Moving Beyond: Using Methods of Assessing Holocene Environmental Change in Northwestern Guyana

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeology on the Edge(s): Transitions, Boundaries, Changes, and Causes" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

To assess Holocene dietary changes we conducted isotopic analysis of human and faunal remains from seven shell mounds in Northwestern Guyana. We used stable carbon 13C and oxygen 18O isotope compositions data to assess the degree of dietary constancy as a proxy for determining the likelihood of there being any significant changes in the Archaic/Holocene environment that would have influenced resources in the Northwest. Using 13C and 18O data, we have demonstrated some degree of constancy in the availability of C3 plants during the past several thousand years—though we note an increasing reliance on such plants beginning in the Early Holocene. We also document warming intervals during the Early Holocene which appear to correlate with dry periods known elsewhere in the central Amazon during this period. While our data support long-term perpetuation of what may be thought of as relatively modern forest conditions, we conclude that in at least the Early Holocene there may have been more open canopy—a condition that may well have seen prehistoric peoples moving to a range of seasonally available resources.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeology on the Edge(s): Transitions, Boundaries, Changes, and Causes   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22835