What’s On the Menu? A Consideration of Central African Forest Forager Seasonal Dietary Patterns Through Stable Isotopic Analysis and Mixing Models

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Global Perspectives on Biomolecular Approaches to Human-Animal Interactions Past and Present" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Wild game hunting and humans’ consumption of meat represents some of the oldest forms of human-animal interactions (HAI). Stable isotopic analysis is commonly used to assess dietary patterns among prehistoric hunter-gatherers with nitrogen values considered a proxy for meat consumption. However, although the use of this method is prolific in archaeological contexts, its application in contemporary settings is minimal. An approach that incorporates this method to more accurately assess what individuals actually consume among a contemporary group is warranted. Results from an ethnoarchaeological project among Congo Basin Bofi and Aka forest foragers informs on the seasonal dietary patterns of women, men, and children via stable isotopic analysis of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur from hair. In addition, the application of Stable Isotope Mixing Models (SIMMs) gives insight into the proportion of different foods in their diet, thus elucidates the importance of various sources of animal protein as well as the potential impact of women versus men’s provisioning efforts on the dietary patterns of the group. Ultimately, this research provides critical insight on the intersection between wild game, forest forager consumption of meat, and individual’s efforts to feed the group to better understand the dietary patterns of hunter-gatherers past and present.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Global Perspectives on Biomolecular Approaches to Human-Animal Interactions Past and Present

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50815