Identifying Data Gaps in Isotopic Research for Classical Antiquity

The development of standard laboratory protocols and the fall in analysis costs for stable isotopes has resulted in an exponential growth of publications that employ isotopic measurements on bioarchaeological remains to answer historical questions. The creation of databases that aggregate this data following specific criteria and metadata structures can offer the possibility of reusing isotopic measurements to address past human lifeways at different scales and resolutions. “Isotópia” is a database that collects stable isotopic measurements for bioarchaeological remains dating to Graeco-Roman antiquity. Isotopic data is also described by additional metadata fields providing historical, biological, chronological, and geographical information. Reusing this source of data allowed exploring spatiotemporal research gaps for this period. This will set the direction of future isotopic research aiming to improve our knowledge on ancient human lifeways. Preliminary results of this meta-analysis illustrated a lower representation of isotopic measurements for plants, in comparison to human and animal data. Bone or tooth collagen were the most analysed component as the main research aim was reconstructing past diets. Isotopic measurements for enamel and bioapatite are typically employed to identify past mobility but were in lower numbers. The spatial distribution of sites shows that the majority of the data originates from Britain, Italy, and Greece. In contrast, France, Spain, Portugal and other Mediterranean regions are poorly represented despite their historical importance. These results illustrate the importance of creating archaeological, anthropological, and historical databases and reuse the data for identifying data gaps and setting new research avenues.