Bone collagen carbon (δ¹³C), nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) and non-exchangeable hydrogen (δ²H) values of humans, domestic cats (Felis catus), and other animals, were analysed from Late Roman – Early Byzantine (c. AD 350 –700) contexts at Sagalassos in Turkey. Analysed specimens include domesticated animals such as dogs, pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, chickens and geese, a selection of wild taxa, and small animals that likely served as prey for cats. δ²H values, a sparsely utilized isotopic proxy in archaeological research, provide extra information relating to diet, imbibed water sources, and trophic position to help discriminate the isotopic niches of different species. As cats are hyper¬carnivores and non-obligate drinkers, their δ²H values are likely mainly dictated by their diets, which is evident in their relatively high values compared to most other species. Bayesian dietary mixing modelling using all three isotopic proxies was conducted on 16 individual cats to estimate how much of their dietary protein was derived from domestic animals, fish, or hunted small prey. Model results indicate that on average cats consumed mostly domesticated animal meats (~40 ± 20%) provisioned by humans, but supplemented their diets by hunting small commensal and wild prey. Interestingly, the δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N and δ²H isotopic niche spaces of humans overlap the most with cats (92.2%, α = 0.95) compared to any other animal including domestic dogs, suggesting especially inter¬twined cat-human relationships in western Anatolia between the 4th – 7th centuries AD.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
