Carbon isotope measurement techniques for bone collagen: Notes for the archaeologist

Stable carbon isotope analysis of archaeological human bone collagen is becoming increasingly useful in diet reconstructions. This paper describes, for archaeologists, the techniques that we have found useful in carrying out such analyses, and discusses the requirements for measurement accuracy and inter-laboratory calibration.     

Investigating the dietary life histories and mobility of children buried in St Gertrude Church cemetery,Riga, Latvia, 15th–17th centuries ad*

Carbon and nitrogen isotope profiles were obtained from incremental dentine analysis of 19 non-adults from a cemetery in Riga, Latvia. The research compared the life histories and diet between people buried in two mass graves and the general cemetery. The δ¹³C profiles of several children from the mass graves were similar but did not resemble the patterns seen in children from the general cemetery, suggesting that they probably represented a different population group. The rise in δ¹⁵N values towards the end of the life of four individuals from one mass grave suggests they were victims of an historically documented famine.     

Provisioning Inka feasts at Tiwanaku, Bolivia: the geographic origins of camelids in the Pumapunku complex

While political integration can be achieved by many means, here we focus on the use of feasting and statecraft in the Inka Empire of the Andean Late Horizon (c. AD 1400-1532) in South America. In order to examine Inka political integration of the Lake Titicaca Basin of Bolivia, we examine paleomobility and paleodiet through radiogenic strontium and stable oxygen and carbon isotope data in archaeological camelid remains from the site of Tiwanaku. Mean radiogenic strontium isotope values from all archaeological camelid enamel and bone samples is ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70998 ± 0.00179 (1σ, n = 48), mean stable oxygen isotope values from a sub-set of archaeological camelid enamel and bone samples is δ¹⁸O_{carbonate (VPDB)} = −10.0‰ ± 2.6‰ (1σ, n = 18) and mean stable carbon isotope values from a sub-set of archaeological camelid enamel and bone samples is δ¹³C_{carbonate (VPDB)} = −9.0‰ ± 1.7‰ (1σ, n = 18). While many camelids consumed in these feasting events were likely local to the Lake Titicaca Basin, others came from a variety of different geologic zones, elucidating our understanding of Inka statecraft and the role of feasting in political integration in empires in the past.     

Stable isotope insights (δ18O, δ13C) into cattle and sheep husbandry at Bercy (Paris,France, 4th millennium BC): birth seasonality and winter leaf foddering

Abstract

Bercy is a prehistoric village sited by the Seine river (Paris, France), whose main period of occupation was dated to the very beginning of the 4th millennium BC. The animal subsistence economy relied heavily on cattle husbandry, complemented by other species including sheep. Cattle and sheep isotopic history (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O) was investigated at the seasonal scale, through sequential sampling in tooth enamel, providing new insights into seasonality of birth and diet. Sheep were lambing in mid-spring, only slightly later than expected from what is observed nowadays in temperate Europe at similar latitude. Cattle were born over a period spanning approximately six months, which was an unexpected result compared with a two to three months calving period in free-ranging cattle populations. The extension of the calving period might have been related to seasonal food supplementation. Some cattle and some sheep fed on a ¹³C-depleted resource in winter, potentially leafy fodder. A direct consequence of an extended calving period would be the availability of cow milk, which would have covered the whole year at Bercy. This is important information in a context where the exploitation of cattle milk by the human community was highly suspected from the demographic management of the herd.     

Lapita subsistence strategies and food consumption patterns in the community of Teouma (Efate,Vanuatu)

The subsistence strategies of the Lapita populations (3100–2800 BP), the first colonisers of the pristine environments of the islands of Eastern Melanesia and Western Polynesia, have been a matter of ongoing debate for decades. Opinions have ranged between the two extremes of Lapita colonisers being either characterised as highly mobile foragers to fully horticultural communities. To further address the question, this paper presents stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic data obtained from analyses of human and animal collagen samples from the site of Teouma (Efate, Vanuatu) dated to between c. 3000–2500 BP. The isotopic signatures obtained from 28 samples (23 human and 5 animal), interpreted in combination with isotopic information from several coastal and insular environments, suggest a diet primarily made up of terrestrially derived animal protein with lesser contributions from vegetable produce and inshore marine species. Comparisons linking the isotopic data gleaned from the Teouma individuals and Lapita subsistence patterns reconstructed through archaeozoological and archaeobotanical remains support the hypothesis of a mixed economy, that included terrestrial foraging, inshore marine exploitation and a low level of food production for at least some of the earliest Lapita colonists in Vanuatu.     

Dietary patterns during the late prehistoric/historic period in Cikobia island (Fiji): insights from stable isotopes and dental pathologies

The dietary patterns of eight adults and one child interred in the Korotuku burial mound (Cikobia, northern Fiji), dated from the late prehistoric/historic period (around AD 1850), have been investigated using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures and dental and oral pathologies. Bone collagen isotopic compositions showed that (1) males and females had similar diets in terms of terrestrial C₃ resources and marine fish components and proportions; (2) the proportion of marine fish comprised around 25% of the protein fraction of the diet, and the proportion of vegetal food was high; and (3) one canid that was also studied had a different diet, probably rich in shellfish. Oral and dental examinations of the humans evidenced (1) a low level of dental macrowear, (2) a high rate of carious lesions—interproximal and cervical—of about 15%, and (3) a low amount of abscessing, as well as the presence of alveolar bone recession and calculus in most of the adults. This evidence suggests a diet relying mainly on vegetal food with very limited shellfish consumption. When viewed in the light of ethnohistoric information, this pattern suggests a particular sociocultural behaviour, including food selection, since the analyses of the canid remains indicate that more diversified food resources were available than those consumed by the humans. Overall observations suggest that the deceased in the Korotuku burial mound might be members of an elite living on the island, thus pointing to possible social stratification in the late prehistoric/historic Cikobia community.