Palaeodietary Study of Iron Age Population from Gohar Tepe (Iran)

Abstract

Human and animal skeletal remains can provide information about the food chain of inhabitant's nutrition of archaeological<br />sites. The food chain which at it minerals and organic materials transferred from soil to the plants, from plants to the<br />animals, and from herbivores animals to the carnivores, is the benchmark system in ancient diet. Although Chemical<br />interactions between soils, animal and human remains should not be disregarded, chemical data can provide useful<br />information about the paleodiet. In present paper, the concentration of Chemical elements was analyzed in eight premolar<br />teeth of mature individuals as well as a teenager without discrimination of their sex, from discovered graves of Iron Age<br />of Gohar Tepe. The site had been populated until the Iron Age. In addition, we have investigated the ratios of Sr, Ba, Ca,<br />P, with the purpose of studying the food chain from animal to human by analyzing discovered animal teeth in the site.<br />To control diagenetic processes, the calcium/phosphorus (Ca/P) index was used. Furthermore the amount of chemical<br />element in teeth and peripheral soil was compared. Concentration level of Chemical elements was measured by atomic<br />absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The Strontium content and the Ba/Sr ratios show that the human population in Gohar<br />Tepe used products of animal origin somewhat more than plants and terrestrial food more than seafood in their diet.