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Gur-Arieh S, Eisenmann S, Henry AG, Lucas M, Lenz D, Paxinos P, Weber H, Morandi LF, Stone JR, Schultz M, Roberts P, Stockhammer PW. Reconstructing dietary practices at Tell Kamid el-Loz (Lebanon) during the Bronze and Iron Age III / Persian to Hellenistic periods using plant micro-remains from dental calculus and stable isotope analysis of bone collagen. ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES 2024; 16:127. [PMID: 39072255 PMCID: PMC11269519 DOI: 10.1007/s12520-024-02000-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Tell Kamid el-Loz (Lebanon) was an important Bronze Age urban center that dominated one of the central crossroads of the Ancient Near East, connecting Egypt and the Levant with northern Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Syria, as well as the interior with the Mediterranean coast. However, by the early Iron Age, the site had shrunk to a small rural settlement. Later, in the Iron Age III / Persian-Hellenistic, only enigmatic pits and a large cemetery remained. In this paper, we analyzed plant micro-remains from the dental calculus of 15 individuals (3 from the Middle Bronze Age II and 12 from the Iron Age III / Persian-Hellenistic) and δ 13C and δ 15N stable isotope data from tbulk bone collagen of 74 individuals (10 from the Middle Bronze Age II and 64 from the Iron Age III / Persian-Hellenistic) and 13 Late Bronze Age animal bones (7 Ovis/Capra and 6 Bos). Our results indicate general stability of human diet throughout the Middle Bronze Age II and the Iron III / Persian-Hellenistic periods, with a reliance on C3 plant crops and terrestrial animals also consuming C3 plants. In the later period, the plant micro-remains indicate the consumption of C4 plants and sedges, and the stable isotope analysis indicates differences in diet between males and females. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12520-024-02000-w.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shira Gur-Arieh
- Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology and Archaeology of the Roman Provinces, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Stefanie Eisenmann
- Seminar for the Old Testament, Faculty of Theology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
| | - Amanda G. Henry
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Mary Lucas
- isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
- The Arctic University Museum of Norway, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Daniela Lenz
- Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology and Archaeology of the Roman Provinces, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Ptolemaios Paxinos
- Institute for Palaeoanatomy, Domestication Research and History of the Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
- Staatssammlung für Paläoanatomie, Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns, Munich, Germany
| | - Hélène Weber
- Institute for Palaeoanatomy, Domestication Research and History of the Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
| | - Lionello F. Morandi
- Archaeometry Research Group, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Civilisations and Forms of Knowledge, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Jeffery R. Stone
- Department of Earth and Environmental Systems, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN USA
| | - Michael Schultz
- Institute of Anatomy and Embryology, University Medical School Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Institute of Biology and Chemistry, University of Hildesheim, Hildesheim, Germany
| | - Patrick Roberts
- isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
| | - Philipp W. Stockhammer
- Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology and Archaeology of the Roman Provinces, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Munich, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Gutierrez E, Mitchell S, Hambly C, Sayle KL, von Kriegsheim A, Speakman JR, Britton K. Carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur elemental and isotopic variations in mouse hair and bone collagen during short-term graded calorie restriction. iScience 2024; 27:110059. [PMID: 38947513 PMCID: PMC11214416 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024] Open
Abstract
This study characterized the effect of calorie restriction (CR) on elemental content and stable isotope ratio measurements of bone "collagen" and hair keratin. Adult mice on graded CR (10-40%; 84 days) showed decreased hair δ 15N, δ 13C, and δ 34S values (significantly for δ 15N) with increasing CR, alongside a significant increase in bone "collagen" δ 15N values and a decrease in "collagen" δ 13C values. We propose this was likely due to the intensified mobilization of endogenous proteins, as well as lipids in newly synthesized "collagen". Elemental analysis of bone "collagen" revealed decreased carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur % content with increasing CR which is attributed to a change in the in vivo bone "collagen" structure with extent of CR. This complexity challenges the use of elemental indicators in the assessment of collagen quality in archaeological studies where nutritional stress may be a factor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eléa Gutierrez
- Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland AB39 2PN, UK
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 2TZ, UK
- AASPE “Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements”, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Sharon Mitchell
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 2TZ, UK
