Investigating Dietary Patterns with Stable Isotope Ratios of Collagen and Starch Grain Analysis of Dental Calculus at the Iron Age Cemetery Site of Heigouliang,Xinjiang, China

Here, we present δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N results for the dietary reconstruction of nomadic pastoralists from the Iron Age (ca. 1000 bc –8 ad ) site of Heigouliang. The human (n = 27) δ¹³C values range from −19.6‰ to −17.0‰ with a mean value of −18.5 ± 0.5‰, and the δ¹⁵N results range from 11.5‰ to 13.8‰ with a mean value of 12.4 ± 0.6‰. The results indicated that animals, like sheep, were part of the predominately C₃ terrestrial diet, but two individuals have values greater than −18‰ that is indicative of some input of C₄ foods in their diets. Because of a lack of faunal samples and to supply complementary information concerning plant consumption, teeth from four individuals were analysed for dental calculus microfossils. Starch grains were found to correspond to Triticeae and Poaceae, possibly including wheat (Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), highland barley (H. vulgare L var. nudum), foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and/or common millet (Panicum miliaceum). At the population level, no dietary differences were detected between burial owners and sacrificial victims, but variations were found when specific tombs were analysed. In particular, individuals with bone trauma associated with armed conflict also had distinct isotopic signatures possibly suggesting that some of the sacrificial victims could have been captured warriors that were sacrificed for the burial owners. While limited, the results are some of the first from an Iron Age population from Xinjiang and contribute to our understanding of the dietary patterns of this region. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cartographical collections in America

ABSTRACT

The importance of maps in the construction of national territories has already received much attention from scholars; however, the discussion has mostly centred around the creation of political boundaries in emerging regions or states. Ethnic cartography, on the other hand, remains little studied, despite the fact that it also produced powerful symbolic meanings, advanced science and became a tool for various political ideologies. This article introduces the role that the mapping of ethnic territories played in political discourse in nineteenth-century Russia.     

MULTIPLE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SOURCES FOR CHEMICALLY SIMILAR OBSIDIANS FROM THE AREA OF PORTADA COVUNCO,WEST‐CENTRAL NEUQUÉN,ARGENTINA

In west‐central Neuquén Province, Argentina, in the area around Estancia Llamuco, west of Zapala, south of Las Lajas and north‐east of Lago Aluminé, there are multiple primary and secondary sources of obsidian. Primary sources occur within the south‐east extension of the Plio‐Quaternary volcanic chain that runs from Copahue volcano through Pino Hachado. Secondary sources include river‐bed gravels within the valleys of Arroyo Cochicó Grande and Río Kilca as far south as where this river joins with Río Aluminé, and the Quaternary fluvial–glacial sediments cut by the valley of Río Covunco as far east as Portada Covunco. Visually variable obsidians from these two secondary sources include homogeneous black and grey‐translucent types, porphyritic and banded types, and an abundant quantity of oxidized red and black obsidian. However, all these visually distinct obsidians have similar and unique chemistry, with Ba between 220 and 340 ppm, different from any other obsidians previously reported from Neuquén, which all have Ba > 500 ppm, as do obsidians from sources to the north in Mendoza and to the west in Chile. This chemical distinctive obsidian has been exploited and transported over a wide area, beginning prior to 4000 bp , and occurs in local archaeological sites, as well as sites ≥ 300 km to the north‐east in La Pampa Province, ～430 km to the south in Chubut Province, and >75 km to the west across the Andean drainage divide in Chile.     

An investigation of diet in early Anglo-Saxon England using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of human bone collagen

The principal aim of this work is to investigate whether protein sources in human diets in early Anglo-Saxon (5th-7th century AD) England varied with geographic location, or with respect to age or sex. The methodology used was analysis of δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C in human bone collagen from 76 adult skeletons from a total of 18 different cemeteries located in inland, riverine and coastal environments. In order to control for the possible effects of socio-economic status on diet, only high status individuals, as identified by grave goods, were studied. Data were analysed using statistical manipulation of the raw results and using IsoSource (Phillips and Gregg, 2003), a mathematical treatment which models the composition of the protein part of human diets using bone stable isotope ratios when the isotopic values for potential protein sources are known or can reasonably be inferred. The results suggest that protein sources varied little according to geographic location and that terrestrial foods dominated at all locations. However there were some subtle patterns. Slightly elevated δ¹³C in skeletons from coastal locations, and δ¹⁵N in those from riverine sites may indicate that communities in these locations made greater use of marine and freshwater resources respectively. If this is correct then it demonstrates that 5th-7th century communities made some use of wild resources even within a predominantly agrarian economy. In general the analysis of the raw data and the IsoSource results were mutually supportive, and this work demonstrates the value of this twin-pronged approach to analysis of human bone stable isotope data.     

