Dietary patterns of leprosy patients from the medieval leprosarium at Odense (Denmark) were investigated via carbon isotope ratio analysis of individual amino acids (δ¹³C_AA) in bone collagen. The aim of this research was to explore in detail the consumption of aquatic resources (freshwater and marine) by these individuals; especially during the last few years of life, which were likely spent in the leprosy hospital. The analysis was conducted on ribs (n = 30) and long bones (n = 10) from 30 individuals, as well as on 9 local and contemporary faunal samples. A comparison of the Odense δ¹³C_AA results with published δ¹³C_AA values from the Baltic Sea region indicate that the diet was primarily terrestrial, but 12 of the 30 individuals (40%) consumed a mixed terrestrial-aquatic diet based on Δ¹³C_Val-Phe values. Further, comparison of the rib-long bone pairs from 10 individuals found statistically significant differences in the Δ¹³C_Val-Phe and Δ¹³C_Gly-Phe results, but not the δ¹³C_Lys results. This intra-individual dietary difference is also supported by MLA-PCA, and tentatively suggests these leprosy patients increased their consumption of marine protein over the last few years of life, indicating perhaps an institutional dietary program in the leprosarium. This work represents one of the largest archaeological δ¹³C_AA studies in Europe and the first to compare bones with different turnover rates. Compound specific isotope analysis of δ¹³C_AA has great potential to reveal subtle intra-individual dietary shifts that may remain undetected by bulk isotopic analysis.

通过骨胶原中单个氨基酸 ( δ ¹³ C _{AA ) 的碳同位素比分析，研究了来自欧登塞（丹麦）中世纪}麻风病院的麻风病患者的饮食模式。本研究的目的是详细探讨这些个体对水生资源（淡水和海洋）的消耗；尤其是在生命的最后几年，很可能是在麻风病医院度过的。对 30 个人的肋骨 (n = 30) 和长骨 (n = 10) 以及 9 个当地和当代动物样本进行了分析。欧登塞δ ¹³ C _AA结果与公布的δ ¹³ C _{AA结果的比较}来自波罗的海地区的数据表明饮食主要是陆地食物，但根据 Δ ¹³ C _Val-Phe值，30 人中有 12 人（40%）食用了混合的陆地-水生食物。此外，比较来自 10 个人的肋骨长骨对发现 Δ ¹³ C _Val-Phe和 Δ ¹³ C _Gly-Phe结果有统计学显着差异，但没有δ ¹³ C _Lys结果。MLA-PCA 也支持这种个体内部的饮食差异，并初步表明这些麻风病患者在生命的最后几年增加了海洋蛋白的摄入量，这可能表明麻风病院的机构饮食计划。这项工作代表了欧洲最大的考古学δ ¹³ C _AA研究之一，也是第一个比较具有不同周转率的骨头的研究。δ ¹³ C _AA的化合物特异性同位素分析具有巨大的潜力，可以揭示可能通过大量同位素分析无法检测到的细微的个体内部饮食变化。