EXCALIBUR

The EXCALIBUR (EXploring ancient diet by using dental CALculus In archaeological BURial context) project proposes an exploratory work to identify the potential of a biological matrix, the dental calculus, to study ancient diet and to make inferences about social identities and environmental adaptations. Dental calculus can provide a unique source of past (diet, environment, health and social interactions) and present information (burial environment, state of preservation, assessment of bioarchaeological potential). This project proposes to test analytical methods and combine them to advance its potential for multi-disciplinary, semi-invasive work on sensible remains. The study of dental calculus is currently underdeveloped in archaeological research in France for past dietary reconstructions, but is increasingly integrated into European projects. The project offers an opportunity to develop expertise that will be in demand both for field projects (INRAP, Ministry of Culture) and in the international academic sector. The project is also innovative in the new dimension it proposes to the study of dietary diversity: testing the plant world as a marker of culture, whereas plants are often very difficult to find on sites and remain the “hidden part of the iceberg” of ancient diets. EXCALIBUR will take place in two main institutions, in France (UMR 7269 LAMPEA Aix en Provence) and in Ireland (School of Archaeology at UCD in Dublin) and involves other countries and experts past diet in Spain (Department of Prehistory, Archaeology and Ancient History of the University of Valencia), and in France (ISEM of Montpellier and INRAP). The Project is divided into four work packages: one focusing the microremain identification and the use of a machine learning protocol using ImageJ; a second targeting the patterns of food culture and sex/age-based diet by the integration of microremains with isotopes in the narrative of dietary reconstructions. Two other WP are dedicated to open access resources for a wide dissemination in general audience. The EXCALIBUR PhD project addresses the thematic axis “Societies and Cultures”. It proposes a new investigation into ancient food cultures, with particular emphasis on linking them to the social structures of the targeted populations and their geographical and chronological contexts.