Diet reconstruction of monks at St. Peter’s monastery in Osor: the role of molluscs in following the Rule of St. Benedict

A significant amount of land and marine malacofauna remains have been uncovered during the perennial excavations of St. Peter’s monastery in Osor, Croatia. This paper examines the dietary significance of edible land snail and marine shell based on extensive taphonomical analyses. In the theoretical part of the paper the interpretation of dietary restrictions in regard to the Rule of St. Benedict and specifically its interpretation by the monks of St. Peter’s monastery is given. Filtering the results of taphonomical analyses of this indirect evidence for subsistence through theoretical frameworks socially mediated food acquisition and consumption choices of Benedictine monks at St. Peter’s monastery are explored.