Even 4000 years ago, Mediterranean people They knew what was good for them.. New research shows that ancient Syrians were Mediterranean dietand today it is touted for its many health benefits.
“The old saying, ‘you are what you eat,’ really rings true here,” says archaeological chemist Benjamin Fuller of the University of Leuven. Said Elana Spivack of Inverse. “Stable isotope ratio analysis techniques allow us to directly determine the types of food groups actually consumed.”
The researchers used the technique on a large dataset of archaeological isotope measurements, Tell Tweny Located in Syria. During the Bronze and Iron Ages, the site was Kingdom of Ugarit.
The dataset included isotope measurements from 410 plant seeds, 16 human bones, and 210 other animal bones dating from 2600 to 333 BC.
Relatively low levels of the nitrogen-15 isotope measured in the people’s remains suggest that they occasionally ate meat, suggesting that Tell Tweini’s inhabitants relied primarily on livestock for work, milk and wool. Especially between 2000 and 1600 BC, their diet consisted mainly of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, with olives and grapes in abundance.
“The human diet appears to have been relatively low in animal protein and comparable to what is considered today a typical Mediterranean diet, consisting of bread (wheat/barley), olives, grapes, legumes, dairy products and small amounts of meat,” Fuller and colleagues wrote. write In their papers.
Our reliance on plants may have been born out of necessity, but despite freeing up animals for other uses, the ratio of meat to fruits, grains, and vegetables remains The healthiest choice todayBoth for our own well-being and the well-being of the environment.
High levels of carbon-13 isotope in preserved seeds suggest that crops at Tell Tweini were well tended and watered throughout the site’s history, and the use of animal manure could also explain the high levels of nitrogen-15 isotope found in the plants.
Tell TweiWhat makes the diet of the people at Tell Thweini different from that of people in the Mediterranean today is that, despite being only 2 kilometers (just over a mile) from the coast, and despite the wide variety of fish found at Tell Thweini, the people there during the Middle Bronze Age do not appear to have eaten much food from the sea, nor did they appear to have eaten much food from other waterways.
The people of ancient societies must have been able to produce enough food from crops, which indicates that their land was fertile, which correlates with the production of olive oil in the region.
“Excavations at the site show that olive oil production became the main economic activity at Tell Thweini and that equipment related to this activity was found in every house during the Iron Age,” Fuller and his team say. explain.
Shortly after 1200 BC, Ugarit collapsed. The kingdom’s fall was due to crop failure, civil unrest, and region-wide famine, but signs of oil production at Tell Tweini reappeared soon after, and there were no signs of stress in plant isotopes.
“We may conclude that the inhabitants of Tell Tweini coped extremely well with the increasing aridity during this period, and in most cases did so better than other contemporary settlements,” the researchers say. To tell.
These findings make it clear that a Mediterranean-like diet has helped humans survive for thousands of years. However, this diet also emerged in a fertile environment with a relatively stable climate.
“Ugarit… saw little resettlement after its devastation in the Late Bronze Age,” Fuller and his colleagues say. Point out.
“Whether less favorable environmental conditions or a lack of adaptive strategies among the inhabitants, compared to Tell Tweini, played a decisive role requires further investigation.”
This study ProSone.
