scholarly journals Using Stable Isotopes and a Bayesian Mixing Model (FRUITS) to Investigate Diet at the Early Neolithic Site of Carding Mill Bay, Scotland

Radiocarbon ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 1275-1294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica M Bownes ◽  
Philippa L Ascough ◽  
Gordon T Cook ◽  
Iona Murray ◽  
Clive Bonsall
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Mixing Model ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Marine Resources ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Human Diet ◽  
Bayesian Mixing Model ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
Fish And Shellfish

AbstractWe present δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S measurements on archaeological human and animal bone collagen samples from a shell midden dating to the Neolithic ca. 4000–3500 cal BC, together with measurements on modern fish and shellfish. These data were used in conjunction with the Bayesian mixing model, Food Reconstruction Using Isotopic Transferred Signals (FRUITS), to reconstruct human diet at the site. We demonstrate the importance of using a geographically appropriate faunal baseline in stable isotope paleodietary studies, and suggest that Neolithic individuals at this site consumed up to ca. 21% of dietary protein from marine resources, despite stable isotope ratios that imply a wholly terrestrial diet. This marine resource consumption does not significantly shift the radiocarbon (14C) dates of these individuals, so although we must consider the use of marine resources at the site, the chronology that has previously been established is secure. The δ13C and δ15N measurements from the archaeological herbivore bone collagen indicate that it is unlikely they ate plants enriched with fertilisers such as manure or seaweed. The δ34S values reveal a sea-spray effect; therefore, in this instance, δ34S cannot be used as a dietary indicator but can be used to demonstrate the likely locality of the fauna.

scholarly journals Isotopes, Plants, and Reservoir Effects: Case Study from the Caspian Steppe Bronze Age

Radiocarbon ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 749-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Shishlina ◽  
E Zazovskaya ◽  
J van der Plicht ◽  
V Sevastyanov
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Alternative Explanation ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Human Diet ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
Different Types ◽  
C And N ◽  
East And West

Bronze Age human and animal bone collagen from several steppe Bronze Age cultures (i.e. Early Catacomb, East and West Manych Catacomb, and Lola cultures) shows large variations in δ13C and δ15N values. In general, we observed that the older the sample, the lower the δ13C and δ15N values. We hypothesize that more positive values of δ13C and δ15N are caused by change in diet and a more arid climate. For ancient sheep during drier periods of the Early Catacomb, East and West Manych Catacomb, and Lola cultures, we observed 2 groups with different C and N isotopic compositions, reflecting consumption of different types of fodder. During periods of aridization, C4 and C3 plants with high δ15N values appeared in the vegetation, also influencing bone collagen values. Human bones show reservoir effects, caused by aquatic diet components. These effects can be quantified by paired dating of human bone and associated terrestrial samples. Reservoir corrections have revised chronologies for the region. Some paired dates do not reveal reservoir effects. This can be explained in 2 alternative ways. One is that the human diet did not include aquatic components; rather, the diet was based on C3 vegetation with high δ15N values (13–15‰), and flesh/milk of domesticated animals. An alternative explanation is that humans consumed food from freshwater resources without reservoir effects.

An Analysis of the Last 1000 Years Human Diet on Tutuila (American Samoa) Using Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotope Data

2011 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédérique Valentin ◽  
Estelle Herrscher ◽  
Fiona Petchey ◽  
David J. Addison
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
American Samoa ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Nitrogen Stable Isotope ◽  
Human Diet ◽  
Dietary Shift ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Isotope Data ◽  
Stable Isotope Data

This paper reports the first set of isotopic data relating to human diet from the Samoan Archipelago. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data measured on bone collagen were used to assess dietary patterns of prehistoric communities on Tutuila Island, American Samoa. We examined 14 human bones from three sites dated to three distinct periods: ~1,000 years ago (N = 5); -500 years ago (N = 8) and -150 years ago (N = 1). The isotopie data suggest that the human diet on Tutuila over the last 1,000 years was composed mainly of terrestrial resources with some consumption of coastal reef products. These data suggest a possible dietary change over time, with a higher dependence on marine resources in the earlier period shifting to a more terrestrial diet in the later period. Several possibilities for this dietary shift are suggested including: change in community specialization; marine resource depression; disintensification of marine procurement; intensification of horticultural production; and cultural or social changes in resource allocation.

scholarly journals Herbivore diets and the anthropogenic environment of early farming in southern Scandinavia

The Holocene ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt J Gron ◽  
Peter Rowley-Conwy
Keyword(s):  
Early Period ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Early Neolithic ◽  
Human Influence ◽  
Domestic Species ◽  
Southern Scandinavia ◽  
Early Farming ◽  
Dietary Variation ◽  
Funnel Beaker Culture ◽  
Feeding Environments

Farming practice in the first period of the southern Scandinavian Neolithic (Early Neolithic I, Funnel Beaker Culture, 3950–3500 cal. BC) is not well understood. Despite the presence of the first farmers and their domesticated plants and animals, little evidence of profound changes to the landscape such as widespread deforestation has emerged from this crucial early period. Bone collagen dietary stable isotope ratios of wild herbivores from southern Scandinavia are here analysed in order to determine the expected range of dietary variation across the landscape. Coupled with previously published isotope data, differences in dietary variation between wild and domestic species indicate strong human influence on the choice and creation of feeding environments for cattle. In context with palynological and zooarchaeological data, we demonstrate that a human-built agricultural environment was present from the outset of farming in the region, and such a pattern is consistent with the process by which expansion agriculture moves into previously unfarmed regions.

scholarly journals Quantitative assessment of Pb sources in isotopic mixtures using a Bayesian mixing model

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Longman ◽  
Daniel Veres ◽  
Vasile Ersek ◽  
Donald L. Phillips ◽  
Catherine Chauvel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Assessment ◽  
Mixing Model ◽  
Bayesian Mixing Model

Aquatic Radiocarbon Reservoir Offsets in the Southeastern Baltic

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gytis Piličiauskas ◽  
Carl Heron
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Curonian Lagoon ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Ceramic Vessel ◽  
Pike Perch ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
Ams Dates

The aim of this article is to discuss radiocarbon dating offsets due to freshwater and marine reservoir effects (FRE and MRE, respectively) in the southeastern Baltic. Thirty-six 14C dates from Lithuanian coastal and inland Subneolithic, Neolithic, and Bronze Age sites as well as two Mesolithic-Neolithic cemeteries are presented here. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates, sometimes paired or tripled, have been obtained on samples of various origin, foodcrusts, or visible charred deposits adhering to the surfaces of ceramic vessel walls were also dated and investigated for stable isotope signals. The results argue for a significant freshwater component in the food processed in ceramic vessels during the Subneolithic and Neolithic. Paired dating of ungulate and human bones at the Spiginas and Donkalnis cemeteries (6300–1900 cal BC) does not suggest an FRE, although stable isotope data on human bone collagen strongly suggest a large input of freshwater food in the diet. An FRE in the order of 320–510 yr was estimated for the Šventoji paleolagoon around 3000 cal BC. At the same time, the FRE of the Curonian Lagoon could be larger as implied by large apparent 14C ages of modern pike-perch (981 ± 30 BP) and bream (738 ± 30 BP) bones as well as “foodcrust” offsets (650–530 yr) at Nida (3500–2500 cal BC). An MRE of 190 ± 43 yr was estimated for the southeastern coast of the Littorina Sea according to offsets between dates of seal bones and terrestrial samples at Nida and Šventoji. Any FRE at Lake Kretuonas remains uncertain due to the limited work to date.

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