Spoiler alert: The men ate more meat
5:00 PM CDT on July 28, 2026
Far from being just a glib reminder to take it easy on junk food, “you are what you eat” is literally true on a chemical level. When you break down food into its molecular components, the isotopes of the elements contained within get incorporated into your body. If they become bone and teeth, these isotopes can last for tens of thousands of years, and archaeologists analyzing their unique chemical fingerprints can get a pretty good idea of what they were before they were food.
Now a new study applies that method to a 2,700-year-old Italian necropolis, and it’s revealing more than just the inhabitants’ diet.
Discovered in the late 19th century, the Novilara necropolis is located near Italy’s northeastern coast and contains hundreds of bodies. The bodies buried there were adorned with a variety of artifacts, from the elegant, like ornate amber jewelry and weaponry, to the more quotidian, like spools and spindles. Basically, Novilara is the final resting place for an interesting cross-section of people.
