Immigration to Tikal,Guatemala: Evidence from stable strontium and oxygen isotopes

This paper presents strontium and oxygen isotopic measurements on archaeological human teeth from the ancient Maya city of Tikal, Guatemala, that illuminate the role that migration played in the history of the state. Stable strontium isotope ratios of human teeth parallel the bedrock geology of the location where foods were grown, while stable oxygen isotope ratios reflect the sources of water imbibed, and track geographic variation in the isotopic composition of rain water. Because tooth enamel forms during childhood and is not remodeled during life, we can identify foreign-born individuals at Tikal by their outlying strontium and oxygen isotope ratios. These data indicate that approximately 11–16% of the sampled Tikal skeletons spent their childhood at distant sites. Most of the migrant burials date from the Early Classic period and are high status contexts. Several royal burials demonstrate long distance movement of both males and females, and shed light on the identification of epigraphically-known individuals. Yet, both Early and Late Classic migrants are found in lower status domestic burials. Interaction with distant peers was important in the rise of the Tikal polity, however, immigration from all social tiers contributed to the city’s rapid population growth.     

Mobility or migration: a case study from the Neolithic settlement of Nieder-Mörlen (Hessen,Germany)

A combination of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of collagen and radiogenic strontium isotope analysis of tooth enamel was used to investigate diet and mobility at the early Neolithic settlement of Nieder-Mörlen in Germany. The carbon and nitrogen ratios suggest a mixed terrestrial based diet that is consistent with data previously published for early Neolithic sites in Europe. The strontium isotope data indicate a high degree of human mobility with only one individual having an isotope ratio consistent with locally derived strontium. Unusually, a group of non-local juveniles with isotope ratios typical of upland regions is also present at the settlement but there are no adult burials with such values. Whilst transhumance is considered as an explanation, it would not explain why these non-local juveniles lived foreshortened lives and other possible mechanisms are therefore discussed.     

Dietary life histories in Stone Age Northern Europe

We present here a framework for using stable isotope analysis of bone and teeth to study individual life history. A sampling strategy and analytical approach for stable carbon and nitrogen analysis of bone and dentine collagen optimised for intra-individual purposes is put forward. The rationale behind this strategy, various requirements and constrains, and recommendations on how to modify it according to variations in material and analytical instrumentation, are discussed and explained in detail. Based on intra-individual data for 131 human individuals from Mesolithic and Neolithic sites in Northern Europe, we consider the sources and various kinds of variation one is likely to find, and how the data can be explained and transformed into an archaeologically meaningful interpretation. It is concluded that the use of stable isotope analysis to trace individual life history is not limited to carefully excavated, neatly preserved, single burials with articulate skeletal remains. Even collective burials, disturbed graves, disarticulated human remains in cultural layers, or other depositions that deviate from what is often considered as a “proper burial”, offer the possibility to look at individual life biographies.     

Stable Isotopic Evidence of Ancient Maya Diet at Caledonia,Cayo District,Belize

The skeletal remains of 18 individuals interred at the ancient Maya site of Caledonia (100 to 1000 C.E.), located in the Cayo District of Belize, w ere sampled for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis in order to reconstruct their diet. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in 18 bone collagen samples and stable carbon isotope ratios in bioapatite from 15 bone and 6 tooth enamel samples were assessed. Small sample sizes precluded the assessment of dietary variation with respect to age, sex, social status or time period among the Caledonia Maya. However, the sampled individuals consumed a varied diet consisting of maize, supplemented with some C₃ plants, terrestrial herbivores and/or lower order freshwater resources such as snails and molluscs and possibly maize‐fed animals. This dietary variability with an emphasis on maize is unsurprising given the biological diversity surrounding the site and the known importance of this crop to the ancient Maya. As expected, the isotopic values from Caledonia are similar to those from nearby sites from similar time periods. However, four individuals exhibit a marine dietary signature, possibly indicating inland trade of marine resources from coastal sites, or the migration of coastal people to Caledonia. This study demonstrates the validity of sampling small, fragmented collections from minor Maya centres in order to gain valuable insight into ancient Maya dietary practices. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis on the diet of Jomon populations from two coastal regions of Japan

