Social Characterization of the Medieval and Modern Population from Joué-lès-Tours (France): Contribution of Oral Health and Diet

Abstract

The social and cultural changes that occurred between the medieval and modern periods in urban contexts are well documented; however, those in rural contexts are less well understood. This research aims to bridge this gap by analysing changes in dietary practices and oral health conditions between the medieval and modern eras, and by identifying their relationship with the social status of individuals buried at the rural site of the church of Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul in Joué-lès-Tours (Indre-et-Loire, France). The objectives of this study are to jointly analyse the isotopic data concerning the diet of 37 individuals and the osteological and archaeological data, and to tie these results in with local historical and archaeozoological data. While the burial practices identified between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries suggest social distinctions between groups of individuals, the study of diet (δ13C and δ15N) and the state of oral health point to a homogeneous social group characterized by the preferential consumption of pig meat, poultry and freshwater resources, and a degraded state of health. The available parochial registers and regional archaeozoological knowledge tend to confirm this hypothesis. This study confirms the relevance of the isotopic tool, which supplies dietary information to reinforce the archaeo-anthropological framework of interpretation, and also provides a critical examination of some of the criteria used to discuss the social composition of a set.