopic ratios may hint at diachronic occupation phases under varying climatic conditions. The few isotopic outliers in our sample suggest overall low mobility levels.
伊比利亚半岛中世纪是研究气候变化与历史和社会经济进程关系的一个特殊时期。在公元 8 世纪至 15 世纪期间，半岛不仅经历了复杂的政治、文化和社会转型，而且气候也发生了重大变化。本研究的目的是考察半岛不同人群之间的饮食和流动性差异，并探讨饮食、流动性和文化与环境变量和地理环境之间的可能关系。为此，我们从 8 个考古遗址的 145 个人的第一上门齿牙釉质中获得了碳和氧的稳定同位素比值（δ13C 和 δ18O），这些遗址代表了基督教和伊斯兰教社区以及农村和城市社会环境。结果表明，基督教和伊斯兰教人群的饮食存在差异，后者的饮食中可能有更多的 C4 植物，如高粱，尤其是在农村环境中。半岛南北部人群之间氧同位素比值的差异与这些地区现代气候差异一致。在这方面，氧同位素比值的区域内变异性可能暗示了在不同气候条件下存在历时性的居住阶段。我们样本中的少数同位素异常值表明总体流动性水平较低。
