Diet and collapse: A stable isotope study of Imperial-era Gabii (1st-3rd centuries AD)

The city of Gabii arose just east of Rome around the 8th century BC. By the Imperial period, it had all but collapsed, its habitation areas either abandoned or repurposed for industrial production. Burials within the city, however, may speak to the urbanization and collapse of Gabii. Twenty-one skeletons from the Imperial era (1st-3rd centuries AD) were analyzed for stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in an effort to understand palaeodiet. Adults' diets are relatively homogeneous, particularly in comparison with samples from nearby sites dating to the same period, and reflect consumption of terrestrial meats and C3 plants. Subadult diets do not reflect breastfeeding at the time of death. One individual with anomalous isotopes may have been an immigrant to Gabii.