Tracking Paleoaridity through Multi-isotope Analyses of Ostrich Eggshells at Spitzkloof Rockshelter A, South Africa

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Stable isotopes in ratite eggshells record information about the birds’ diet during shell formation, making them valuable proxies for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Here we present the results of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen stable isotope analyses in ostrich (Struthio camelus australis) eggshell (OES) collected in excavation at Spitzkloof A, a rock shelter in the semi-arid desert of Namaqualand, South Africa with a late Pleistocene cultural sequence spanning ~60–17 ka. Our analysis of the organic and inorganic fractions preserved in OES fragments contribute to a complex picture of diachronic changes in local vegetation, aridity, and temperature, allowing for critical consideration of which aspects of ostrich behavior and physiology—and by extension the surrounding environment—are recorded in OES. Our results augment ongoing efforts to develop a robust paleoenvironmental record for Namaqualand, allowing us to better contextualize human exploitation of this now-marginal setting during the late Pleistocene, and of arid environments by early members of our species more generally.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32756