Urban and Rural Medieval Russian Population: Diet and Mobility Based on Isotopic Studies

Urban and Rural Medieval Russian Population: Diet and Mobility Based on Isotopic Studies of protein food in the latter group. A total of 37 bone tissue collagen samples of children and adults from the Nikolskoe III cemetery and the in-ground Nefedyevo I cemetery were analyzed to study the nitrogen and carbon isotopic composition. The study showed that the dietary pattern of rural residents can also be characterized by a high share of animal protein. The individuals from the Nikolskoe III cemetery show signs of high variability of the averaged diet composition in contrast to the rural groups from Nefedyevo I and Shekshovo 9. This result, probably, mirrors differences in the mode of life of the population groups that have left behind burial sites classified as ‘rural’. The comparison of the data on the nitrogen and carbon isotopic composition of the bone tissues from the residents of medieval towns and cities reveals marked geographical differences. All this suggests that food provisioning in the cities and towns in the 11th–13th centuries was based on local resources.