We report on a stable isotope paleodietary reconstruction of Jomon populations in Japan during the Middle to Final Jomon period (ca. 5000–2300 years BP), focusing on dietary differences within and among populations and between regions. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis was performed on human and faunal bone collagen from six coastal sites along the Inland Sea in the Sanyo (Ota, Funamoto, and Tsukumo) region and along Mikawa Bay and the Pacific Ocean in the Tokai (Kawaji, Yoshigo, and Inariyama) region. We found that carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were positively correlated, indicating that the Jomon people consumed a mixed diet of marine (shellfish and marine fish) and terrestrial (C₃ plants and terrestrial mammals) protein. In the Ota samples (n = 25, during the Middle Jomon period, 5000–4000 years BP), sex was one of the main reasons for the intra-population dietary variation. Ota males consumed greater amounts of marine food, while Ota females consumed greater amounts of terrestrial food; these dissimilar diets may have been related to the sexual division of labor. Significant inter-population dietary differences were found, which may have been related to differences in age or site location. Notably, the two coastal regions showed clear isotopic differences. Nitrogen isotope ratios of individuals from the Sanyo region were significantly higher than ratios of individuals from the Tokai region. The individuals in the Sanyo region might have consumed a diet high in aquatic foods, particularly high trophic level marine fish, whereas the individuals in the Tokai region might have consumed a lot of marine shellfish. Another possible reason for the regional isotopic difference might have been different baseline of nitrogen isotope ratios of the marine ecosystems.     

A re-assessment of Basketmaker II cave 7: massacre site or cemetery context

Our ongoing investigation of early maize farming in the American Southwest has entailed stable isotope analysis and accelerator radiocarbon dating of Basketmaker II remains from sites in the Four Corners region. Here we report radiocarbon dates on a large mortuary assemblage excavated by Richard Wetherill in 1893 from a burial cave in southeastern Utah. It has long been thought that all individuals interred in Cave 7 were massacred in a single violent attack given embedded projectiles and evidence for blunt force trauma. However, accelerator radiocarbon dates on purified bone collagen (n = 96) do not lend strong support to this argument, even among the subset of individuals with clear evidence for violent injuries. Moreover, nearly 80% of Cave 7 burials examined in the study show no evidence of perimortem trauma and no adult females or subadults under the age of 12 appear to have suffered violent deaths. Rather than an anomalous single-event massacre, the Cave 7 radiocarbon dataset suggests that raiding and intra-group, male/male violence was episodic among Basketmaker groups in southeastern Utah. Population densities were relatively high and individuals interred in Cave 7 and elsewhere in the region were heavily dependent on maize agriculture, a prehistoric economic strategy typically characterized by high amplitude fluctuations in productivity. Variability in the array of grave goods accompanying Cave 7 male burials and elsewhere suggests competitive social differentiation likely heightened during periods of resource shortfall leading to intra-group conflict, raiding and perhaps ritualized acts of violence.     

Stable isotope analysis of Late Upper Palaeolithic human and faunal remains from Grotta del Romito (Cosenza), Italy

Stable isotope analysis of carbon (δ¹³C), nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) and sulphur (δ³⁴S) were carried out on one of the largest assemblages of Late Upper Palaeolithic human remains in Southern Europe, at Grotta del Romito (Cosenza), Italy. The burials were stratigraphically dated from ca. 18,000 to 13,000 cal BP, which was confirmed by a series of new AMS dates made directly on the bone collagen. Dietary reconstruction from carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes revealed that eight of the nine individuals analysed, dating to the Final Epigravettian, had very consistent diets, rich in terrestrial animal protein, regardless of their age or sex. These included two individuals who were suffering from severe pathologies. A single individual, dating to the Evolved Epigravettian had a more variable diet, which was significantly enriched in protein from marine or freshwater fish compared to the later burials. Overall, the results are consistent with the very limited number of other studies which describe a change to more specialised and less variable subsistence strategies, in this case the hunting of large herbivores, towards the end of the Palaeolithic period. Sulphur isotope values of all of the nine burials and several faunal samples were notably consistent, showing no evidence of long-distance migration to the site from a different geological zone.     

