Bronze Age subsistence strategies in the southeastern Carpathian Bend area, Romania: results from stable isotope analyses

Here we report the results of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of human and faunal remains from two Bronze Age (Monteoru culture) sites near Buzău in Romania, in the eastern foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. The results for 54 humans from Sărata Monteoru and 10 from Cârlomăneşti indicate diets that were dominated by C3 terrestrial resources, consistent with the archaeofaunal inventories from the sites and archaeobotanical data from the wider region. Statistically significant differences in the average δ15N values of the two skeletal populations hint at a change in economic practices between early and late phases of the Monteoru culture. Consumer diets at the two sites were quantified using multiple mixing models generated with the Bayesian statistical program FRUITS (Food Reconstruction Using Isotopic Transferred Signals). The model outputs suggest the inhabitants of the later settlement, Sărata Monteoru, were less dependent on animal-derived products and relied more on cereals and legumes for energy and protein, compared to their predecessors at Cârlomăneşti. Based on changes in the faunal record we speculate that dairying may also have increased in importance between the early and later phases of the Monteoru culture.