FLAnders MEdievAL Diets: multi-isotopic reconstruction of urban foodways in Bruges, Ghent and Ypres (Belgium)

Objective

Medieval Flanders was one of Europe’s most densely urbanised regions, where prosperity, crisis and recovery unfolded with stark social contrasts. Between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, urban growth in Bruges, Ghent and Ypres coincided with structural inequality in wealth, housing and above all food access. Climatic shifts, demographic pressures and repeated shocks, from famine to plague, shaped diets unevenly across social groups. While elites are well represented in written records, the experiences of the majority remain largely invisible. Yet diet offers a powerful proxy for status, resilience and vulnerability. FLA-MEAL addresses this gap by applying a bioarchaeological framework to reconstruct diets across four centuries of Flemish urban history. Using stable isotope analysis of bone collagen (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) from c. 400 urban and c. 100 rural individuals, combined with osteology, radiocarbon dating and historical sources, the project will test how protein access varied across time, urban versus rural settings, and social categories including sex, age and health. Special attention will be given to the role of fish (marine or freshwater, prestige or low-status), as a potential alternative to costly terrestrial meat. The outcome will be the first continuous, phase-resolved reconstruction of urban diets and inequality in medieval Flanders. By integrating isotope geochemistry, osteology and history, FLA-MEAL will establish a benchmark dataset for Europe, reveal how structural inequality shaped resilience during crises, and offer comparative insights for contemporary debates on food security and adaptation.