Stable Isotopes (Other Keyword)
101-125 (128 Records)
More than three decades ago, a highway expansion project resulted in the excavation of thirty-five historic graves at Catoctin Furnace. Initial analysis was conducted by Smithsonian anthropologist J. Lawrence Angel, who identified the remains as African or African-American, presumably associated with the late eighteenth – mid-nineteenth century operation of the iron works. This report presents updated assessments of demography and pathology, as well as stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data to...
Reconstructing ancient Maya nursing behavior and children's diets at Tikal, Guatemala (2017)
We examine the ancient Maya nursing practices and children’s diets at the archaeological metropolis of Tikal, Guatemala, through stable isotopic analysis of permanent teeth in adult skeletons. Stable carbon isotope analysis of tooth enamel permits a measure of the relative amount of carbon from maize foods in the diet, and helps track the introduction of solid foods into the children’s diet. Stable oxygen isotopes in tooth enamel reflect the sources of water that children consumed, and shed...
Reconstructing Life Histories at the Site of Estuquiña: Incorporating Isotopic Data from Archaeological Hair to Investigate Palaeodietary Trends (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The site of Estuquiña is a Late Intermediate Period (AD 1100-1476) site in the Osmore drainage near the modern city of Moquegua in southern Peru. This time period is characterized by regional socio-political decentralization and transition of imperial polities throughout much of Andean South America. Previous research on human remains from the site...
The Rise and Fall of the Forest Canopy: An Application of Compound-Specific Stable Isotopic Analysis to a Holocene Sequence of Soils as a Record of Human Impacts in Southern Belize (2018)
Derived from lipid-rich plant tissues (primarily leaf waxes), long chain n-alkanes are a durable organic biomarker whose relative abundance is used in paeloecological studies as a proxy marker of plant species composition, and as an indicator of biomass burning. Isotopic composition of individual n-alkane components preserves signals that reflect both hydroclimate and canopy height. These properties can be employed to examine spatially integrated signals of anthropogenic land clearance in lake...
Ritual and Mobility: δ18O and δ13C analyses of Bronze Age khirigsuur horses from Khanuuy Valley, Mongolia (2015)
Khirigsuurs are large stone burial and ritual monuments that served as stages for group activities and social negotiation during the Late Bronze Age (c.1300-700 BC) in Mongolia. Animal remains were routinely interred in satellite mounds associated with primary burial features, in particular the heads and extremities of horses, and often in great numbers. The question remains, however, whether horses selected for interment in khirigsuur satellites were from local or distant herds. Here, we...
Scales of Mobility: Oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotopic insights into Xiongnu herding practice (2015)
Herding strategies involving the regular movement of domesticates to new pastures is a critical feature of pastoralist subsistence strategies. However, the utility of strontium isotope analysis as a proxy for mobility becomes complicated in regions where geological substrates are either homogenous over a wide area or are heterogeneous over small distances. Taking advantage of the geographic sensitivity of carbon and oxygen isotopes to precipitation levels, altitude, and latitude, we explore...
Sclerochronology of the Tiger Lucine Clam (Codakia orbicularis): Implications for Florida Keys and Northern Caribbean Archaeological Site Seasonality (2017)
The Tiger Lucine (Codakia orbicularis) is a large bivalve native to the West Indies. This tropical species is a common constituent of late prehistoric (AD 800-1500) shell middens in the Florida Keys, the Lucayan Archipelago, and the Greater Antilles (e.g., Jamaica). C. orbicularis’ prominence in the archaeological deposits of these regions is the predictable result of its abundance, relative ease of access, and widespread efficacy as both a subsistence resource and raw material for tools (e.g.,...
Shellfish Harvesting Strategies on the Northern Northwest Coast: Evidence from Labouchere Bay, Southeast Alaska (2017)
This poster presents new data from five shell midden sites on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska in order to examine how shellfish-harvesting strategies changed during the middle to late Holocene. The accessibility and resilience of shellfish beds on the coastal margin makes them valuable resources that complement more seasonally-restricted food sources such as salmon runs. In order to meet the increasing needs of permanent settlements that emerged during the middle Holocene, shellfish management...
