Diet of ancient Egyptians inferred from stable isotope systematics

1 C was measured in tooth enamel and bone of Ancient Egyptians 2 C remains largely constant from 5500 to 2000 BP and indicates very low C4-intake 3 N of mummy hair is indicative of aridity and not of trophic level 4 C of hair indicates < 50% of dietary protein came from animals 5 Sulfur isotopes suggest that fish, such as the Nile Perch, was not regularly consumed Abstract – Carbon, nitrogen and sulfur stable isotope compositions were measured in hard and soft tissues from Egyptian mummies of humans and animals in order to track the diet of ancient Egyptians from 5,500 to 1,500 years B.P. The carbon isotope ratios of bone apatite ( 13Cbo = -14.3±0.9‰) and hair protein ( 13Ch = -19.9‰) are compatible with a diet based almost exclusively on C3–derived food (proportion of C4