isotope (Other Keyword)
1-18 (18 Records)
The turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is the only domesticated vertebrate to originate from North America. Accurate reconstructions of turkey husbandry and use are thus critical for understanding the domestication process in the ancient Americas. Isotopic and genetic (aDNA) research has yielded substantial insights into the history of turkey use and domestication in the American Southwest, but such methods have not been widely used in Mesoamerica to date, despite the fact that all modern domestic...
Bison ecology and pre-contact human land use at the Promontory Caves (2017)
Promontory people were proficient bison hunters with a sophisticated understanding of bison ecology. In contrast, modern researchers know relatively little about pre-contact bison ecology in the Great Basin. We combine botanical analysis of dung and isotopic analysis of various substrates (dung, hair, hide, bone) to reconstruct ancient landscapes and bison behaviour during the Promontory occupation. Carbon isotope compositions indicate that a C3-dominated environment existed at the Promontory...
Bronze Age Mobility in Montane Ecosystems of eastern Kazakhstan: a preliminary isotopic investigation (2015)
The nature of mobility carries significant implications for social interaction in pastoral societies. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of radiogenic strontium and stable oxygen isotopes of domesticated fauna remains excavated from Bronze Age sites across the mountains of eastern Kazakhstan. Results are contextualized with the ecological and geographic backdrops surrounding the sites and placed into a diachronic perspective of pastoral interaction and herding strategy. This research...
Discriminating Tastes: Intra-Species Variation in Exploited Fauna at Mycenae, Greece (2016)
This paper demonstrates how integrating isotopic analyses and more traditional zooarchaeological methods can help to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Isotopic ratios from species known to have been purposefully managed establish inter- and intra-taxonomic variation from which management practices may be inferred. These management practices reflect decision making processes enacted by producers and consumers responsible for procuring fauna for occasions of consumption. This paper...
Following the Herd: Isotopic access to faunal commodity chains in LBA Mycenae, Greece (2015)
This paper explores variation in the management and distribution of faunal resources recovered from disparate socio-economic spheres of consumption at the palatial settlement of Mycenae, Greece, during the Late Bronze Age (1600-1100 BC). It has long been acknowledged that early state economies comprise multiscalar, intertwining spheres of economic activity. Mechanisms driving these spheres of interaction are predicated on the modalities of exchange which connected nodes of production and...
Foodways and Diet in the Prehispanic Mixteca Alta : Ceramic and Isotope Analyses in the Specific Case of the Tomb 1 Burial in Nduatiucu (San Felipe Ixtapa, Teposcolula) (2019)
This is an abstract from the "The Archaeology of Oaxacan Cuisine" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This presentation examines the archaeological possibilities for investigating prehispanic foodways and diet. We do this through the analysis of a burial recovered in Tomb 1 at Nduatiucu, in the Teposcolula valley in the Mixteca Alta. The burial first excavated in the 1970s by Winter et al. (1975) and later re-assessed and radiocarbon dated by Saumur...
High C4 plants consumption from the Late Intermediate period in Cuzco region. (2017)
Maize was one of the important crops for Inca political economics as a ritual and a staple food. In previous study of sacrificed children mummies found at Mt. Llullaillaco, the individuals particularly consumed C4 resources (such as maize, amaranth and domestic animals raised with C4 plants) in ritual activities. Contrary, the dietary compositions of Machu Picchu skeletons have shown diversity. The individuals from Mt. Llullaillaco and Machu Picchu were most probably immigrated from different...
Historical Continuity in Southern Arizona Free Range Ranching Practices: Carbon, Oxygen, and Strontium Isotope Evidence from two 18th Century Missions (2016)
Carbon (δ13C), oxygen (δ18O), and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes from cattle, caprine, and small mammal teeth from two historic-period Spanish missions and modern cattle were assayed with the goal of reconstructing historic ranching practices in the Sonoran Desert of southwestern North America. Carbon isotope ratios from modern cattle indicate that it is possible to distinguish cattle free ranged within upper elevations desert habitats compared to lower elevation free ranged or possibly foddered...
Identifying Foodways In Early Modern Ireland Using A Multi-isotope Approach (2023)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "FoodCult: Food, Culture and Identity in Ireland, c.1550-1650", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. This paper presents preliminary results of isotopic analysis of early modern individuals excavated from archaeological sites in Ireland, generated as part of the FoodCult project. A variety of populations from across Ireland are represented, allowing for discussions regarding the social and cultural meaning of food...
