Studies on amerindian dogs, 1: Carbon isotopes in relation to maize in the diet of domestic dogs from early Peru and Ecuador |
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| Authors: | Richard Burleigh Don Brothwell |
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| Institution: | 1. Research Laboratory, The British Museum, London WC1, England;2. Institute of Archaeology, 31-34 Gordon Square, London WC1, England |
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| Abstract: | Work initiated purely as a dating project in support of a craniometric and morphological investigation of domestic dogs from early Peru has proved to have much wider implications. The stable carbon isotoperatios (13C/12C) of hair samples from ten dogs show that maize formed a significant part of their diet. Radiocarbon dates for these remains have confirmed that they belong to the period well after the cultivation of maize was first established. Stable carbon isotope measurements can thus be used to test for the presence of maize as a dietary constituent at earlier sites even where there is otherwise only indirect evidence for its cultivation. Collagen from animal or human bone is a suitable alternative to hair for this purpose and the method has been successfully applied to collagen dating to c. 3000 BC from the Valdivia culture site of Real Alto, Ecuador, as well as to a series of early Peruvian dogs. |
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| Keywords: | America Ancon Colima Ecuador Mexico New-World Peru Real alto Mass-Spectrometer Animal Canid Dog Isotope Keratin Maize Plant Zea Bone C-3 C-4 Carbon-13 Collagen Corn Diet Food Hair Metabolism Pathway Photosynthesis Protein Stable |
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