Radiocarbon and the Stable Isotope Chemistry of Grand Gulch Basketmaker II Burials: Age-Based Dietary Patterning and Geolocation.

Summary

The stable isotope chemistry of 149 directly dated Basketmaker II burials from the Four Corners region of the American Southwest indicates relatively heavy reliance on maize and low animal protein intake. Sex and age patterning reveals differences in adult male versus female diets and distinguishes adolescent diets from those of adult males. Hydroxyapatite oxygen isotope values effectively sort individuals relative to the latitude and elevation of burial sites and are further used to clarify the origins of a subset of poorly provenienced remains, thought to be from Chaco Canyon. Grand Gulch Basketmaker II burials date to a two sigma range of 415 BC-AD 322, contemporary with Black Mesa Lolomai Phase occupations and post-dating the March Pass, AZ, White Dog Phase.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Communities through Time: Societal Continuity and Transformation in the Northern San Juan Region

Keywords

Spatial Coverage