PCMA Seminar: 1: Life in Ancient Nubia - Isotope Analyses: Perspectives on Diet and Mobility

The “Life in Ancient Nubia: Bioarchaeological Perspectives” speaker series presents a range of bioarchaeological perspectives on life in ancient and medieval Nubia.
Day 1: “Isotope Analyses: Perspectives on Diet and Mobility”, May 11th, 2023
Michele Buzon, Purdue University:
“Bioavailable Strontium in the Nile Valley: Variation across Time and Space”
Abstract: “This presentation will report on newly gathered strontium isotope data from human, animal, and botanical sources from sites in Sudan combined with previously published data from the Nile Valley region. The idea that strontium values have changed over time due to increased contribution of aeolian material from the neighboring Sahara Desert associated with climate change is not supported by these data. Values differ at sites, though much overlap is apparent. Neodymium and lead isotopes are introduced as a way to evaluate diagenesis in the strontium samples.”
Iwona Kozieradzka-Ogunmakin, Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw:
“Isotopic evidence of an environmental shift at the fall of the kingdom of Meroe (c. 300 BCE-350 CE)”
Abstract: “Previously investigated factors that led to the collapse of the Meroitic kingdom (c.300 BCE-350 CE) in the Middle Nile Valley include socio-political and economic instability, whereas recent studies focus on potential contribution of the environmental factors, investigated through the application of isotopic studies. This presentation will discuss results of stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis of human and animal dental enamel from 13 archaeological sites located between the First Nile Cataract and the Blue Nile. The obtained isotopic data are suggestive of an environmental shift towards more arid conditions that likely contributed to the fall of the Meroitic kingdom.
*This presentation will be based on research currently in press: Kozieradzka-Ogunmakin, I. and Sołtysiak, A. (in press). Isotopic evidence of an environmental shift at the fall of the Kushite kingdom of Meroe, Sudan. Antiquity.
Sarah Schrader, Leiden University:
“Isotopic Approaches to Dietary Reconstruction in Bronze Age Nubia”
Abstract: “Carbon and nitrogen isotopes can be used to broadly infer dietary practices in the past. Here, I review previous research and present new isotopic data from multiple Bronze Age sites in ancient Nubia. These data suggest a varied diet for ancient Nubians that may have been dependent upon cattle as a food resource. I also discuss how the analysis of multiple tissues (e.g., hair, fingernails, bone) can be advantageous when reconstructing ancient foodways.”
More details: pcma.uw.edu.pl...