Environment and diet of the early medieval population of the European northeast (according to isotopic-geochemical analysis of the anthropological materials from burial grounds of the V-VII centuries a.d.)

The isotopicgeochemical studies of anthropological materials from the burial grounds of V VII centuries A.D. in the basins of Vychegda and Pechora conducted for the first time testify to the habitation of the Early Medieval population in the conditions of humid and cold climate of the landscapes of the boundary forest/meadowpasture lands. Abnormally high contents of noble metals (ppm) were revealed in the composition of bones: Au 1.46, Ag 6.73, Pt 0.47, Pd 0.22, Rh 0.74. The resulting isotopic data in generalized form (‰): for bioapatite,δ13СPDB = -15 ± 1.24, δ18OSMOW = 17.61 ± 1.33; for collagen δ13СPDB = -24.16 ± 1.61. δ15NAir = 10.46 ±1.39. The basis of the diet of the population was animal protein food in which along with meat of herbivorous animals, a significant proportion was river, mainly predatory fish. Gender differences in diet in the studied population were insignificant. Highquality diet provided rather favorable conditions for the existence of people in the European NorthEast in the Early Medieval ages.