Coastal hunter-gatherers and social evolution: marginal or central?

General accounts of global trends in world prehistory are dominated by narratives of conquest on land: scavenging and hunting of land mammals, migration over land bridges and colonisation of new continents, gathering of plants, domestication, cultivation, and ultimately sustained population growth founded on agricultural surplus. Marine and aquatic resources fit uneasily into this sequence of social and economic development, and societies strongly dependent on them have often been regarded as relatively late in the sequence, geographically marginal or anomalous. We consider the biases and preconceptions of the ethnographic and archaeological records that have contributed to this view of marginality and examine some current issues focusing on the role of marine resources at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition of northwest Europe. We suggest that pre-existing conventions should be critically re-examined, that coastlines may have played a more significant, widespread and persistent role as zones of attraction for human dispersal, population growth and social interaction than is commonly recognised, and that this has been obscured by hunter-gatherer and farmer stereotypes of prehistoric economies

Isotope analyses to explore diet and mobility in a medieval Muslim population at Tauste (NE Spain)

The Islamic necropolis discovered in Tauste (Zaragoza, Spain) is the only evidence that a large Muslim community lived in the area between the 8th and 10th centuries. A multi-isotope approach has been used to investigate the mobility and diet of this medieval Muslim population living in a shifting frontier region. Thirty-one individuals were analyzed to determine δ15N, δ13C, δ18O and 87Sr/86Sr composition. A combination of strontium and oxygen isotope analysis indicated that most individuals were of local origin although three females and two males were non-local. The non-local males would be from a warmer zone whereas two of the females would be from a more mountainous geographical region and the third from a geologically-different area. The extremely high δ15N baseline at Tauste was due to bedrock composition (gypsum and salt). High individual δ15N values were related to the manuring effect and consumption of fish. Adult males were the most privileged members of society in the medieval Muslim world and, as isotope data reflected, consumed more animal proteins than females and young males. © 2017 Guede et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Sulphur-isotope compositions of pig tissues from a controlled feeding study

Sulphur-isotope determinations are becoming increasingly useful for palaeodietary reconstruction, but knowledge of isotopic discrimination between diet and various tissues remains inadequate. In this study, we explore the sensitivity of δ34Stissue values to changes in δ34Sdiet values, sulphur isotopic discrimination between diet and consumer, and the potential impact of terrestrial vs. marine protein consumption on these discrimination offsets. We present new δ34S values of bone collagen, muscle, liver, hair, milk and faeces from ten mature sows, ten piglets and fifteen adolescent pigs from a controlled feeding study. The δ34Stissue values were found to co-vary with the δ34Sdiet values, the δ34Stissue – δ34Sdiet isotopic offsets (Δ34Stissue-diet) are small but consistent, and dietary protein source does not systematically alter the Δ34Stissue-diet isotopic discrimination. The outcomes of this study are of particular relevance to questions that are difficult to resolve using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes alone, and will also be useful in regions where terrestrial, freshwater, and marine resources could have all potentially contributed to human diet

Immediate replacement of fishing with dairying by the earliest farmers of the NE Atlantic archipelagos

The appearance of farming, from its inception in the Near East around 12 000 years ago, finally reached the northwestern extremes of Europe by the fourth millennium BC or shortly thereafter. Various models have been invoked to explain the Neolithization of northern Europe; however, resolving these different scenarios has proved problematic due to poor faunal preservation and the lack of specificity achievable for commonly applied proxies. Here, we present new multi-proxy evidence, which qualitatively and quantitatively maps subsistence change in the northeast Atlantic archipelagos from the Late Mesolithic into the Neolithic and beyond. A model involving significant retention of hunter–gatherer–fisher influences was tested against one of the dominant adoptions of farming using a novel suite of lipid biomarkers, including dihydroxy fatty acids, ω-(o-alkylphenyl)alkanoic acids and stable carbon isotope signatures of individual fatty acids preserved in cooking vessels. These new findings, together with archaeozoological and human skeletal collagen bulk stable carbon isotope proxies, unequivocally confirm rejection of marine resources by early farmers coinciding with the adoption of intensive dairy farming. This pattern of Neolithization contrasts markedly to that occurring contemporaneously in the Baltic, suggesting that geographically distinct ecological and cultural influences dictated the evolution of subsistence practices at this critical phase of European prehistory

Compound-specific amino acid isotopic proxies for detecting freshwater resource consumption

AbstractOf central importance to palaeodietary reconstruction is a clear understanding of relative contributions of different terrestrial (i.e., C3 vs. C4 plants) and aquatic (i.e., freshwater vs. marine) resources to human diet. There are, however, significant limitations associated with the ability to reconstruct palaeodiet using bulk collagen stable isotope compositions in regions where diverse dietary resources are available. Recent research has determined that carbon-isotope analysis of individual amino acids has considerable potential to elucidate dietary protein source where bulk isotopic compositions cannot. Using δ13CAA values for human and faunal remains from Zvejnieki, Latvia (8th – 3rd millennia BCE), we test several isotopic proxies focused on distinguishing freshwater protein consumption from both plant-derived and marine protein consumption. We determined that the Δ13CGly-Phe and Δ13CVal-Phe proxies can effectively discriminate between terrestrial and aquatic resource consumption, and the relationship between essential δ13CAA values and the Δ13CGly-Phe and Δ13CVal-Phe proxies can differentiate among the four protein consumption groups tested here. Compound-specific amino acid carbon-isotope dietary proxies thus enable an enhanced understanding of diet and resource exploitation in the past, and can elucidate complex dietary behaviour

Iberomeryx minor (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the Early Oligocene of Soulce (Canton Jura, NW Switzerland): systematics and palaeodiet

