Fossils suggest Italians' passion for food began in the Iron Age

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Italians began exploring a diverse diet between the 7th and 6th centuries BC, according to new analysis of ancient teeth. iron age Italian.

Uncover the details of people’s lifestyles ancient culture This is a challenging task because it requires specific, well-preserved fossils of deceased individuals.

fossilized human teeth An excellent resource for understanding ancient diets and an archive of everyone’s life history.

However, gathering information from teeth from different eras remains a challenge.

In the new study, researchers combined multiple analyzes of dental remains from the archaeological site of Ponto Cangnano in Italy to explain the health and diet of people in the area during the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.

A) Location of Pontecagnano provided by NASA; B) Dental sample; C) Image of two sample teeth with matching stresses; D) Microscopic image of residue extracted from dental calculus (Germano et al., 2026, PLOS One)

Scientists evaluated the dental tissue of 30 teeth from 10 people, taking data from canines and molars to reconstruct the first six years of each ancient human’s life.

Researchers found that iron age The Italian diet is rich in grains, legumes, rich carbohydrates, and even fermented foods and drinks.

“We can track the growth and health of children with great precision and identify traces of grains, legumes and fermented foods in adulthood, revealing how this community adapted to environmental and social challenges,” said Roberto Germano, author of the study published in the journal. PLoS.

Emanuela Cristiani, another author of the study, said: “In the case of Ponto Cangnano, analysis of dental calculus revealed starch granules, yeast spores and plant fibers from cereals and legumes, which provides very specific information about the diet and some of the daily activities of these Iron Age communities.”

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The researchers say the findings provide strong evidence that fermented foods and drinks were regularly consumed by ancient Italian populations.

Researchers say their diet may have diversified at the time as their contact with Mediterranean cultures increased.

Scientists also observed signs of stress on teeth in Iron Age Italians around one and four years old.

They suspect this may be the time when children are most at risk of contracting the disease.

The researchers said that while the study may not be fully representative of the wider Italian population, it provides a “very specific picture” of the diet and some of the daily activities of Iron Age communities in the Italian region.

“This and other modern methods represent a major technological and disciplinary advance that is revolutionizing past studies of biocultural adaptation in populations,” said Alessia Nava of the Sapienza University of Rome and another author of the study.