Stable Isotopes (Other Keyword)
76-100 (138 Records)
This is an abstract from the "Migration and Climate Change: The Spread of Mississippian Culture" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Post-AD 1000 was a time of tremendous change in the Upper Illinois River valley. The Terminal Late Woodland groups in the region were bordered on the south by emergent Mississippian petty chiefdoms of the Central Illinois River valley, on the north by Oneota and Mississippian societies, and on the east by Fort Ancient...
Leprosy, Segregation, & Burial Context: Remote Desert Living in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt (2016)
Stable oxygen isotope analysis of tooth enamel and bone apatite from adults afflicted with leprosy from the Kellis 2 cemetery (50-450 AD) in the Dakhleh Oasis provides insight into social perceptions of disease stigma during the Roman-Christian era in Egypt. Because there are no grave markers found in Kellis 2, this research focuses on the spatial analysis of stable isotope results to develop an interpretation of the burial location of leprosy cases. In particular, stable oxygen isotopes, which...
Linking Life and Death at the Early–Mid-Holocene Hunter-Gatherer Cemetery of Zvejnieki, Lativa, Northern Europe (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Northeast Asian Prehistoric Hunter-Gather Lifeways: Multidisciplinary, Individual Life History Approach" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The nature of the relationship between the living and the dead as seen through funerary rites is central to many aspects of archaeological interpretation. Indeed, this was the focus of early processual/postprocessual debates, with the former seeing a “real,” if distorted, connection...
Local Responses to Global Events: Regionally Distinct Dietary Changes among Eastern African Herders at the Close of the African Humid Period (2018)
Changing human diets in eastern Africa across the end of the African Humid Period (AHP) have been inferred indirectly from cultural and faunal remains at archaeological sites. Stable isotope analysis (SIA, specifically δ13C) can measure diets directly, yet few studies have conducted SIA on human remains from this region. We present 25 new δ13C values from human tooth enamel recovered from archaeological sites around Lake Turkana (northwest Kenya) and on Lukenya Hill and Rigo Cave (southern...
Mass Graves of Finnish War in Northern Finland – Analyses of One Casualty (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Burial, Space, and Memory of Unusual Death" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. After the Finnish war (1808–1809), Sweden surrendered its eastern parts (Finland) to Russia. According a treaty, the Swedish troops retreated northwards from Oulu to the Swedish side. The journey proved harsh for the sick, weakened troops wandering in the snow without proper winter-gear. Many would not make it. For the rest, the hastily...
The Maya are a People of Movement: An Isotopic Assessment at Chactemal (Santa Rita Corozal), Northern Belize (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Located in Corozal District in northern Belize, the coastal Maya archaeological site of Santa Rita Corozal, hereafter Chactemal, was continuously occupied from the Middle Preclassic (BCE 800–300) through the Late Postclassic (CE 1250–1532). While many sites in the Southern Lowlands experienced decline and abandonment in the Terminal Classic (CE 800–900),...
Micromorphology and isotopic geochemistry of the Yangguanzhai moat deposit (2017)
Geoarchaeological research conducted at the Yangguanzhai Site was tasked with identifying the composition and formation processes associated with one of the most striking features of the site, the Yangguanzhai "moat." Originally, it was hypothesized that this moat was filled with thick packages of ash related to the manufacturing of pottery at the site. Therefore, micromorphology and isotopic geochemistry were employed to further examine moat sediments. Samples collected from the moat have δ13C...
Microstratigraphic Investigation of Nomadic Pastoral Campsites in Eastern Mongolia (2017)
Since the origins of domestication, pastoral societies have been an exceptional example of adaptation and resilience. In recent years, studies focusing on herbivore faecal remains have shown the importance of these remains and their implication for identifying socio-economic activities. Here we present a multi-proxy examination of these deposits for an accurate identification of herds penning. We use micromorphology of soil sediments and stable isotopes analysis combined with archaeology and...