The primitive ruminant genus Iberomeryx is poorly documented, as it is essentially only known from rare occurrences of dental remains. Therefore, the phylogeny and palaeobiology of Iberomeryx remain rather enigmatic. Only two species have been described: the type species I. parvus from the Benara locality in Georgia, and the Western European species I. minor reported from France, Spain, and Switzerland. Iberomeryx savagei from India has recently been placed in the new genus Nalameryx. All these localities are dated to the Rupelian and correspond mainly to MP23 (European mammal reference level). Based on the short height of the tooth-crown and the bunoselenodont pattern of the molars, Iberomeryx has often been considered as a folivore/frugivore. The I. minor remains from Soulce (NW Switzerland) are preserved in Rupelian lacustrine lithographic limestones. One specimen from this locality represents the most complete mandible of the taxon with a partially persevered ramus. Moreover, the unpreserved portion of the mandible left an imprint in the sediment, permitting the reconstruction of the mandible outline. Based on a new description of these specimens, anatomical comparisons and Relative Warp Analysis (24 landmarks) of 94 mandibles (11 fossil and 83 extant) from 31 ruminant genera (10 fossil and 21 extant) and 40 species (11 fossil and 29 extant), this study attempts a preliminary discussion of the phylogeny and the diet of the species I. minor. The results permit to differentiate Pecora and Tragulina on the first principal component axis (first Relative warp) on behalf of the length of the diastema c/cheek teeth, the length of the premolars and the angular process. The mandible shape of I. minor is similar to those of the primitive Tragulina, but it differs somewhat from those of the extant Tragulidae, the only extant family in the Tragulina. This difference is essentially due to a stockier mandible and a deeper incisura vasorum. However, in consideration of the general pattern of its cheek teeth, I. minor as well as possibly Nalameryx should be considered to represent the only known primitive Tragulidae from the Oligocene. Moreover, I. minor should have been a selective browser (fruit and dicot foliage) but, similarly to small Hypertragulidae and Tragulidae, may also have exceptionally consumed animal matte

Bone chemistry and palaeodiet: Bioarchaeological research at Roonka Flat, lower Murray River, South Australia 1983 - 1999

The predominance of stone and bone in prehistoric archaeological deposits has resulted in the development of a range of methods to extract information from these important cultural resources. Since the development of radiocarbon dating in the late 1940s, a variety of analytical techniques derived from chemistry have been applied to archaeological research problems. Many of these methods have been employed in the analysis of archaeological skeletal remains, both human and faunal. In addition to providing information about chronology, chemical analyses of bones and teeth offer independent scientific methods to address past diet, climate and ecology that supplement conventional approaches (Price 1989; Schoeninger and Moore 1992; MacFadden and Bryant 1994; Pate 1994, 1997a; Bocherens et al. 1999)

Stable isotope ratios and trace elements in modern mammal tooth enamel

Bioapatite from mammal tooth enamel is a popular biomineral used in the reconstruction of palaeoenvironment and palaeodiet. It records information about the animal’s environment and diet on a sub-annual scale and is proven to be highly resistant to diagenesis, allowing the preservation of its original chemical composition through archaeological and geological timescales. In this study, stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis are used as a stepping stone to investigate the use of other chemical proxies for the reconstruction of environment and diet from mammal teeth. Concentration profiles of trace element distributions (measured with μXRF and cross-validated with Laser Ablation ICP-MS) and stable isotope ratios (13Cap, 18Oc & 18Op) are combined to test the reliability of trace element profiles from mammal teeth in recording seasonal changes in environment and diet of the animal. A method is presented that links the various geochemical records within a tooth sequence using mineralization sequences and oxygen isotope seasonality. This way, a 3 year trace element and stable isotope record from horse tooth enamel is created showing seasonal variation in trace elements and isotope ratios linked to changes in climatic conditions and diet through the animal’s lifetime. This study shows how an entire new set of trace element proxies, that can be measured quickly and non-destructively, may yield information on palaeoenvironment and palaeodiet. These trace element measurements yield information from precious archaeological samples that could otherwise be obtained solely through destructive sampling. The versatility of the μXRF and LA- ICP-MS methods opens up a wide range of applications for trace element analysis in archaeology

Human palaeodiet at Zamostje 2, central Russia:Results of radiocarbon and stable isotope analyses

Only 21 human remains have been identified at Zamostje 2, despite extraordinarily good conditions for organic preservation, and the recovery of thousands of animal bones from layers dating from the Late Mesolithic to the Middle Neolithic (c.6500–4000 cal BC). Almost all the human remains are fragments of the cranium, maxilla, mandible, which are potentially reworked from earlier depositions, uphill or upstream of Zamostje 2, or isolated teeth. Disregarding naturally shed deciduous teeth, these remains have been attributed to between 5 and 14 individuals, ranging in age from 6 to 7 years to mature adult. We report AMS radiocarbon (14C) dating and dietary stable isotopes, δ13C and δ15N, for all the human bones, and δ13C and δ15N values from 63 prehistoric animal bones from Zamostje 2, including 18 fish and 7 dogs. Using the faunal isotope data, we construct isotope signatures for different food groups, which we use to interpret the human δ13C and δ15N values. Based on 14C ages and dietary stable isotopes, we propose that the human bones represent 10–12 individuals, most of whom date to the Late Mesolithic occupation at Zamostje 2; one is somewhat earlier in the Mesolithic, one (probably from the nearby site, Zamostje 1) may date to the Middle Neolithic, and two (one from Zamostje 1, one unprovenanced) date to the Late Neolithic or Eneolithic. The earliest and latest individuals may have obtained most of their dietary protein intake from fish, but Late Mesolithic individuals probably had more mixed diets. Palaeodiet reconstruction is complicated by unusual δ13C and δ15N values for local fish in the Late Mesolithic, which are reflected in δ13C and δ15N values from dogs