| | - Catherine Hambly
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 2TZ, UK
| | - Kerry L. Sayle
- Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, University of Glasgow, Scotland G75 0QF, UK
| | - Alex von Kriegsheim
- Edinburgh Cancer Research UK Centre, MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Scotland EH4 2XR, UK
| | - John R. Speakman
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland AB24 2TZ, UK
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Metabolic Health, Centre for Energy Metabolism and Reproduction, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, PRC
- Centre of Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Kunming, PRC
- State Key Laboratory of Molecular Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, PRC
| | - Kate Britton
- Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland AB39 2PN, UK
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Martín-Alonso JF, Laffranchi Z, Milella M, Coppola-Bove L, Mena-Sánchez LA, Jiménez-Brobeil SA. North and South in Medieval Iberia: A historical and environmental estimate through isotopic analyses. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0304313. [PMID: 38838003 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024] Open
Abstract
The Middle Ages in the Iberian Peninsula is a period of special interest for studying the relationship of climate change with historical and socioeconomic processes. Between the 8th and 15th centuries AD, the Peninsula was characterized not only by complex political, cultural, and social transitions but also by major variations in the climate. The objective of this study was to examine differences in diet and mobility between distinct populations of the Peninsula and explore the possible relationship of diet, mobility, and culture with environmental variables and geographical settings. For this purpose, we obtained stable isotopic ratios of carbon and oxygen (δ13C and δ18O) from the enamel apatite of first upper incisors from 145 individuals at eight archeological sites that represent both Christian and Islamic communities and both rural and urban social settings. Results revealed a dietary difference between Christian and Islamic populations, observing a greater contribution of C4 plants, possibly sorghum, in the diet of the latter, especially in a rural setting. The disparity in oxygen isotopic ratios between populations from the North and South of the Peninsula is consistent with modern climatic differences between these regions. In this line, intraregional variability in oxygen isotopic ratios may hint at diachronic occupation phases under varying climatic conditions. The few isotopic outliers in our sample suggest overall low mobility levels.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Zita Laffranchi
- Department of Physical Anthropology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Marco Milella
- Department of Physical Anthropology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Lorenza Coppola-Bove
- Department of Legal Medicine, Toxicology and Physical Anthropology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Luis A Mena-Sánchez
- Department of Legal Medicine, Toxicology and Physical Anthropology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Sylvia A Jiménez-Brobeil
- Department of Legal Medicine, Toxicology and Physical Anthropology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
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Riccomi G, Simonit R, Maudet S, Scott E, Lucas M, Giuffra V, Roberts P. Diets, stress, and disease in the Etruscan society: Isotope analysis and infantile skeletal palaeopathology from Pontecagnano (Campania, southern Italy, 730-580 BCE). PLoS One 2024; 19:e0302334. [PMID: 38748638 PMCID: PMC11095689 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2024] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Susceptibility to morbidity and mortality is increased in early life, yet proactive measures, such as breastfeeding and weaning practices, can be taken through specific investments from parents and wider society. The extent to which such biosocialcultural investment was achieved within 1st millennium BCE Etruscan society, of whom little written sources are available, is unkown. This research investigates life histories in non-adults and adults from Pontecagnano (southern Italy, 730-580 BCE) in order to track cross-sectional and longitudinal breastfeeding and weaning patterns and to characterize the diet more broadly. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of incrementally-sampled deciduous and permanent dentine (n = 15), bulk bone collagen (n = 38), and tooth enamel bioapatite (n = 21) reveal the diet was largely based on C3 staple crops with marginal contributions of animal protein. Millet was found to play a role for maternal diet and trajectories of breastfeeding and feeding for some infants and children at the site. The combination of multiple isotope systems and tissues demonstrates exclusive breastfeeding was pursued until 0.6 years, followed by progressive introduction of proteanocius supplementary foods during weaning that lasted between approximately 0.7 and 2.6 years. The combination of biochemical data with macroscopic skeletal lesions of infantile metabolic diseases and physiological stress markers showed high δ15Ndentine in the months prior to death consistent with the isotopic pattern of opposing covariance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Riccomi
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, Division of Paleopathology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
| | - Rachele Simonit