Social Inequalities by Diet in Archaeology: The Contribution of Isotopes (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Research about the biological impacts of social inequality is at the center of the humanities and social sciences. Social inequalities impact multiple determinants of health such as lifestyle, diet, and housing. Questions about inequalities, therefore, can be addressed by using isotopic data related to collected by archaeologists. This project compiles...
A Southwestern Producer Essential Amino Acid d13C Library: Potential Archaelogical Applications (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Advances in Interdisciplinary Isotopic Research" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Well-defined patterns in essential amino acid (AAESS) d13C values of autotrophs (plants and protists) and heterotrophs (bacteria and fungi) that can synthesize AAESS de novo provide enhanced discriminatory power to trace energy flow through freshwater and adjacent terrestrial foodwebs. This method may be useful for studying the impacts of...
The Stable Isotope Ecology of Agriculture in the Eastern Maya Lowlands from the Preclassic through Colonial Periods (2018)
The reconstruction of subsistence strategies using stable isotope analyses is integral to understanding the role of maize agriculture in the development and decline of ancient Maya society. Here we present stable carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur isotope data from over 230 radiocarbon dated human skeletal remains from western Belize dating from the Preclassic through Colonial periods (~1000 BC-AD 1700). Stable isotope data are also compared to paleoclimate proxy records to interpret the climatic...
Stable Isotope Evidence for the Geographic Origins and Military Movement of Napoleonic Soldiers during the March from Moscow in 1812 (2016)
In 2001, 3269 unidentified individuals were recovered from a mass grave in Vilnius, Lithuania. Archaeological context indicates that these individuals were likely soldiers that were a part of Napoleon’s Grand Army. Geographical origins of 9 individuals from the mass grave were assessed utilizing stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) values that were extracted from femoral bone apatite. The carbonate oxygen isotope (δ18OVSMOW) compositions (24.5‰ to 26.4‰) suggest that all assayed individuals were...
Stable Isotope Perspectives on Diet and Mobility in the California Delta (2015)
Isotopic variation in individuals allows us to track differences in diet, mobility, and migration between various demographic categories including age, status, and sex. We use stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen to analyze diet and oxygen to examine human mobility from a range of sites in Yolo and Solano counties, with a focus on how marine vs. freshwater aquatic resources were exploited. Stable isotope results are compared to faunal remains from the same sites to establish baseline data for...
Stable Isotope Perspectives on Intra-Community Sharing (2017)
Stable isotope analyses of human skeletal tissues provide estimates of paleodiet at the scale of the individual. This paper explores intra- and inter-community variation in stable nitrogen, carbon, and sulfur isotopes in human bone and teeth as insight into the prevalence of food sharing in several ancient hunter-gatherer burial populations in California. The goal, in particular, is to trace intra-community variation over time to examine how cooperative foraging and food-sharing strategies...
Stable Isotope Ratios from Modern and Archeological Fauna from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico (2017)
Stable isotope analysis of archaeological material can reveal aspects of diet, mobility, resource exchange, and social structure in ancient civilizations. Chaco Canyon, New Mexico is a World Heritage site in northwestern New Mexico with peak activity and habitation around 1000AD. The nature of resource management by those inhabiting the Canyon has been long debated. Here, we present carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and strontium isotope data from archaeological faunal remains collected from from...
Stable Isotope Signatures in Modern Elk Teeth and Their Relevance for Paleoclimate Reconstruction (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Isotope signatures of oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) from herbivore tooth enamel carbonate have been established as useful paleoenvironmental proxies in a number of archaeological contexts. Elk remains are abundant in the European and North American archaeological records, therefore making them a valuable taxon for study. We selected 13 individuals of...
Stable Isotopes and the Dynamics of Human-Animal Relationships (2016)
A central focus of stable isotope analysis in archaeology has always been to reconstruct human diet, with faunal samples examined primarily to better understand the human data. This paper will challenge this precept and highlight that important information about human-animal relationships can be obtained from isotope studies if the animals are viewed as individuals in their own right, as opposed to mere background data. Using several species as case-studies, this paper will examine how stable...
