Explaining Isotopic Variability among the Hunter-Fisher-Gatherers of Lake Baikal

Summary

Lake Baikal is unique in continental northern Eurasia for the size of its large hunter-gatherer cemeteries with good preservation of human bone. Many hundreds of stable carbon and nitrogen measurements are available on human bone collagen, made over the last two decades. The isotope ecology of Lake Baikal is very complex and highly variable, showing one of the largest ranges of δ13C values in the world. Thus, it is not surprising that the human results show considerable variation. This contribution attempts to account for this variation, exploring factors including location, date, individual mobility and within-group differential access to aquatic resources. A model is proposed linking the complexity of the local/regional isotope ecology with the standardised range of variability observed in human datasets.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Investigating the Hunter-Gatherers of Lake Baikal and Hokkaido: Integrating Individual Life Histories and High-Resolution Chronologies   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16680