Combining biomolecular, osteological analysis and historical research for the characterization of a post-medieval monastic community in northern Italy

In the framework of the project “From text to teeth: the case study of Santa Maria della Stella”, funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, we carried out micromorphological and biomolecular analysis of dental calculus from 13 ancient human skeletal remains in order to improve our knowledge of the daily lives of a post-medieval Cistercian community of nuns from Saluzzo (Piedmont, Italy). The presence of a wealth of archival documents related to this community make the S. Maria della Stella’s assemblage one of a kind: they provide a valuable record of the lifestyle of the nuns, who lived as a closed religious community, as well as of the food and beverages that were consumed in the 18th century. The micromorphological analysis of “micro-débris” of diverse origin (animal, plant, mineral) and lipid analysis of dental calculus, as well as the osteological assessment of the remains, yielded interesting information on the diet of the community, which was very poor (the nuns were required to fast very frequently) and yet contained a range of exotic products, from corn to chocolate. Furthermore, metaproteomics on dental calculus combined with a comprehensive palaeopathological assessment revealed the impact of cloistered life on women's health. From a methodological point of view, this study carried out on pre-modern human remains demonstrates that there is good correspondence between information obtained from archival sources and from bioarchaeological studies - therefore supporting the application of the latter to case studies where textual information is not available.