Isotopic Shadows of War: Diet and Disease in the Austro‐Hungarian Army

This study aims to advance our understanding of the impact of disease on stable isotopic values and increase the number of isotopically analyzed individuals with well‐documented osteobiographical data. Isotopic values were measured from bulk collagen from two cortical bone samples (rib and femur) from 35 soldiers of the First World War Austro‐Hungarian army. The diets of soldiers from different regions showed variability in carbon and nitrogen isotopic values (rib: δ 13 C = −18.9‰ ± 1.7‰, femur: δ 13 C = −18.9‰ ± 2.0‰), whereas nitrogen isotopic values were comparatively more consistent (rib: δ 15 N = 11.1‰ ± 0.8‰, femur: δ 15 N = 10.9‰ ± 0.9‰), reflecting differences in dietary composition across regions. Rib δ 15 N values were consistently higher than femoral δ 15 N values. This offset likely reflects element‐specific routing. Cause of death on death certificates representing chronic disease, acute disease, and tuberculosis did not significantly affect intra‐individual isotopic variability at the population level, nor did age at death or military unit affiliation. However, several individual cases showed elevated δ 15 N values in ribs relative to femurs, together with a characteristic “stress pattern” of decreasing δ 13 C and increasing δ 15 N values. These individual‐level patterns align with mechanisms reported in previous studies linking negative nitrogen balance to catabolic stress. The total number of individuals remains too low to pinpoint any definitive answer about it. In future studies, closer attention should be paid to disease duration and recent knowledge about the bone turnover rate.