Foraging for Answers: A Preliminary Analysis of Contemporary Central African Forest Forager Diets via Stable Isotopic Analysis

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Stable isotopic analysis is commonly used to assess dietary patterns among prehistoric hunter-gatherers. However, although the use of this method is prolific in archaeological contexts, its application in contemporary settings is minimal. In addition, an approach that can provide more accurate assessment of what individuals actually consume, such as stable isotopic analysis, is warranted. An ongoing ethnoarchaeological project among contemporary Central African forest foragers aims to fill this gap in the literature and provide critical insight into their dietary patterns via stable isotopic analysis of carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur from hair – a quantitative, independent measure of diet. This project presents an initial look of Bofi and Aka forest forager women, men, and children’s diets reflecting dry season consumption behavior. The results of this project provides critical insight into Bofi and Aka forager dietary patterns across the entire population, allowing us to understand their dry season isotopic signature patterns for future comparison against wet season data, as well as an initial evaluation into whether significant dietary differences exist between different portions of the population (i.e., women vs. men). These results also provide an important reference to better understand prehistoric forager dietary patterns.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39610.0