Food Consumption of Females and Males from the Archaeological Site of Larina-Le Mollard: An Exploratory Study (France, Sixth to Eighth Centuries)

Résumé 0

Dietary habits lie at the nexus of biological and social characteristics as they are influenced by culture and environment and have a direct impact on health and development. As a result, food consumption may differ between social groups and gender may be a factor of diet differentiation. In this article we present an exploratory study aimed at identifying a possible difference in food consumption related to gender, based on a Merovingian cemetery, Larina – Le Mollard, in Hières-sur-Amby, France, from the sixth to the eighth century. Diet is assessed through an analysis of dental microwear variations. We begin by comparing the number of microstriations in females and males, observing that females have a considerably greater number of marks and a higher variance than males. We then go on to conduct a factorial analysis and hierarchical clustering classification, without considering biological sex as an a priori variable. The gender division in the clustering groups, observed a posteriori, is significant. We obtain five groups, one exclusively female, one exclusively male, and three mixed. Factors additional to gender may have influenced the diet of this population, which should be verified in future work. The incorporation of gender studies in bioarchaeology has honed our assessments of the impact of social norms on the health and physiological well-being of individuals. But to explore the full potential offered by gender studies, new methodological approaches need to be employed.