Multi-isotopic insights into diet, mobility, and status in the Picene necropolis of Novilara, Italy (8th-7th centuries BCE)

The Early Iron Age in Italy was associated with the formation of pre-Roman cultural identities and increasingly differentiated social structures. Yet, the extent to which these transformations were reflected in diet, mobility, and embodied life experiences remains poorly understood. This study applies an explicitly multiproxy framework to investigate social differentiation at Novilara (central Italy, 8th–7th centuries BCE), one of the largest necropolises of the Picene cultural sphere. Specifically, it examines dietary patterns in this community and their intersections with funerary, developmental, and mobility-related dimensions. We analyse carbon δ13C, nitrogen δ15N, and sulphur δ34S stable isotope values from bone collagen of 148 individuals of different sex and age classes. Isotopic data are then compared with sex, age at death, funerary treatment, and non-specific skeletal and dental markers of developmental stress using non-parametric tests, effect-size estimates, isotopic niche estimation, and multivariate exploratory analyses. Results indicate a predominantly terrestrial C3-based diet, variable access to animal protein, and a possible minor C4 plant contribution, with no evidence for substantial marine consumption. Differences in δ13C and δ15N between males and females suggest sex-related variation in access to dietary resources and/or lifestyle. By contrast, isotopic values show no consistent association with funerary variables or non-specific stress markers, and multivariate analyses reveal no discrete biological–funerary–dietary profiles. Moreover, δ34S variability identifies a small number of individuals whose values differ from the local community range, suggesting that the exchange networks documented archaeologically at Novilara involved not only objects and ideas, but also people.