Sulphur isotope evidence for freshwater fish consumption: a case study from the Danube Gorges,SE Europe

To explore the use of sulphur isotopes as an indicator of the consumption of freshwater fish, we undertook sulphur isotope analysis on bone collagen extracted from humans and animals from five archaeological sites from the Danube Gorges region dating from the Mesolithic to the middle Neolithic periods. The results show a difference in the sulphur isotope values between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems of 8.7‰. To reconstruct human diets, bone collagen from 24 individuals was analysed for carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotopic values. The nitrogen isotope ratios ranged from 10.3 to 16.5‰ and the carbon isotope ratios ranged from −20.8 to −18.3‰. Low nitrogen isotope values were found for individuals with low sulphur isotope ratios reflecting the low sulphur isotopic values of the terrestrial animals. The highest human nitrogen isotope values coincided with higher sulphur isotope ratios, which are related to the higher sulphur isotope values of the freshwater fish. Intermediate human sulphur isotopic ratios between these two extremes showed mixed diets of both terrestrial and freshwater resources.     

The stable and radio-isotope chemistry of southeastern Utah Basketmaker II burials: dietary analysis using the linear mixing model SISUS,age and sex patterning,geolocation and temporal patterning

The Bayesian linear mixing model SISUS is used to reconstruct reliance on maize and intake of animal protein from the stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope values of 149 directly dated Basketmaker II burials. Maize is the primary dietary staple. δ¹³C values are also enriched by intake of yucca and wild C₄ plant foods but these resources are of minor importance in sampled diets. Animal protein intake is low and cottontail rabbits make the greatest contribution to female diets. Adolescent diets are indistinguishable from the diets of adult females and both groups are less reliant on artiodactyls than males. The δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values of bone hydroxyapatite distinguish nursing infants and oxygen isotope values identify outsider adults relative to those local to the region where their deaths occurred. Most Utah Basketmaker II burials are contemporary with Black Mesa Lolomai phase occupations, postdating the Marsh Pass, AZ, White Dog phase. All burials in both studies were recovered from sheltered rather than open sites and reliance on maize does not increase over the temporal span of the Utah study, covering the two sigma range 415 BC–AD 322.     

Archaeological Bones – The Anatomy of an Abandoned Churchyard

Scattered human bones from disturbed graves in medieval and post‐medieval churchyards have generally been considered to be of minor interest in archaeological analyses. However, the material has a large information potential provided that it is carefully documented and analysed. By treating scattered bones in the same way as other archaeological finds the material is found to have great value as source material in the interpretation of cemeteries and churchyards as well as in paleodemographic analyses. This is demonstrated by analysing the dispersed bones found in the medieval/post‐medieval cemetery layers of the abandoned churchyard at Sola in Rogaland, south‐western Norway. By analysing bones from disturbed graves and incorporating both archaeological and osteological data in the analyses, it was demonstrated that it is possible to provide answers to questions about the original number of burials and the number of individuals in the churchyard, the relative chronology of grave constructions and a more accurate demographic profile of the buried population.     

EXAMINING CHILDHOOD DIETS AT KAMINALJUYU,GUATEMALA, THROUGH STABLE ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS OF SEQUENTIAL ENAMEL MICROSAMPLES*

Stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of tooth enamel provide a means to examine nutritional changes during childhood. To date, such studies have used large enamel samples, often spanning the developmental period of the tooth. This paper reports the results of small samples drilled from first molars and premolars of human teeth from Kaminaljuyu, a Classic period city in highland Guatemala. Carbon isotopes show considerable increase between cuspal and cervical enamel for both teeth, indicating an increase in maize consumption during childhood. Oxygen isotope trends are more variable, and suggest some seasonal fluctuation. While the oxygen isotope data confirm the identification of foreign skeletons among the samples, they illustrate a need for caution when sampling teeth due to variable δ¹⁸O composition of enamel within a tooth.     

Paleodietary analysis of a San Francisco Bay Area shellmound: stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of late Holocene humans from the Ellis Landing site (CA-CCO-295)

The late Holocene archaeofaunal record of the San Francisco Bay Area demonstrates temporal declines in the abundance of low-cost, high-ranked marine and terrestrial resources. During later periods of occupation, faunal assemblages are often dominated by lower-ranked, higher-cost resources, suggesting an increase in diet breadth through time. Archaeological resource intensification models argue that this marks a late Holocene decline in foraging efficiency in the Bay Area, driven by human-induced harvest pressure. This study examines dietary change in the region using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data from 65 human burials, spanning two temporal components (cal AD 55–890 and cal AD 762–1550) at the Ellis Landing site (CA-CCO-295). The strong linear relationship between collagen carbon and nitrogen isotope values reflects both marine and terrestrial food consumption, with individuals showing a high level of dietary variability at the site. No temporal trend or meaningful sex differences were found in isotope values. The widening of diet breadth predicted by the archaeofaunal record occurred prior to the occupation of the Ellis Landing shellmound site. The trend in exploiting a greater amount of terrestrial resources during the Middle and Late Period in central California was supported by isotopic evidence.     