Investigating animal trade, transport, and translocation in the precolonial Caribbean: New isotopic and zooarchaeological evidence (2016)
Investigations of the dynamic relationships between humans and (non-human) animals are of interest to a broad range of scientific disciplines throughout the world. In the Caribbean, the complexities of island biogeography, transportation technologies, and human agency converge to condition the spatial distribution of both humans and animals. This region has long been characterized as relatively impoverished in higher order species diversity and scarcity of domesticated animals, yet the...
Isotopic Evidence of Animal Management and Long-Distance Exchange at the Maya Site of Ceibal, Guatemala (2016)
Animal management and resource exchange are essential to the development of state-level societies. Archaeological evidence for these activities has been particularly difficult to track in the Maya area, but recent advances in isotopic research may allow a novel opportunity to observe these practices. This study reviews new evidence for animal management and long-distance exchange at the lowland site of Ceibal, Guatemala, a large Maya community occupied throughout the Preclassic and Classic...
Isotopic tracking of trophic relationships (predation, competition, commensalism) between paleolithic humans and predators (2017)
Predators are usually considered not so informative in zooarchaeological investigations, except when their bones carry cut-marks. They are more viewed as a disturbing factor for the bone assemblage. However, tracking their paleoecology using stable isotopes in their bones can yield valuable information on several key aspects of their relationships with paleolithic human populations. Especially carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic composition in bone collagen of predators compared to those of...
Lead (Pb) Isotope Analysis as a Means of Tracking Animal Migration and Trade in Mesoamerica (2017)
This study examines the first use of lead (Pb) isotope analysis as a means of tracking animal movement and exchange in the Maya area. Strontium and oxygen isotope ratios have been previously used to track animal and human movements archaeologically in Mesoamerica. Lead has been used to track movement and exchange in other parts of the world, and its application to Mesoamerican archaeology holds great potential for refining sourcing strategies. This study identifies local and non-local fauna at...
Quaternary Chronostratigraphy and Archaeology of Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, USA (2015)
Big Bone Lick in northern Kentucky has been a critical site in the historical development of North American Quaternary vertebrate paleontology and archaeology since the 1700s. Solid-sediment cores, stream profile excavations, vertebrate paleontology, archaeology, accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating, and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were undertaken to address the lack of a modern study of the Quaternary chronostratigraphy and to...
Ritual Foods Compared with Daily Diet at Tenahaha in the Cotahuasi Valley during the Andean Middle Horizon (2018)
People in the past actively chose which foods were used in different contexts. Here we compare plant remains with human skeletal remains to understand dietary practices at Tenahaha in the Cotahuasi Valley (AD 850-1050). Tenahaha was built during the Middle Horizon as a communal space to take advantage of new social interaction spheres, stimulated in part by the Wari state. Tenahaha includes burial areas as well as food storage and preparation zones. Macrobotanical remains were found in public...
Trace Element Analysis Of Metal Projectiles Derived From Coronado Expedition Sites: Results And Interpretations (2023)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "The Archaeology of Arms: New Analytical Approaches", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The 1540-1542 expedition of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado was a military force comprised of some 1,500 Spanish soldiers, Indian allies and camp followers. the expedition's ill-fated trek through northern Mexico and the American Southwest undoubtedly generated scores of encampment and battle sites. Several of these...
Tracing mortuary trends at Cahal Pech using Stable Isotope data (2016)
Recent research focusing on environmental change in the Belize River Valley during the Classic period provides clear evidence for deteriorating conditions during the Late Classic period. These findings help explain shifts in socio-political and religious systems, as well as fluctuations in population distributions of the Late Classic and Terminal Classic Maya. Some archaeological research suggests complete abandonment of ceremonial sites occupied by the Maya elite. Mortuary practices can be used...
Tracking Paleoaridity through Multi-isotope Analyses of Ostrich Eggshells at Spitzkloof Rockshelter A, South Africa (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Stable isotopes in ratite eggshells record information about the birds’ diet during shell formation, making them valuable proxies for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Here we present the results of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen stable isotope analyses in ostrich (Struthio camelus australis) eggshell (OES) collected in excavation at Spitzkloof A, a rock...