Dr. Gottlieb Burckhardt the Pioneer of Psychosurgery

The first attempt at psychosurgeryintentional damage to the intact brain for the relief of mental illness–was undertaken in 1888 by the Swiss psychiatrist Gottlieb Burckhardt. Six chronic schizophrenic patients underwent localized cerebral cortical excisions. Most patients showed improvement and became easier to manage, although one died from the procedure and several had aphasia or seizures. Burckhardt, a learned neuropsychiatrist, presented his results in 1890 and in 1891 published his scientific rationale and detailed clinical outcome in a scholarly paper. Nevertheless his approach had shocked the medical community as reckless and irresponsible. Burckhardt was ridiculed, his academic endeavors ceased and his surgical endeavor largely ignored. Nevertheless he continued practice as a fine psychiatrist and mental hospital director. Burckhardts career and interesting ideas on higher cerebral functions are reviewed and placed in perspective regarding the development of “modern” psychosurgery almost one-half century later.     

Early Holocene land snail exploitation in northern spain: the case of La Fragua cave

Abstract

The question of the anthropic or natural origin of land snail deposits within the archaeological record is the subject of debate all over the world. In the Cantabrian region of northern Spain land snail middens are routinely identified in the early Holocene archaeological record. La Fragua Cave (Cantabria, Spain), which contains an early Holocene layer dated to 9600±140 BP (10,932±196 cal BP), offers the opportunity to address this debate through the examination of Cepaea nemoralis (Linnaeus) land snails recovered in direct association with mammal bones, charcoal, lithic artefacts and other materials. It is therefore believed that their presence at the site is clearly anthropic in origin. In addition, the exploitation patterns indicate an occasional collection and consumption of land snails, which confirms the complementary character of these resources in the diet of hunter-gatherers in Cantabrian Spain during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.     

TESTING ASSUMPTIONS OF NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS: COMMUNITIES,WORKSHOPS AND PASTE PREPARATION IN YUCATAN,MEXICO*

Contemporary pottery and raw materials (N= 170) from three workshops in Ticul, Yucatán, were analysed by neutron activation to test the hypothesis that individual workshops that used their own clay sources could be identified by their pottery. Although the data failed to confirm the hypothesis, the results reinforced previous conclusions about the relationship of local communities of potters to the chemical patterning of pottery made in these communities.     

PROVENANCE DETERMINATION OF LAVA FLAGSTONES FROM THE ROMAN ‘VIA CONSOLARE FLAMINIA’PAVEMENT (CENTRAL ITALY) USING PETROLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS*

Trachyte lava flagstones from the northernmost stretch of the Roman ‘Via Consolare Flaminia’pavement and trachyte lavas from the most exploited quarries in Roman times were compared from a petrological point of view. ‘Via Consolare Flaminia’was the most important route used by the Romans to reach northern Italy and all the northern provinces of the Empire. A provenance for the flagstones as coming from the trachyte quarries of the Euganean Hills (Veneto region, northern Italy) is suggested by the similarity of both the fundamental mineral assemblage and the major trace element geochemistry. The location of the quarries of the Euganean Hills next to the harbours of the northern Adriatic Sea strongly supports the hypothesis that the Romans carried the flagstones by ship towards the coasts of the central Adriatic Sea.     

PROVENANCE STUDIES OF KOREAN CELADONS OF THE KORYǑ PERIOD BY NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS*

Neutron activation analyses of the body fabric of celadons from the main production sites of the Koryǒ period have shown differences in composition between kilns. Comparison of over 50 celadon objects in the collections of the British Museum with this data base from the production sites has permitted the assignment of over 40 of the pieces to their kiln of origin The majority show the trace element pattern of the Sadangri kilns, a smaller proportion are assigned to Yuchǒnri, while others are assigned to the kilns at Chinsanri (underglaze iron) and Kyǒngsǒ-dong (unglazed). A representative group of Chinese Yue wares arc clearly different from Koryǒ celadons in trace element composition.     

Human subsistence strategy at Liuzhuang site,Henan, China during the proto-Shang culture (∼2000–1600 BC) by stable isotopic analysis

Since the discovery of the proto-Shang culture, created mostly by ancestors of the Shang clan from the late Neolithic Age to the early Shang period (∼2000–1600 BC), the subsistence strategy and lifestyle of humans in China during their movement southwards have been a great focus. Chinese literature and archaeological findings suggest that the proto-Shang societies were composed of different cultural groups and had various subsistence strategies. For example, at the Liuzhuang site, three types of burials, i.e., stone coffin, wooden coffin and earthen shaft-pit, are found. The wooden coffin and earthen shaft-pit burials had been adopted locally in the Central Plains since the Neolithic Age while the stone coffin burials were usually used by people living in Northeast China and had never been found in the Central Plains before. In this study, stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic analyses were performed on human bones from the Liuzhuang site and animal bones from Zhangdeng site in Henan province, China to determine whether different social groups had various accesses to food resources and whether their dietary difference was related to inequality in social status. Humans have mean δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of −7.6 ± 0.6‰ and 9.6 ± 1.0‰ (n = 19) respectively, which strongly indicates that humans rely primarily on C₄-based food. The main contribution of C₄-based food in their diet is from millet agriculture or animals that consume millet by-products. The isotopic spacing of carbon and nitrogen isotopic values between pigs and humans, between dogs and humans, and between cattle and humans, all imply that these animals were the main meat resources for humans. Surprisingly, the δ¹³C values and δ¹⁵N values of humans with different types of burials are quite close, indicating that they had equal access to food resources. This result suggests that the proto-Shang humans had adapted to the local subsistence strategy, and the local cultural factors in the Central Plains were very well integrated into proto-Shang culture.