A 2024 dietary study analysed 60 individuals from the Varna 1 and Varna 3 cemetery layers and found no clear correlation between the number of grave goods and modelled meat and fish contributions to diet. The standout case: Grave 44, a 13-year-old boy with no grave goods at all, had the highest estimated combined animal and fish contribution — and he lies right next to the richest burial, Grave 43. 🥩
2024 diet study finds no link between Varna grave goods and meat consumption
BulgariaGeneral
Key facts
- A dietary study published in 2024 analyzed 60 individuals from the Varna 1 and Varna 3 cemetery layers.
- Researchers found no clear correlation between the number of grave goods and modelled contributions of meat and fish to diet.
- Grave 44, a 13-year-old boy with no grave goods, had the highest estimated combined animal and fish contribution in the sample.
- Grave 44 lies directly adjacent to the richest burial, Grave 43.
- The results undercut the assumption that in early farming societies only the rich gold burials ate meat, and the presenter argues gold may not have functioned as a status symbol in Varna culture.
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