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, Division of Paleopathology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | | | - Erin Scott
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
| | - Mary Lucas
- The Arctic University Museum of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
- Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, isoTROPIC Research Group, Jena, Germany
| | - Valentina Giuffra
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, Division of Paleopathology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
- Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, isoTROPIC Research Group, Jena, Germany
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Makarewicz CA, Winter-Schuh C, Jackson M, Johannesson EG, Amartuvshin C, Honeychurch W. Local circulation of elites punctuated by transregional mobility enabled steppe political consolidation in the Xiongnu nomadic state. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0298593. [PMID: 38557862 PMCID: PMC10984472 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0298593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
The Xiongnu polity (ca. 200 BC- 150 AD) emerged out of indigenous community-centered socio-political structures to forge a powerful state that commanded the Mongolian steppe and beyond. Underpinned by a highly mobile pastoralist population, accustomed to seasonally rhythmic moves and embedded in an equestrian culture that facilitated rapid transport over long-distances, it remains unclear precisely how the movement of commoners, local aristocrats and regional elites abetted the formation and organization of Xiongnu state structures. Here, we evaluate Xiongnu movement and dietary intake through multi-stable isotopic analyses of tooth enamel from directly dated Xiongnu intermediate elites recovered from the mortuary center of Baga Gazaryn Chuluu-a prominent granite outcrop set in the Gobi Desert. Carbon isotope (δ13C) analysis indicates millet was consumed by some individuals, but whether or not this C4 cultivar contributed to the diets of most elites remains ambiguous in this C3/C4 desert-steppe environment. The effectiveness of oxygen isotopes (δ18O) to establish mobility appears much reduced in steppe environments, where geospatially sensitive information appears disrupted by extraordinary seasonality in meteoric water oxygen isotopes, pronounced oxygen isotopic variation in potential drinking water sources, and culturally mediated drinking practices. Most revealing, strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) indicate circulation of local elites around this central place and beyond, a mobility format that helped leaders cement their own position through political consolidation of spatially dispersed mobile pastoralist communities. The consistent presence at Baga Gazaryn Chuluu of extra-local intermediate elites also points toward the importance of transregional mobility in binding together the Xiongnu polity over the vast distances of the eastern steppe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheryl A Makarewicz
- Archaeology Stable Isotope Laboratory, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
- Institute for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Christine Winter-Schuh
- Archaeology Stable Isotope Laboratory, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
- Institute for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Meghan Jackson
- Meghan Jackson, Ossifrage Exploration Consulting LLC, Huelva, Spain
| | | | - Chunag Amartuvshin
- Chunag Amartuvshin, Archaeological Research Center, National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | - William Honeychurch
- William Honeychurch, Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America
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Orfanou E, Zach B, Rohrlach AB, Schneider FN, Paust E, Lucas M, Hermes T, Ilgner J, Scott E, Ettel P, Haak W, Spengler R, Roberts P. Biomolecular evidence for changing millet reliance in Late Bronze Age central Germany. Sci Rep 2024; 14:4382. [PMID: 38388679 PMCID: PMC10883991 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54824-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
The Bronze Age of Central Europe was a period of major social, economic, political and ideological change. The arrival of millet is often seen as part of wider Bronze Age connectivity, yet understanding of the subsistence regimes underpinning this dynamic period remains poor for this region, in large part due to a dominance of cremation funerary rites, which hinder biomolecular studies. Here, we apply stable isotope analysis, radiocarbon dating and archaeobotanical analysis to two Late Bronze Age (LBA) sites, Esperstedt and Kuckenburg, in central Germany, where human remains were inhumed rather than cremated. We find that people buried at these sites did not consume millet before the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) (ca. 1600 BCE). However, by the early LBA (ca. 1300-1050 BCE) people consumed millet, often in substantial quantities. This consumption appears to have subsequently diminished or ceased around 1050-800 BCE, despite charred millet grains still being found in the archaeological deposits from this period. The arrival of millet in this region, followed by a surge in consumption spanning two centuries, indicates a complex interplay of cultural and economic factors, as well as a potential use of millet to buffer changes in aridity in a region increasingly prone to crop failure in the face of climate change today.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleftheria Orfanou
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745, Jena, Germany.
