Meat for Warriors - The diet of Celtic individuals from the Iron Age – With Dr Sandra Lösch (S01E04)

07/14/21 • 28 min

As the title already indicates, in this episode we examine the diet of “Celtic warriors”. First, I present the late Iron Age cemetery of Münsingen and highlight why this site from Switzerland became such an important reverence point for Celtic archaeology: because based on the evolution of the characteristics of the fibulae grave goods a so-called typo-chronology could be established. Then we talk with Dr. Sandra Lösch, who was the supervisor of a recent research project on the diet of these late Iron Age individuals.

Reverences:

· Moghaddam et al. (2016), A bioarchaeological approach to the Iron Age in Switzerland: stable isotope analyses (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) of human remains

· Moghaddam et al. (2016), Zur Ernährung und Sozialstratigraphie der Kelten aus Münsingen-Rain

· Moghaddam et al. (2014), Social stratigraphy in Late Iron Age Switzerland: stable carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotope analysis of human remains from Münsingen

· Martin-Kilchner (1973), Zur Tracht- und Beigabensitte im keltischen Gräberfeld von Münsingen-Rain

· Hodson (1968), The La Tène Cemetery at Münsingen-Rain
Links: https://23minarch.com
Support: https://www.patreon.com/23minarch

Reverences:

· Moghaddam et al. (2016), A bioarchaeological approach to the Iron Age in Switzerland: stable isotope analyses (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) of human remains

· Moghaddam et al. (2016), Zur Ernährung und Sozialstratigraphie der Kelten aus Münsingen-Rain

· Moghaddam et al. (2014), Social stratigraphy in Late Iron Age Switzerland: stable carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotope analysis of human remains from Münsingen

· Martin-Kilchner (1973), Zur Tracht- und Beigabensitte im keltischen Gräberfeld von Münsingen-Rain

· Hodson (1968), The La Tène Cemetery at Münsingen-Rain
Links: https://23minarch.com
Support: https://www.patreon.com/23minarch

Previous Episode

Scythians in the Steppe P2 - The ice maiden from Siberia - With Dr Gino Caspari (S01E03)

This episode is one of the major reasons why I decided to start recording a podcast in the first place. We will remain with prehistoric nomadic steppe tribes, which are attributed to the umbrella term of Scythians, but shift our focus, from present day Ukraine, some 5000 km to the east, to one of the most remote regions on earth, the Siberian region of the Altai mountains. There, over two-thousand-year-old mummies have been discovered, perfectly preserved in ice. These frozen individuals were covered in amazingly detailed tattoos and allowed for remarkable research. So, I hope I’ll be able to give you an account of why I’m so fascinated by these mummies, and then, we’ll continue our conversation with Dr. Gino Caspari and talk about his experiences, excavating grave mounds in remote regions in Siberia.

Reverences:

· Simpson/Pankova Eds. (2017), Scythians. Warriors of ancient Siberia

· Liesowska (2014), Iconic 2,500 year old Siberian princess ‘died from breast cancer’, reveals MRI scan

· Siberian Times (2012), Siberian Princess reveals her 2,500 year old tattoos

· Badenkov (2006), The Frozen tombs of the Altai mountains

· Polosmak (1996), Menschen aus dem Eis Sibiriens

· Rudenko (1970), Frozen Tombs of Siberia

Links: 23minarch.com

Support: patreon.com/23minarch

Next Episode

Fighting in the Arena - Analyzing Skeletons of Roman gladiators P1 – With Dr Fabian Kanz (S01E05)

Maybe you know the movie “The Game changers” by UFC-fighter James Wilks. The premise of this documentary was him finding out, that roman gladiators ate very little to no meat. Before this, James Wilks was sure that animal protein was essential for the upkeep of energy levels, the growth of muscles and the healing from injuries. But after reading recent research papers on the subject, he was convinced that the gladiators had a predominantly plant-based diet during training and fights in the arena. Which in term led him to promote a vegan diet for modern day top athletes in his movie.

But is this actually true, were the gladiator’s “vegan”? In this episode we will lock at primary sources, results from analyzed bone samples and talk with Dr. Fabian Kanz, the researcher, who wrote the article James Wilks based “The Game changers” on and who is actually featured in the movie alongside people like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Reverences:

Lösch et al. (2014), Stable Isotope and Trace Element Studies on Gladiators and Contemporary Romans from Ephesus (Turkey, 2nd and 3rd Ct. AD) – Implications for Differences in Diet
Meller, Sampaolo (2013), Gladiator. Looking on death every day
Kanz, Grossschmidt (2009), Dying in the Arena: The Osseous Evidence from Ephesian Gladiators
Nossov (2009), Gladiator. Rome’s bloody spectacle
Ville (1981), La gladiature en Occident des origines à la mort de Domitien

Website: https://23minarch.com

Support: patreon.com/23minarch

Archaeological Context - Meat for Warriors - The diet of Celtic individuals from the Iron Age – With Dr Sandra Lösch (S01E04)

Transcript

Meat for Warriors. The diet of Celtic individuals from the iron age

Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of 23 minutes archaeology with me, Noah. As the title already indicates, today we examine the diet of quote “Celtic worriers”. And I know that both of these terms can be ambiguous or even problematic and should always be clearly defined.
As for the likely origin of the denomination, ancient Greek authors in the 5th century BC named the people liv