Diet Isotope Analysis and Related Studiesin Prehistoric Ukraine: Fact, Fiction and Fantasy

This paper outlines the results of twenty-eight years of collaborations between the authors and colleaguesin Kiev, initiated when the first author began PhD research at Sheffield University under the supervision of the late Professor Marek Zvelebil in 1992. From the outset of this doctoral research Professor Dmitri Telegin, to whom this paper is dedicated, and Dr. Inna Potekhina, were fundamental not only to the success of the original research programme, but in terms of the considerable generosity, insight and friendship that was extended to the lead author as he navigated his way through the earlier Holocene parts of Ukrainian prehistory. The current study is as much a result of the work of the currentauthors as it is of collaboration and collegiality ofthese colleagues. The topics considered throughout this paper focus around the key observations and themes that have been developed since the research began. It also aims to highlight those areas where inconsistencies occur, and whereclarification is deemed warranted due to the activities of researchers who have failed to fully appreciate the nuances of Ukrainian prehistory and multi-disciplinary research agendas. It is apparent that, in light of arecent «gold rush» to claim ownership of the materials available in Ukraine, at prehistoric sites of all periods, there is clearly a need for a considered and careful approach to the data generated from dietary isotope and related studies. Furthermore, our research since the early 1990s has shown that misidentification of fragmentary or isolated bone in both primary and secondary contexts can lead to erroneous interpretations and occasional «flights of fancy». This paper will outline a number of the issues identified, and also explore issues around data use and representation in an attempt to offer some balance to discussions of prehistoric diet and chronology in Ukraine