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Potter BA, Halffman CM, McKinney HJ, Reuther JD, Finney BP, Lanoë FB, López JA, Holmes CE, Palmer E, Capps M, Kemp BM. Freshwater and anadromous fishing in Ice Age Beringia. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadg6802. [PMID: 37267368 PMCID: PMC10413661 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg6802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
While freshwater and anadromous fish have been critical economic resources for late prehistoric and modern Native Americans, the origin and development of fishing is not well understood. We document the earliest known human use of freshwater and anadromous fish in North America by 13,000 and 11,800 years ago, respectively, from primary anthropogenic contexts in central Alaska (eastern Beringia). Fish use appears conditioned by broad climatic factors, as all occurrences but one are within the Younger Dryas chronozone. Earlier Bølling-Allerød and later early Holocene components, while exhibiting similar organic preservation, did not yield evidence of fishing, suggesting that this was a response to changing environmental factors, perhaps reductions in higher ranked resources such as large terrestrial mammals. Late Pleistocene and recent Indigenous peoples harvested similar fish taxa in the region (salmon, burbot, whitefish, and pike). We characterize late Pleistocene fishing in interior Beringia as an important element of broad-spectrum foraging rather than the intensive communal fishing and storage common among recent peoples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ben A. Potter
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Carrin M. Halffman
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Holly J. McKinney
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Joshua D. Reuther
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
- Archaeology Department, University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Bruce P. Finney
- Department of Biological Sciences and Geosciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, USA
| | - François B. Lanoë
- Archaeology Department, University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fairbanks, AK, USA
- Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ, USA
| | - J. Andrés López
- College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
- Department of Fishes and Marine Invertebrates, University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Charles E. Holmes
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA
| | - Erica Palmer
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Marie Capps
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Brian M. Kemp
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, Norman, OK, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
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Choy K, Yun HY, Kim SH, Jung S, Fuller BT, Kim DW. Isotopic investigation of skeletal remains at the Imdang tombs reveals high consumption of game birds and social stratification in ancient Korea. Sci Rep 2021; 11:22551. [PMID: 34799611 PMCID: PMC8605008 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01798-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the development of early states on the Korean Peninsula is an important topic in Korean archaeology. However, it is not clear how social structure was organized by these early states and what natural resources were utilized from their surrounding environments. To investigate dietary adaptation and social status in ancient Korea, stable isotope ratios and radiocarbon dates were measured from humans and animals from the Imdang cemetery, Gyeongsan city, South Korea. The results indicate that the Imdang diet was mainly based on C3 plants and terrestrial animals. Animal remains in the graves were directly consumed as daily food items as well as for ritual offerings. MixSIAR modeling results revealed that the dietary sources for the humans were: game birds > C3 plants > terrestrial herbivores > marine fish > C4 plants. The finding that the game birds represented the highest contribution to the whole diet, indicates that game birds must have been intensively hunted. Furthermore, elites consumed more game birds than their retainers and they also consumed seafood as a privileged dietary item in the Imdang society. This study demonstrates that the Apdok was a stratified society having high variations in the consumption of food items available to an individual and provides new insights about the subsistence and social status of the early ancient Apdok state on the Korean Peninsula.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyungcheol Choy
- Department of Cultural Anthropology, Hanyang University ERICA, Ansan, 15588, South Korea.
| | - Hee Young Yun
- Department of Marine Sciences and Convergence Engineering, Hanyang University ERICA, Ansan, 15588, South Korea
| | - Seung Hee Kim
- Department of Marine Sciences and Convergence Engineering, Hanyang University ERICA, Ansan, 15588, South Korea
| | - Sangsoo Jung
- Daon Institute of Cultural Heritage, Daegu, 42265, South Korea
| | - Benjamin T Fuller
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, 8270, Højbjerg, Denmark
| | - Dae Wook Kim
- Yeungnam University Museum, Yeungnam University, Daegu, 04763, South Korea
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