Migration and Isolation in the Okhotsk Tradition of Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands (2017)
Northern people are known for epic migrations such as the Pleistocene colonization of Eurasian Arctic and Movement into North America as well as multiple migration episdoes across the North American Arctic in the late Holocene. In this paper we look at the subarctic Sea of Okhotsk region and patterns of mobility within the Okhotsk tradition from 500-1300 C.E. Using lead (Pb) and strontium (Sr) isotopes, we reveal unexpected differences in lifetime stationary residence vs. relocation of...
Mobility Among Hunter-Gatherers in the Central Andean Highlands During the Early-Middle Holocene: GIS Models from Sr and O isotopic Analyses (2017)
Cuncaicha rock shelter (4480 masl) is one of the highest hunter-gatherer occupation sites found so far in the Americas; it brings new insights about human adaptation to extreme living conditions and subsistence strategies within the Peruvian puna. This research intends to define the possible type of occupation and mobility patterns at the site during the Early and Middle Holocene through Sr and O isotopic analyses in dental enamel of the human individuals and faunal remains found buried in this...
Mobility in the Central Maya Lowlands: Strontium, Oxygen, and Carbon Isotope Values from La Corona and El Perú-Waka’ (2016)
The movement of Classic Maya people has been recorded in numerous epigraphic texts. These references, along with migration studies at Tikal, Copán, and other smaller communities, suggest that there was a considerable amount of migration among Maya centers. We present the results of strontium, oxygen, and carbon stable isotope analysis of 71 individuals buried at the sites of La Corona and El Perú-Waka’ in the northwest Petén, Guatemala. The sample includes single and multiple burials, non-burial...
Modeling the Relationship between Riverine Resource Exploitation, Technology, and Social Organization in the Sacramento River Basin (2017)
Isotopic studies allow for a more refined look at variation in diet and mobility among individuals. These studies have been used in California as a proxy for analyzing human behavioral adaptations. In this study we use stable isotope analyses of human bone collagen and apatite to evaluate diet of individuals from sites within the Sacramento River basin over time. Ethnographic accounts from this area emphasize the importance of mass salmon procurement and describe high levels of social...
A Molecular Anthropological Re-examination of the Human Remains from La Galgada, Peru (2017)
The archaeological site of La Galgada is located on the eastern bank of the Tablachaca River in the highlands of Northern Peru. The site was dated to both the Preceramic period and Initial period through a combination of detailed archaeological investigation of the site complex, and the use of radiocarbon dating of material collected stratigraphically. Human remains found at the site were also categorized into these two periods based on stratigraphic location. However, recent radiocarbon dating...
More than a Source of Data: The Benefits of Active Collaboration between Macrofaunal and Specialist Analyses at Neolithic Ҫatalhöyük (2017)
The faunal remains excavated by the Ҫatalhöyük Research Project are notoriously voluminous, making them the focus of many specialist analyses over the course of the recent project. Stable isotopic data from zooarchaeological remains have long been used to inform paleoecology and past human dietary patterns. Zooarchaeological isotopic data have increasingly been used to revolutionize our understanding of past herding strategies, particularly in early herding contexts like Neolithic Ҫatalhöyük....
Multi-isotopic Investigation of Late Pleistocene Human Diet from the Site of Taforalt, Morocco (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Paleolithic to Neolithic transition generally denotes a dietary change from hunting, gathering, and fishing to agriculture. However, due to the limited number of Pleistocene sites that have yielded preserved human remains, our knowledge of the diets of pre-agriculturist human populations is still limited. Previously published isotopic studies have...
Multi-isotopic Paleo-diet Reconstruction in a High Altitude Rockshelter of Southern Peru (2018)
Expanding on a previous report, we expand the results of the analysis of stable carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur isotope analyses from collagen of three Early and two Late-Middle Holocene adult human burials with coeval fauna remains of Cuncaicha rock shelter in the Peruvian Puna. We also reconstruct important aspects of the ecology of the Pucuncho Basin, in which Cuncaicha is located, using new and published isotopic values of archaeological and modern fauna and plants. Sulfur isotope values...