Stable Oxygen Isotope δ18O Analysis of Crocus Clam (Tridacna crocea) from Palau, Micronesia: Evaluating a Proxy for Sea-surface Temperature Reconstruction (2017)
For thousands of years and on a global scale, shellfish have been a key resource for peoples living in island and coastal environments. Not only were they critical food resources, but can act as records of paleoenvironmental conditions. In this study, we evaluated whether the crocus clam (Tridacna crocea) could satisfactorily record ambient water temperature via the incorporation of oxygen isotope ratios into the calcium carbonate matrix during shell growth. Modern Tridacna crocea were collected...
Story of an unusually preserved early modern Vicar in Finnish Lapland (2017)
The custom of burying beneath church floors, commonly practiced among the early modern elite, is responsible for the mummification of the remains of a Northern Finnish vicar, Nikolaus Rungius (c.1560–1629). The mummy of Vicar Rungius exhibited since the 18th century is the source of several local stories. A computed tomography (CT) imaging performed on his remains allowed examining his anthropometric features, but it also revealed indications of pathological conditions of which the Vicar may...
Substantial intensity of millet agriculture during the Bronze and Iron Ages in Kazakhstan is revealed in δ13C and δ18O time series of incrementally sampled livestock teeth (2017)
This paper presents carbon and oxygen isotopic values incrementally sampled from mandibular molars of domesticated livestock from pastoralists sites in eastern, central, and northern Kazakhstan with Bronze and Iron Age occupations. The intra-tooth patterning of δ13C and δ18O values are used to characterize millet consumption from foddering and grazing on stubble in harvested fields. Results indicate that some animals were seasonally consuming large proportions of C4 plants as early as 2400 cal...
Sulfur Isotope Ratios of Terrestrial and Coastal Fauna on the Southeastern Coast: A Step toward Resolving Equifinality in Human Paleodiet Reconstructions (2018)
Sulfur isotope ratios in human bone collagen are used in paleodiet reconstructions to distinguish between marine- and terrestrial-based diets, because sulfur isotope ratios in marine organisms are typically higher. However, natural phenomena such as sea spray, rain, and flooding can deposit sea water sulfates on land that are bioavailable to plants and terrestrial animals. Comparing sulfur from archaeological deer and fish-eating raccoons from sites both in close proximity to the coast and...
Turkey Provisioning, Exchange, and the Isotopic Zooarchaeology of Social Transformations in the Mesa Verde Region (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Isotopic and Animal aDNA Analyses in the Southwest/Northwest" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Changes in resource acquisition patterns are important components of larger social transformations, including shifts in the source areas and transport patterns of important animal resources. In the Mesa Verde region, increasing population aggregation and shifting settlement locations from AD 750 through 1225 also increased...
Understanding the Diet of Late to Terminal Classic Period Maya Groups in the Sibun River Valley, Belize, through Food Web Reconstruction (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A stable isotope based dietary study, coupled with previously collected zooarchaeological and botanical data, expands our understanding of ancient Maya dietary variation in the Late and Terminal Classic periods in the Sibun River Valley of central Belize. A food web was created based on the analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in plants and...
Urbanisation and Animal Husbandry in Ancient Western Europe: How Territoriality Affects Negatively Husbandry Productivity (2016)
Mobility is key to the survival and adaptation of human and animal populations. In all cases, having the ‘right of way’ is necessary to move across territories. How was it in the past? How humans decided about mobility in the context of demographic growth and increase of social complexity that occurred in Europe in the first millennium BC? Strontium isotopic ratios are a powerful tool for investigating mobility in the past. This paper offers a review of strontium isotopic ratios for Western...
Using C and N stable isotopes in ostrich eggshells to develop paleoenvironmental records for Late Pleistocene East African rock shelter sequences (2017)
The Middle to Later Stone Age transition in East Africa ~30-60 ka has been hypothesized as a response to increased resource risk due to cooler, drier Late Pleistocene environments with greater short-term variability. Local paleoenvironmental records are needed to test such hypotheses. Ostrich eggshell (OES) fragments are common in African archaeological sequences, are amenable to 14C and U-series dating, and their δ13C and δ15N values are known to correspond to the C isotopes of vegetation and...