Dietary perspectives on social asymmetry in a full Iron Age community of northern Italy: stable isotope evidence from the Patavine CUS-Piovego necropolis

Understanding how social inequality influenced access to food resources in past societies is a central issue in archaeology, as dietary practices provide important insights into how resources were distributed within communities and how social hierarchies were structured and maintained over time. During the Iron Age, in line with broader European patterns, northern Italy – and particularly the Veneto region – underwent processes of urbanisation and increasing social complexity that likely reshaped patterns of resource use and social differentiation. However, despite the widespread application of stable isotope analysis across Europe to investigate these dynamics, northern Italy remains notably underrepresented, leaving the relationship between diet and social organisation in this region poorly understood. This study presents carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope data from 19 human and 16 faunal remains recovered from the Iron Age necropolis of CUS-Piovego in Padua (Veneto). The analysis focuses on inhumed individuals of the necropolis – archaeologically interpreted as social marginal personae or low-status individuals – to evaluate how dietary practices may have reflected or reinforced social asymmetries within the local community. Results indicate a terrestrial-based diet with limited variability and a strong reliance on C4 plants. δ¹³C values are notably more positive than those reported for Bronze to pre-Roman contexts in the region. Although millet consumption is documented in northern Italy from the Middle Bronze Age, it is typically associated with mixed C3/C4 dietary regimes and often indirect, mediated through the consumption of C4-fed livestock. In contrast, the CUS-Piovego data indicate direct and substantial consumption of C4 plants. While this pattern is consistent with restricted dietary access among the inhumed individuals, its interpretation remains cautious due to the absence of comparative data from cremated individuals. No sex-related differences were observed, although slight individual variability may be linked to mobility patterns. By integrating isotope and funerary evidence, this study contributes new data to ongoing debates on diet, identity, and funerary practices in early urban communities, offering new insights into the social and cultural significance of inhumation practices in Iron Age Veneto. Food consumption represents a key dimension of social inequality in past societies.