‘THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME’—NO ISOTOPIC EVIDENCE FOR MOBILITY AT THE EARLY BRONZE AGE CEMETERY OF SINGEN,GERMANY

The Early Bronze Age necropolis of Singen (Hohentwiel), located near Lake Constance, represents a population from a period of technological transition in southwestern Germany. The site contains several graves with metal artefacts that originated in other parts of Central and Western Europe, and therefore these could be interpreted as being the graves of non‐local individuals. The purpose of this study was to investigate this possibility through the application of isotopic analysis. The ratios of strontium and oxygen isotopes in human enamel reflect the geological origin of food and drinking water consumed during enamel formation in early life stages. Additionally, the ratio of sulphur isotopes from bone collagen reflects the origin of foods consumed during the last 10–20 years of life of an adult individual. We used these three isotope systems to attempt to identify local and non‐local individuals at the site. We found that the isotope ratios of Sr, O and S of the humans were relatively homogeneous and generally correspond to the isotope signature of the local geology, climate and environment. We conclude that the sampled population is of local origin and does not show patterns of individual mobility, even though there is evidence for long‐distance trade and exchange of the metal artefacts at this site.     

Wari’s imperial influence on local Nasca diet: The stable isotope evidence

The highland Wari Empire established a presence within the Nasca region of south coastal Peru during the Middle Horizon period. To clarify the nature of this interaction, we analyzed stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of human bone collagen from individuals living in the Southern Nasca Region (SNR) before (1–750 AD) and during (750–1000 AD) imperial influence. The stable isotope data do not indicate that the Wari Empire transformed maize agricultural labor in the Las Trancas Valley of the SNR. In fact, during both time periods, Nasca people had access to a wide range of food items.     

Identifying locals, migrants, and captives in the Wari Heartland: A bioarchaeological and biogeochemical study of human remains from Conchopata, Peru

The site of Conchopata in the central Peruvian Andes was the secondary center in the heartland of the Wari Empire (AD 600–1000), and in this study we examine whether this urban locale was populated by locals, voluntary migrants from distant regions, and/or captives who were forcibly brought to Conchopata. We examine radiogenic strontium isotope ratios from 72 dental enamel and bone samples representing 31 formal burials and 18 human trophy heads to distinguish between locals and non-locals, and we examine skeletal and archaeological data to establish whether non-local persons were voluntary migrants or captives. We also describe a new, straightforward technique in the evaluation of radiogenic strontium isotope ratios to assist in detecting non-locals when large datasets are available.Results show that natal Conchopata inhabitants should exhibit radiogenic strontium isotope ratios that range from ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70548 to ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70610. Thus, among the 31 burials, 29 exhibit local values, suggesting that Conchopata was not a cosmopolitan center to which numerous foreigners migrated; rather, it was populated by local peoples, likely the descendants of the preceding Huarpa culture. The two individuals with non-local radiogenic strontium isotope ratios are an infant and a 17–22 years old female. The archaeological context suggests that the female may have been taken captive for subsequent sacrifice, as she was interred in front of the ritual D-shaped structure in which decapitated human heads (trophy heads) and sacrificed camelids were deposited. Among the 18 trophy heads sampled, 14 have non-local values, confirming previous studies of smaller samples that suggested that Wari warriors travelled to other locales and took captives—both adults and children—for subsequent transformation into trophy heads. Additional analyses of bone-tooth pairs from a subsample (12 burials and six trophy heads) shows that the burial group was much more sedentary (homogenous radiogenic strontium isotope ratios in bones and teeth) and the trophy head individuals were much more mobile (heterogenous radiogenic strontium isotope ratios in bones and teeth). Overall, the multiple lines of evidence support the notion that the Wari Empire occasionally used militaristic means, combined with elaborate ritualism, to subjugate other populations, a tactic that may have helped Wari establish and maintain control in particular regions in the Andes.     

