Medieval southern Italy is typically viewed as a region where political, religious, and cultural systems coexisted and clashed. Written sources often focus on elites and give an image of a hierarchical feudal society supported by a farming economy. We undertook an interdisciplinary study combining historical and archaeological evidence with Bayesian modelling of multi-isotope data from human (n = 134) and faunal (n = 21) skeletal remains to inform on the socioeconomic organisation, cultural practices, and demographics of medieval communities in Capitanata (southern Italy). Isotopic results show significant dietary differences within local populations supportive of marked socioeconomic hierarchies. Bayesian dietary modelling suggested that cereal production, followed by animal management practices, was the economic basis of the region. However, minor consumption of marine fish, potentially associated with Christian practices, revealed intra-regional trade. At the site of Tertiveri, isotope-based clustering and Bayesian spatial modelling identified migrant individuals likely from the Alpine region plus one Muslim individual from the Mediterranean coastline. Our results align with the prevailing image of Medieval southern Italy but they also showcase how Bayesian methods and multi-isotope data can be used to directly inform on the history of local communities and of the legacy that these left.

Arne Faculty of Arts Masaryk University Nováka 1 602 00 Brno Czech Republic

Climate Change and History Research Initiative Princeton University Princeton USA

Department of Archaeology Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology Kahlaische Str 10 07745 Jena Germany

Dipartimento di Ricerca e Innovazione Umanistica Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro Strada della Torretta 70122 Bari Italy

Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Ambientali Biologiche e Farmaceutiche centre Università degli studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli Via Vivaldi 43 81100 Caserta Italy

Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici Università di Foggia Via Arpi 176 71121 Foggia Italy

Fachbereich Geschichte Universität Trier Universitätsring 15 54296 Trier Germany

Institut für Vor und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie und Provinzialrömische Archäologie and ArchaeoBioCenter Ludwig Maximilians Universität München Geschwister Scholl Platz 1 80539 Munchen Germany

isoTROPIC Research Group Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology Jena 07745 Germany

Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Barletta Andria Trani e Foggia Via Alberto Alvarez Valentini 8 71121 Foggia Italy

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