University of Otago anatomy researcher Dr Charlotte King used isotopic evidence from hair and teeth to determine what type of food the 19th century settlers ate during different stages of their lives.
It was able to show how long someone was breastfed as in infant, right through to the dietary changes in the final months of their lives.
The study, derived as part of the Southern Cemeteries Archaeological Project, concentrated on the remains of 18 individuals buried in Lawrence and Cromwell — nine European males, one female, and eight Chinese males.
Dr King said the body made bones, teeth, hair and soft tissue, by using the building blocks from the food put into it.
"That means there are chemical signals that are transferred from that food into the body’s tissues when they form, and different tissues form at different times.
"Teeth form in childhood, and do not change throughout a person’s life, so by analysing their chemistry, we can look at the diet in childhood.
"While by looking at hair on a centimetre-by-centimetre scale we can look at diet month-by-month leading up to time of death."
One of the more surprising findings was that Chinese settlers, who were known to be shunned by European settlers, appeared to have been better off when it came to diet, she said.
Researchers expected the marginalisation of the Chinese goldminers would result in them having less access to good food, particularly high-quality foods like meat.
"Instead it is possible that the emphasis the Chinese had on community afforded them better collective access to meat, because what we see isotopically is that they appeared to have more meat or fish in their diet than the European miners."
Findings fitted with what was already known through historical records and oral history.
The Chinese merchants had good imported supplies of dried foods, including dried fish, flavoured meats, vegetables and salted plums.
Unlike the Europeans, the Chinese did not have a great fondness for sheep meat and instead ate hens, birds and rabbits.
Also notable in the latest results was many settlers in the sample experienced "late weaning".
Most were breastfed until they were over 3 years old, and some did not seem to have been fully weaned until they were 4 or 5.
Dr King said the research highlighted the "diverse life experiences of people on the goldfields".
"Every person on the goldfields had their own story, their own set of reasons for being there, and this helps us to bring them to life."