Multicomponent analyses of prehistoric Fijian diet: Stable isotopes of bone collagen and carbonate (2017)
Several studies have provided stable isotopic insights into prehistoric Fijian diet via carbon and nitrogen analyses of bone collagen, with recent reports suggesting a diet of predominantly C3 plants though with some individuals exhibiting significant input from lower trophic level marine resources. Here we add to these studies by incorporating both a larger sample size from several sites on Viti Levu and a combined analysis of isotope data obtained from human bone collagen and carbonate. The...
A Multiscalar Approach to Mobility: Interpreting Sulfur Isotope Values within Relative and Absolute Chronological Frameworks (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the past 10 years sulfur isotope analysis (δ34S) has become increasingly employed to investigate the movement and mobility of prehistoric people and animals. While the questions can focus on the same type of “one-off” movements often considered when using strontium and oxygen analyses to study human migrations or pastoral economies, the combination of...
Neanderthals and Early Modern Humans in Western Iberia: Diet and Ecology at Lapa do Picareiro (Central Portugal) (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Recent Research on the Paleolithic in the Mediterranean Region" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In Iberia, potentially the last place where Neanderthals survived, the demographic breakdown of small, loosely connected populations seems to have been a significant driver for their demise. Human responses to the climatic fluctuations of the Late Pleistocene, particularly Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, could be an...
A New Stable Isotope Data Repository within the Neotoma Paleoecological Database (2017)
The Neotoma Database (neotomadb.org) functions as an interdisciplinary, open-access, and community-curated database for paleoecologists. Primary data types include proxies such as pollen, vertebrate remains, diatoms, and plant macrofossils. Because stable isotope data carry essential paleoenvironmental information about hydrology, diet, foodweb, and other signals, the structure of Neotoma has been modified to accommodate isotope data, thus facilitating the integration of these data with other...
Nitrogen Stable Isotopes and Infant Feeding Practices: Taking a Long View (2017)
Over the past 20 years, nitrogen stable isotope ratios have been used to explore infant feeding practices in ancient populations. In spite of many productive studies, uncertainties remain about how to interpret juvenile isotope ratios in regard to comparing feeding behavior across different populations, and the relationships of infant feeding practices to health, subsistence modes, environment, and social organization. Infant feeding practices are likely to be constrained by the biological...
The Origins and Identities of the Colha Skull Pit Skeletal Remains (2016)
The lithics production center of Colha in northern Belize provides skeletal evidence relevant to ongoing debates about the role of violence among the Maya of Central America. The Colha Skull Pit (Op. 2011) dates to the Terminal Classic period and consists of thirty individuals, represented only by cranial remains. The skeletal remains include both males and females and range in age from children to old adults. Cranial and dental modifications are prevalent in this feature and many of the skulls...
Paired radiocarbon dating on bioanthropological and textile samples from the Pica 8 Cemetery (Atacama Desert, northern Chile) (2016)
Pica 8 is an inland cemetery of the Late Intermediate Period (AD 900-1450) in northern Chile. Previous stable isotope studies indicate highly variable dietary contributions of marine and terrestrial foods. However, it is unclear whether this variability is related to change over time or to the presence of groups with different origins. In order to evaluate whether these differences are diachronic or synchronic, radiocarbon dates were carried out on 23 samples. Given the high marine consumption...
Paleodiet in the Atacama Desert (Arica, Chile) and Andean Highlands (Ayacucho Basin, Peru) Using Stable Isotope Analyses of Dental Calculus (2017)
Long-considered a nuisance, dental calculus has recently enjoyed attention as a potentially useful alternative biomaterial for a variety of anthropological applications, including stable isotope analysis as a technique to study paleodiet. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of dental calculus have been measured for populations near Arica, Chile in the Atacama Desert (Archaic-Late Intermediate period), and post-Wari (Late Intermediate Period) populations from the Ayacucho Basin, Peru in the...
Patterns of Mobility during the Iron Age and Roman Periods in Apulia, Italy. (2016)
Archaeological and historical evidence indicates that the end of the Iron Age in southern Italy was characterized by political and social upheaval associated with a series of battles between the Roman Republic, indigenous Italian groups, Greece, and Carthage. The outcome for many local populations in southern Italy after the Samnite, Pyrrhic, and Punic wars was the subjugation of local populations, a decline in settlement size and density, and the confiscation of land by the expanding Roman...