Dietary habits in New France during the 17th and 18th centuries: An isotopic perspective

作者：Vigeant J^*; Ribot I; Helie J F

来源：American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2017, 162(3): 462-475.

DOI：10.1002/ajpa.23129

• apatite
• collagen
• maize
• Montreal
• stable isotopes

ObjectiveLittle attention has been given, so far, to the early colonial diet in New France from an isotopic perspective. Historical records that compare France to New France suggest a shift toward a more diverse diet, including a higher protein intake due to an improvement in living conditions in the New World, despite the retention of ancestral dietary habits. This hypothesis will be explored here.
Materials and methodsStable carbon (organic and mineral) and nitrogen isotopes were measured on 43 individuals from Notre Dame cemetery (first Catholic parish church cemetery in Montreal, 1683-1803) as well as 13 French compatriots from La Rochelle, France (Protestant Hospital Cemetery, 1765-1792). Intragroup variation (age at death, sex, and/or burial location) was investigated and compared to compiled data from various northeastern North American sites (N=99).
ResultsThe Notre Dame sample means are as follows: -19.6 versus VPDB for C-13(collagen), -12.22 parts per thousand versus VPDB for C-13(carbonate), and 11.5 parts per thousand versus AIR for N-15. They are significantly lower than both La Rochelle (-18.4 parts per thousand, -11.67 parts per thousand, and 12.7 parts per thousand, respectively, p.005) and the northeastern North American groups used for this comparison (p=.000).
DiscussionThe isotopic values obtained from Notre Dame cemetery suggest that the diet was mainly based on C-3 resources with limited C-4 resources. Although different from all comparable contemporary sites, colonial Montreal's diet remains most similar to La Rochelle, France. This study agrees with historians who have suggested that French dietary traditions seem to have been retained among the early colonial inhabitants of Montreal.

• 出版日期2017-3