Inter- and intra-individual dietary variation among the agro-pastoralist Sai Island Meroitic population

Summary

We examine inter- and intra-individual variation in diet among high-status individuals from an agro-pastoralist Meroitic burial population interred on Sai Island in modern Sudan. We use stable isotope data (δ13C and δ15N) from dentinal collagen, extracted from serial micro-sections of third molars, to reconstruct the diet of 10 individuals. We employ MixSIAR, a hierarchical Bayesian model for estimating isotopic mixing, along with a previously constructed isotopic food-web to reconstruct human diets. We find variation between individuals, and within individuals over the period of third molar growth (age 9-22 years), in the relative inclusion of C3 and C4 plant agricultural products, domesticated animals, and aquatic resources from the Nile River.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Life and Death in Ancient Nubia: Archaeological and Bioarchaeological Perspectives   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16388