Diet, Toothache and Burial Diversity

Tracing Social Status through Bioarchaeological Methods in Late Neolithic–Early Bronze Age Scania

Abstract

Scholars have long discussed social hierarchies associated with the Early Bronze Age in southern Scandinavia. In this paper, social hierarchies are targeted through bioarchaeological methods. Fifty new radiocarbon dates from 50 individuals show that there is an increase in burial complexity from the Early Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Further, stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen were analysed in 29 of the individuals and dental caries were then assessed in a data set of 598 post-canine teeth, to examine differences in diet between individuals associated with different inhumation practices. The nitrogen values indicate that manuring was practised during the period, but there was no statistical difference in diet or dental caries between burials. It is argued that different types of burials are associated with different social levels in society, but that there is not a higher meat consumption or visibly different food behaviour among individuals interpreted as being a member of the “elite”.