- Chair of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, 07743, Jena, Germany.
| | - Barbara Zach
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745, Jena, Germany
- Chair of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, 07743, Jena, Germany
- Domestication and Anthropogenic Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745, Jena, Germany
| | - Adam B Rohrlach
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, Australia
| | - Florian N Schneider
- Chair of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, 07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Enrico Paust
- Chair of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, 07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Mary Lucas
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745, Jena, Germany
- Arctic University Museum of Norway, UiT-the Arctic University of Norway, Lars Thørings Veg 10, 9006, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Taylor Hermes
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 72701, USA
| | - Jana Ilgner
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745, Jena, Germany
| | - Erin Scott
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745, Jena, Germany
| | - Peter Ettel
- Chair of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, 07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Haak
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Robert Spengler
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745, Jena, Germany
- Domestication and Anthropogenic Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745, Jena, Germany
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745, Jena, Germany.
- isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745, Jena, Germany.
- Institut Für Ur- Und Frühgeschichte, Philosophische Fakultät, Universität Zu Köln, Cologne, Germany.
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Lüdecke T, Leichliter JN, Aldeias V, Bamford MK, Biro D, Braun DR, Capelli C, Cybulski JD, Duprey NN, Ferreira da Silva MJ, Foreman AD, Habermann JM, Haug GH, Martínez FI, Mathe J, Mulch A, Sigman DM, Vonhof H, Bobe R, Carvalho S, Martínez-García A. Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen stable isotopes in modern tooth enamel: A case study from Gorongosa National Park, central Mozambique. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.958032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The analyses of the stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N), and oxygen (δ18O) in animal tissues are powerful tools for reconstructing the feeding behavior of individual animals and characterizing trophic interactions in food webs. Of these biomaterials, tooth enamel is the hardest, most mineralized vertebrate tissue and therefore least likely to be affected by chemical alteration (i.e., its isotopic composition can be preserved over millions of years), making it an important and widely available archive for biologists and paleontologists. Here, we present the first combined measurements of δ13C, δ15N, and δ18O in enamel from the teeth of modern fauna (herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores) from the well-studied ecosystem of Gorongosa National Park (GNP) in central Mozambique. We use two novel methods to produce high-precision stable isotope enamel data: (i) the “oxidation-denitrification method,” which permits the measurement of mineral-bound organic nitrogen in tooth enamel (δ15Nenamel), which until now, has not been possible due to enamel’s low organic content, and (ii) the “cold trap method,” which greatly reduces the sample size required for traditional measurements of inorganic δ13Cenamel and δ18Oenamel (from ≥0.5 to ≤0.1 mg), permitting analysis of small or valuable teeth and high-resolution serial sampling of enamel. The stable isotope results for GNP fauna reveal important ecological information about the trophic level, dietary niche, and resource consumption. δ15Nenamel values clearly differentiate trophic level (i.e., carnivore δ15Nenamel values are 4.0‰ higher, on average, than herbivores), δ13Cenamel values distinguish C3 and/or C4 biomass consumption, and δ18Oenamel values reflect local meteoric water (δ18Owater) in the park. Analysis of combined carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen stable isotope data permits geochemical separation of grazers, browsers, omnivores, and carnivores according to their isotopic niche, while mixed-feeding herbivores cannot be clearly distinguished from other dietary groups. These results confirm that combined C, N, and O isotope analyses of a single aliquot of tooth enamel can be used to reconstruct diet and trophic niches. Given its resistance to chemical alteration, the analysis of these three isotopes in tooth enamel has a high potential to open new avenues of research in (paleo)ecology and paleontology.
