Diet of ancient Egyptians inferred from stable isotope systematics Alexandra Touzeau a , Romain Amiot a , Janne Blichert-Toft b , Jean-Pierre Flandrois c , François Fourel a , Vincent Grossi a , François Martineau a , Pascale Richardin d , Christophe Lécuyer a, * a Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, Planètes, Environnement, UMR CNRS 5276, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France b Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, Planétes, Environnement, UMR CNRS 5276, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France c LBBE, UMR CNRS 5558, Université de Lyon 1 and Faculté de Médecine Lyon-Sud, France d Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France, Palais du Louvre, Porte des Lions,14, quai François Mitterrand, 75001 Paris, France article info Article history: Received 6 September 2013 Received in revised form 3 January 2014 Accepted 2 March 2014 Available online xxx Keywords: Ancient Egypt Tooth Hair Carbon Nitrogen Sulfur abstract Carbon, nitrogen and sulfur stable isotope compositions were measured in hard and soft tissues from Egyptian mummies of humans and animals in order to track the diet of ancient Egyptians from 5500 to 1500 years B.P. The carbon isotope ratios of bone apatite (d 13 C bo ¼14.3  0.9&) and hair protein (d 13 C h ¼19.9&) are compatible with a diet based almost exclusively on C3-derived food (proportion of C4 < 10%). Less negative carbon isotope ratios of enamel (d 13 C en ¼11.6  0.7&) relative to bones from the same mummies could be the result of differences in the chemical microenvironment in which mineralization occurred, as well as of differences in diet between children and adults, in particular through the consumption of milk or millet gruel during infancy and childhood. High values of nitrogen isotope ratios for hair protein (d 15 N h ¼ 9.1&e15.5&) are ascribed to aridity rather than fish consumption because the d 34 S values of human hair are lower than those measured in Nile perch scales. Except for Coptic mummies, the constancy of d 13 C bo and d 13 C en over a duration of w3000 years is striking considering the various political, technological, and cultural changes that impacted the Egyptian civili- zation during this time interval. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Ancient Egypt stands out as one of the first great civilizations that emerged at the end of the Neolithic period (6000 B.P.) and is particularly renowned for its exceptional longevity. Throughout its long history, ancient Egypt alternated between periods of stability and prosperity, and troubled times resulting from episodes of war or severe drought. The central government was overthrown and restored several times, and the shape of the Egyptian territory itself was modified through military conquests or defeats. Not all of these political events directly influenced the day-to-day life of the pop- ulation, but they facilitated innovation through adaptation or assimilation of foreign customs and technologies, resulting in cul- tural and economic evolution over the centuries. This intrinsic evolution of ancient Egypt is expected to have had consequences such as major changes in life expectancy and culinary habits. The diet of ancient Egyptians reflects how they were utilizing natural resources, whether through trade or living only on what they themselves could produce, with both strategies having different outcomes for their environment. For example, food and timber trade between ancient Egypt and distant countries (Gardiner, 1961; Trigger et al., 1983) is known well before the establishment of the spice and silk routes between Europe and South-East Asia during the Middle Ages. Variation in diet also testifies to progressive agricultural practices through the development of new tools and irrigation techniques such as the shaduf, which appeared during the New Kingdom (3300 B.P.; Butzer, 1976). Current knowledge of the diet of ancient Egyptians arises from two major sources of information. Figurative depictions exhibit the food products that were known to ancient Egyptians and also reveal how they were processing cereals and fruits into bread, beer, and wine (Alcock, 2006). These portrayals are, however, often biased because they mostly represent the food consumed by higher social classes, who could afford paying artists to commit costly festive meals to perpetuity. They are further difficult to interpret because translation of names of ingredients often is ambiguous and * Corresponding author. Also at: Institut Universitaire de France. Tel.: þ33 472448376. E-mail addresses: Christophe.Lecuyer@univ-lyon1.fr, clecuyer@univ-lyon1.fr (C. Lécuyer). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2014.03.005 0305-4403/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Journal of Archaeological Science 46 (2014) 114e124