Tracing nuanced dietary patterns on the Great Hungarian Plain: Carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis of Bronze and Iron Age populations

Abstract The Great Hungarian Plain (GHP) served as a geographic funnel for population mobility throughout prehistory. Genomic and isotopic research demonstrates non-linear genetic turnover and technological shifts between the Copper and Iron Ages of the GHP, which influenced the dietary strategies of numerous cultures that intermixed and overlapped through time. Given the complexities of these prehistoric cultural and demographic processes, this study aims to improve our understanding of diachronic and culture-specific dietary signatures. Here we report on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values from 75 individuals from twenty sites in the GHP dating to a ~ 3000-year time span between the Early Bronze and Early Iron Ages. The samples broadly indicate a terrestrial C3 diet with nuanced differences amongst cultures, suggesting exogenous influences that manifested in subsistence strategies. Compared to the Iron Age, the Bronze Age samples have slightly elevated δ15N values implying higher reliance on protein. Interestingly, carbon values typical of C4 vegetation indicate the consumption of millet, or a grain with comparable δ13C values during the Middle Bronze Age. Overall, our results suggest a gradual transition in dietary patterns from the Early Bronze to Early Iron Age, demonstrating a relationship between subsistence and time periods, congruent with the archaeological record.