The archaeological Bronze Age record in Europe reveals unprecedented changes in subsistence strategies due to innovative farming techniques and new crop cultivation. Increasing cultural exchanges affected the economic system. The inhabitants of Switzerland played a pivotal role in this European context through relationships with the Mediterranean, the High and Middle Danube regions and the Alps thanks to the area’s central position. This research aims to reconstruct, for the first time in Switzerland, human socio-economic systems through the study of human diet, herding and farming practices and their changes throughout the Bronze Age (2200–800 BCE) by means of biochemical markers. The study includes 41 human, 22 terrestrial and aquatic animal specimens and 30 charred seeds and chaff samples from sites in western Switzerland. Stable isotope analyses were performed on cereal and legume seeds (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N), animal bone collagen (δ¹³C_coll, δ¹⁵N, δ³⁴S), human bone and tooth dentine collagen (δ¹³C_coll, δ¹⁵N,) and human tooth enamel (δ¹³C_enamel). The isotopic data suggest a) an intensification of soil fertilization and no hydric stress throughout the Bronze Age, b) a human diet mainly composed of terrestrial resources despite the proximity of Lake Geneva and the Rhone river, c) a diet based on C₃plants during the Early and Middle Bronze Age as opposed to the significant consumption of¹³C-enriched resources (probably millet) by individuals from the Final Bronze Age, d) no important changes in dietary patterns throughout an individual’s lifespan but a more varied diet in childhood compared to adulthood, e) no differences in diet according to biological criteria (age, sex) or funerary behavior (burial architecture, grave goods).

This study investigates changes in dietary practices and subsistence strategies in Bronze Age Italy integrating isotopic analyses with archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data. By investigating food habits, we contribute to reconstructing human lifestyles and highlighting possible links with the economic/social organization when the rise of stratified societies and new economic activities affected subsistence practices. Stable isotopes analyses in humans and animals were performed on 6 Italian sites dating from 2300 to 900 cal. BC, followed by a complete review of additional 19 sites, which forms the basis of a diachronic and geographic comparison for Bronze Age Italy. The geographic analysis shows a more varied diet in northern and central Italy, compared to the south. The diachronic analysis highlights the homogeneity of food habits during the Early Bronze Age, contrary to the later phases when an increase in dietary variability and a higher animal protein consumption are revealed. The Middle Bronze Age appears as a pivotal moment in protohistoric societies, a phase of transition. The consumption of different foodstuffs highlights the importance of cultural exchanges, resulting in a sort of “food globalization”, although environmental and climatic fluctuations could also have affected dietary patterns, favoring some crops over others.