Sebbersund: isotopes and mobility in an 11th−12th c. AD Danish churchyard

The important Viking Age and early Medieval site of Sebbersund in northern Jutland, Denmark, contains a large churchyard from the 11th–12th century AD. Sebbersund was an important trading center in this period and the location of one of the first churches in Denmark, perhaps an entry point for the introduction of Christianity to the country. Excavations have exposed almost 500 graves of an estimated 700 individuals in the cemetery. Here we report on the analysis of strontium isotopes in human tooth enamel from burials in the cemetery as a signal of place of birth. Some 19 samples have been measured and at least three non-local outliers identified. Futhermore, six archaeological fauna samples had been analyzed in order to define the local bioavailable strontium isotope baseline range and these values were compared to the more general bioavailable baseline range values for Denmark. The burials are evaluated in light of the available archaeological, chronological, anthropological, and isotopic information.     

Stable Isotopic Analysis of Human Skeletons from the Sunhung Mural Tomb,Yeongju, Korea: Implication for Human Diet in the Three Kingdoms Period

This study reports the results of stable isotope analyses (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur) of human bone collagen from the Sunhung mural tomb from the Three Kingdoms Period of Korea (AD 300–668). The stable isotope data indicate that the main source of protein in the diet of the interred seven Sunhung individuals came from C₃‐based terrestrial resources, and there was an isotopic variation between individuals at this site. To investigate dietary patterns in the Three Kingdoms period, we compared our results with reported isotopic data from other southeastern Three Kingdoms sites (Imdang‐dong, Songhyeon‐dong and Yean‐ri). We found that the Sunhung individuals had similar isotope ratios to the people from these other sites. However, there was noticeable isotopic difference among individuals from each study site, although much of the dietary protein in each site was mainly from terrestrial sources. We propose that the most parsimonious explanation for this isotopic pattern is variation in social status during this time period. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Warfare and mortality at Koger's Island,Alabama

Koger's Island, a late prehistoric agricultural community in the southeastern USA, is the site of a cemetery containing four mass graves of individuals with perimortem trauma and scalping cutmarks. Although the site as a whole has a demographic profile typical for a society of this kind (with high infant mortality), the mass graves contain relatively few infants or children, and an abundance of adult males. It is suggested that the skeletons found in the multiple burials represent the victims of raiding or warfare. The disproportionate number of males in the mass graves may be related to the fact that relatively few males at the site are older than 50 years, presumably because they are dying at an early age from violence.     

CARBON ISOTOPE RATIOS IN PALAEODIET: LACK OF AGE OR SEX EFFECT

Palaeodiet of humans can be determined using stable carbon isotope ratios of bone collagen. Differences in δ¹³C-values between individuals in a population may be due to real differences in diet, or alternatively, they could be due to age- or sex-dependent differences in the physiologically controlled fractionation of carbon isotopes between food and collagen. The dependence of this fractionation on age and sex was tested in a study of 50 individuals of differing ages from a prehistoric population of bison hunters. The total variation in δ¹³C for bone collagen was found to be ± 0.3‰, indicating that variations larger than this, observed in other populations, are due to real dietary differences between individuals.     

Sealing,whaling and caribou revisited: additional insights from the skeletal isotope chemistry of eastern Arctic foragers

Research reported here is the second phase of a bone collagen stable isotope and radiocarbon study of eastern Arctic diets. Seventy-five directly dated burials from the Native Point Sadlermiut mortuary collection and two Thule sites, Kamarvik and Silumiut in northwest Hudson Bay, were added to an existing data set of 81 individuals. Thule foragers dated to a 2σ range of AD 1047–1700 and subsisted on diets comprised of ca. 80% marine taxa, primarily ringed seal and bowhead whale. The Native Point Sadlermiut dated later in time, AD 1289–1896, and relied more heavily on high tropic level marine taxa, ringed seal and seabirds. Three dietary trends are apparent coincident with Neo-Boreal cooling (AD 1400). In addition, both Thule sites were abandoned at commencement of the Little Ice Age (AD 1600), which coincides with European contact, raising intriguing questions about the effects of climate change on high latitude foraging strategies and the possibility that epidemic disease was introduced in the Hudson Bay region as early as 1613.