CAMELS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE. A NEW APPROACH TO THE ORIGIN OF CAMELS USING STABLE CARBON
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2021-03-02

Although camels are not indigenous to Europe they were found at several sites from Roman provinces starting with the beginning of the 1st century AD. Therefore it must have been beneficial to bring them there. Based on finds of remains of juvenile individuals (e.g. from Tanasi) it was also suggested that the Romans might have systematically bred camels within Europe. For our study we took serial samples of the enamel of four camels from Central European sites (Innsbruck-Wilten, Mamer-Bertrange, Tongeren, and Trier) dating to the 2nd - 4th century AD. We measured the relative isotopic abundances of carbon and oxygen isotopes of the carbonate fraction of the tooth enamel. The δ18O and δ13C values reflect the climate and habitat in which an individual lived during the time of tooth mineralization. We used this data to pinpoint the places of origin of the camels and to estimate the age at which they were brought to Europe. It seems that all of them originate from different places outside of Europe. Furthermore our data can function as an additional proxy for species determination due to the different habitats of Camelus bactrianus and Camelus dromedarius.


Author(s): Habinger, Sophie - Bocherens, Hervé (University of Tübingen) - Pigière, Fabienne (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences) - Dövener, Franziska (Centre nationale de recherches archéologique) - De Cupere, Bea (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences)