| Excavations conducted at the ancient city of Stymphalos and the monastery of Zaraka in the valley of Stymphalos, Greece, yielded a number of human graves. Neither group of burials was contemporaneous with the structures in which they were interred and they are believed to represent small farming populations dating to the Late Roman/Early Byzantine (4-6 th c. AD) and Late Medieval periods (14-15th c. AD). A dietary reconstruction conducted by Pennycock (2008) found that most individuals had similar δ13C and δ15N values, but a few had values that indicate dietary differences. Pennycook suggested that perhaps these differences were the result of residential mobility.;For this thesis, tooth enamel was analyzed for strontium isotopes to investigate mobility. The 87Sr/86Sr values show substantial movement by some human inhabitants of the valley, and may also be indicative of animal transport. These results suggest that rural peasants may have been more mobile than previously expected. |
