Mano size,stable carbon isotope ratios,and macrobotanical remains as multiple lines of evidence of maize dependence in the American southwest

While the level of agricultural dependence affects many aspects of human adaptation, estimating levels of dependence on maize through traditional archaeological techniques is problematic. Here we compare various measurements of manos (e.g., grinding surface area), macrobotanical evidence of maize use, and human collagen stable carbon isotope values from six regions of the American Southwest, encompassing 16 phases, as a means of assessing the power and limits of each approach for considering agricultural dependence. The analysis of each data class is considered separately, taking into account formation processes and arguments linking data and inferences. Correlations among the three data classes suggest that mano area and maize ubiquity can be considered ordinal measures of agricultural dependence, but Southwestern stable carbon isotope data have the analytical potential only to discriminate between little or no maize use and substantial maize use. The formation processes and linking arguments associated with each method must be considered when multiple lines of evidence are integrated in order to make sound behavioral inferences. Our results suggest that there were at least three patterns in the adoption of farming in the Southwest: early substantial use followed by continuous increasing maize dependence, initial intensive dependence with little change in later periods, and a long period of minor use followed by substantial dependence.     

甘肃酒泉西沟村魏晋墓铜甑釜残留物的脂质分析

残留物分析可为器物用途提供直接证据。铜甗是古代重要的炊具之一,其用途在文献上有较多记载,但残留物分析甚少。甘肃酒泉西沟村魏晋墓M5出土铜甑釜(分体甗)下半部分的釜内存有一些白色膏状残留物,为了解其生物来源和该器物的功能,本工作利用红外光谱、脂质分析及单体脂肪酸稳定碳同位素等方法进行了综合分析。结果表明,这些白色膏状残留物应为反刍动物油脂,推测是蒸制铜甑中的牛肉或羊肉时渗流下来而成,这为该釜甑组合作为炊蒸器用于加工肉食提供了有力证据。鉴于墓M5具有浓郁的游牧文化风格,而铜甗是典型的中原汉人炊具,这也反映了魏晋时期当地汉人与北方游牧民族在饮食文化方面的交流与融合。     

山东日照市两城镇遗址龙山文化先民食谱的稳定同位素分析

山东日照两城镇遗址出土的浮选植物标本和植桂体表明,稻米和粟是该遗址龙山先民重要的食物来源,但由于动物骨骼保存很差,我们对他们的肉食来源所知甚少。而采用碳氮稳定同位素法探讨古人的食性和食物结构,对各种同位素含量不同的食物在当时人们食谱中的相对重要性提供了补充定量的数据。     

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.     

Possible Wild Boar Management during the Ertebølle Period. A Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Analysis of Mesolithic Wild Boar from Fannerup F,Denmark

This paper presents a stable isotope and radiocarbon study on a total of 85 samples of wild boar (Sus scrofa), humans (Homo sapiens), dogs (Canis familiaris), red deer (Cervus elaphus) and roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) from four Late Mesolithic sites in Jutland, Denmark. Four of the eight Sus scrofa samples from one site, the shell midden of Fannerup F, show markedly enriched carbon and nitrogen isotope values, indicating a dietary intake of a substantial amount of marine food. In contrast to standard interpretations of Late Mesolithic animal economy, we suggest that the enriched values of Sus scrofa may be an indication of management by Ertebølle groups in the area that facilitated access to substantial amounts of marine foods for these wild boars compared to contemporaneous conspecifics. The ¹⁴C dates of the Sus scrofa range from 5290 to 4335 cal BC, suggesting that the management of Sus scrofa developed independently of contact with Neolithic societies. Although the sample size remains small, the interpretation of Late Mesolithic animal management adds to the growing evidence for political and economic complexity in the Ertebølle culture.     

Migration and Viking Dublin: paleomobility and paleodiet through isotopic analyses

During the early medieval period in Ireland, Dublin was established as the largest Viking settlement on the island in the ninth century AD. A previous biodistance study has suggested that the population of the town consisted of a polyethnic amalgam of immigrant and indigenous. In this study, we use biogeochemistry to investigate paleomobility and paleodiet in archeological human remains from the ninth to eleventh century levels at the sites at Fishamble Street II (National Museum of Ireland excavation number E172), Fishamble Street III (E190) and John’s Lane (E173), as well as twelfth-century remains from Wood Quay (E132). Through radiogenic strontium isotope, stable oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen isotope, and elemental concentration analyses, we investigate the origins of the individuals who lived and died in early and late Viking Dublin. Mean archaeological human enamel and bone isotope values from Dublin are ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70975 ± 0.00139 (2σ, n = 22), δ¹³C_{carbonate(V-PDB)} = −14.8‰ ± 0.8‰ (1σ, n = 12), and δ¹⁸O_{carbonate(V-PDB)} = −7.2‰ ± 1.0‰ (1σ, n = 12). Archaeological human bone samples exhibit mean δ¹³C_{collagen(V-PDB)} = −20.8‰ ± 0.5‰ (1σ, n = 12) and mean δ¹⁵N_{collagen(AIR)} = +10.0‰ ± 1.7‰ (1σ, n = 12). Comparing these data with archaeological faunal data from Dublin and published data from northern Europe, we argue that there are no clear immigrants from other parts of the North Atlantic, although there is one clear outlier in both origins and diet. Overall, the relative homogeneity in both paleomobility and paleodiet may support models of acculturation in Viking Dublin, rather than a high number of first-generation immigrants or continued migration from Scandinavia.