Palaeodietary records of coastal Mediterranean populations

Stable isotope analysis of archaeological bones can be used to reconstruct an individual's long-term dietary record. This emerging technique is particularly suited for distinguishing marine from terrestrial consumers and has been extensively applied to historic and prehistoric coastal populations from Northern and Western Europe. Surprisingly little attention has been given to Mediterranean populations. Here we review the work that has been done in the Mediterranean and suggest the course of future studies in this area. From the limited amount of data available we tentatively conclude that there is very little isotopic evidence for heavy marine consumption at all in the Mediterranean record. However, more extensive isotope surveys of marine fauna need to be conducted before this finding can be substantiated.