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Infancy, childhood, and puberty on the Silk Road revealed with isotopic analysis of incremental dentine. Sci Rep 2022; 12:19494. [PMID: 36376478 PMCID: PMC9663559 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24119-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Childhood is a unique phase in human life history, in which newborns are breastfed and weaned, and are progressively familiarized to adult diets. By investigating dietary changes from infancy to adolescence, valuable information regarding past cultural behaviors and aspects of human lives can be explored and elucidated. Here, in conjunction with published isotopic results of serial dentine (n = 21) from Yingpan Man, new δ13C and δ15N results are obtained from 172 samples of incremental dentine from 8 teeth of 8 individuals of the Yingpan cemetery, located in Xinjiang, China. The δ13C values range from - 18.2 to - 14.6‰ with a mean ± SD value of - 16.3 ± 0.9‰, and the δ15N results range between 13.4 and 19.9‰ with a mean ± SD value of 16.0 ± 1.4‰. This indicates that the childhood diets were mixtures of C3 and C4 dietary resources and were clearly influenced by breastfeeding and weaning practices. In particular, the findings indicate that there were significant inter-individual differences in terms of the timing and duration of breastfeeding and weaning practices as well as childhood dietary practices at Yingpan. For instance, three individuals were exclusively breastfed after birth, while, two individuals and Yingpan Man were not. In addition, the post-weaning diets of most Yingpan individuals were relatively stable, but one individual and Yingpan Man displayed clear evidence of increased consumption of C4 foods, likely millet, during late and post-weaning periods. Further, 7 individuals had unique dietary changes between 9 to 14 years old. Potential factors related to this are presented from the perspective of changes in social roles that might be caused by their early participation in the social division of labor or puberty and marriage.
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Shev GT, Laffoon JE. Paleodietary reconstruction of endemic rodents from the precolumbian Dominican Republic: Discriminating wild feeding behavior from diets linked to human niche construction activities. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY 2022; 32:976-995. [PMID: 36618439 PMCID: PMC9804766 DOI: 10.1002/oa.3149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Revised: 07/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
In the Greater Antilles, certain animal taxa that have long been theorized to have been managed by indigenous peoples prior to AD1492, the main candidates being a group of endemic caviomorph rodents known as hutias (Capromyinae). This isotopic study investigates the paleodiets of several species of endemic rodents from three late precolonial sites in the northern Dominican Republic: El Flaco (cal. ad 990-1452), El Carril (cal. ad 1030-1262), and La Entrada (cal. ad 840-900) to assess whether human influence over animal diets can be determined. We examined bone collagen carbon (δ13Cco) and nitrogen (δ15N) and tooth enamel carbon (δ13Cen) isotope values of three species of hutias, Isolobodon portoricensis, Isolobodon montanus, and Plagiodontia aedium, alongside edible rat (Brotomys sp.), and domestic guinea pig (Cavia porcellus). To estimate dietary source contributions, we employed a Bayesian dietary mixing model (FRUITS v.3.0) and ran three different permutations to assess the relative contributions of C3 or C4/CAM plants. The addition of an extra 79 wild C3 and 40 wild C4/CAM plant species' isotope values from published sources to an established isotopic foodweb for the Caribbean region enabled us to discriminate between wild and domestic C3 and C4/CAM plant food sources in two of these models. Our results provide evidence of the significant consumption of domestic C4/CAM plants by some animals. This likely represents maize (Zea mays) consumption, which is known to have been ubiquitously cultivated by indigenous peoples in the region. This is particularly the case for I. portoricensis, as FRUITS modeling suggests that a few individuals consumed C4/CAM plants well beyond their expected natural diets as determined from feeding studies of extant hutia species. This may indicate human influence over endemic rodent diets due to niche construction activities such as horticultural practices and may reflect either opportunistic feeding on human produce or the purposeful supplementation of hutia diets by humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gene T. Shev
- Faculty of ArchaeologyLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
| | - Jason E. Laffoon
- Faculty of ArchaeologyLeiden UniversityLeidenThe Netherlands
- Geology & Geochemistry ClusterVrije Universiteit AmsterdamAmsterdamThe Netherlands
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