Dietary practices at Abu Tbeirah: exploring Sumerian life through a multi-isotopic approach (δ66Zn, δ18O and δ13C)

In the study of ancient Mesopotamia, cuneiform tablets serve as powerful indirect evidence of individual lives. However, their use is limited by their predominantly administrative nature and the perspectives of the elite who produced them and for whom they were intended. Nonetheless, they offer insights into the dietary practices by documenting the rations allocated to specialized workers. Despite this indirect evidence, systematic direct investigations, such as isotope analysis, have been limited only to the northern part of the region, with only one focused on southern Mesopotamia. One of the difficulties encountered in southern Iraq is linked to the nature of the soil, which exhibits high salinity and therefore poor collagen preservation. This is the case at Abu Tbeirah, an Early Dynastic site dated to the second half of 3rd millennium BCE, located about 15 Km SE of Ur (Nasiriya, Dhi Qar province, Southern Iraq). The site has been excavated systematically over the past decade, yielding a significant number of human and animal remains. In addition, Abu Tbeirah is located in an area rich in natural hydrocarbons sources, with most of the archaeological layers containing bitumen artefacts. For these reasons, the bone remains recovered here are prone to post-depositional disturbances that result in the alteration of their organic components (e.g. collagen). In view of these challenges, we apply a multi-isotopic approach, coupling traditional isotopic proxies (δ18O and δ13C) with innovative techniques (δ66Zn) to investigate food practices and different types of herd and animal management using the inorganic fraction of skeletal remains (i.e., tooth enamel), as this is less prone to diagenesis. This study represents the first multi-isotopic approach to investigate human dietary habits in an archaeological site from southern Mesopotamia involving zinc isotope ratios and demonstrate a differential access to animal foods within the population buried at Abu Tbeirah.