Late Holocene Climate Change and the Emergence of Hunter-gatherer Territoriality in the Late Archaic Texas Coastal Plains: An Analysis using Bioavailable Strontium

Summary

The Late Holocene was a time of sea level stability, increased moisture, and abundant resources. Existing models suggest that this environment set the stage for population packing and territoriality. In this presentation, strontium isotope ratios from the Loma Sandia mortuary site (2800-2600 BP) are used to evaluate the emergence of territoriality among hunter-gatherer populations on the Texas Coastal Plain. Assessing territoriality with human strontium data is facilitated by determining the strontium ratios in the local geology. While it is common to obtain strontium isotope ratios from geologic regions through plants or substrate, they tend to show heterogeneity in a given area. Strontium ratios from animal skeletal tissue, known as bioavailable strontium, are more homogenous because they provide an average of an area. I present both strontium bioavailability data from modern fauna as well as the ancient human data to illustrate how strontium ratios from diverse geological areas are a useful tool for the study of emergent hunter-gatherer territoriality in the context of Late Holocene climate.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• PAGES (Past Global Changes) PEOPLE 3000 - PalEOclimate and the PeopLing of the Earth   •
• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21865