Stable isotopes and discriminating tastes: Faunal management practices at the Late Bronze Age settlement of Mycenae, Greece

This research uses stable isotope analyses to identify disparities in management strategies amongst faunal resources consumed in disparate socio-economic sectors of the Late Bronze Age palatial settlement of Mycenae, Greece. δ13C, δ15N, and δ18O data from four species (99 individuals) known to have been purposefully managed during this time period are presented. Data demonstrate species-specific management disparities between consumptive contexts: the exploited Sus population shows the most variation, largely predicated on diet, whereas caprines exhibit no inter-context variation, but similar intra-context variation, suggesting ubiquitous access to caprine resources, at least between these two contexts. This study aims to broaden the application of isotope analyses in this region where faunal isotopic data have been largely relegated to constructing baselines for interpreting human isotope data and environmental reconstructions.