Science — TASS: archaeologists from AltSU started a project to study the nutrition of ancient nomads
Archaeologists from Altai State University have started a project to study the nutrition of ancient nomads. Using pottery and bone finds, they plan to identify their dietary strategies for the first time, as well as date the appearance of dairy products in the diet of nomads and their possible recipes. Head of the Department of Archeology, Ethnography and Museology of the university, Professor Alexei Tishkin told TASS about it.
“The ongoing project of the Russian Science Foundation aims to study several aspects related to the reconstruction of the life system of ancient nomads from the end of the 2nd millennium BC and until the middle of the 1st millennium BC. But we begin the study of the Paleo diet from the earliest stage of development of the territory of Altai by pastoralists. We are talking about the tribes of the Afanasevan culture, which migrated here at the end of the 4th millennium BC. Nutrition during the period of adaptation to new living conditions played an important role. We need to comprehensively reconstruct what they ate, including understanding what dairy products were used,” said Tishkin.
According to him, part of the research is carried out jointly with scientists from Kiel University in Germany. Scientists have selected a series of burnt deposits on the walls of ceramic vessels, which are studied using modern high-tech equipment. This allows establishing the composition of various elements of the substance, including the identification of food residues of animal and vegetable origin.
“We are studying not only deposits from ceramic dishes, but also dental calculus — deposits on the teeth of ancient nomads. The calculus retains the remnants of the food that they consumed. And according to these samples, it is possible to reconstruct what a person ate throughout his life. <...> Our task is to establish the dynamics of the development of food strategies, starting from the formation of a nomadic way of life and up to the Turkic period. A separate task is to identify when dairy products appeared in the diet, which were difficult for the human body, and how people adapted to them. It is also important to establish in general when cheeses, sour cream, cottage cheese, and butter appeared, how they were cooked and stored. This topic has not yet been studied at all,” Tishkin emphasized.
According to the scientist, the reconstruction of the nutritional strategies of ancient nomads is important for the development of modern biotechnologies. Research is planned on archaeological materials found in Altai, Transbaikalia, Tuva and Mongolia. During the implementation of the project, scientists plan to establish when livestock breeders began to eat plant foods from cultivated cereals. Using the preserved deposits on ceramic dishes and isotopic analysis, scientists determined that at the end of the 3rd millennium BC the population of the Ob-Irtysh interfluve ate millet along with meat. At the same time, there is a significant reduction in dairy products. Fishing and hunting played a minimal role for such pastoral communities.
Among the difficulties noted by scientists is a small number of preserved ceramic dishes and bone remains of the early Scythian period (8th-6th centuries BC). According to Tishkin, the project is designed for three years. The results of studying the paleo diet of the ancient population of Altai and adjacent territories will be published in scientific journals. They will allow assessing the current state of food culture.