Stable carbon isotopic assessment of prehistoric diets in the south-western Cape, South Africa

Bibliography: pages 190-203.This thesis consists of a stable carbon isotopic assessment of the diets of the Holocene human inhabitants of the southwestern Cape, South Africa. Samples of the foods these people ate were collected from each of the four major physiographic zones in the area, and their ¹³C/¹²C ratios measured. A total of more than 200 such analyses enabled the estimation of the average δ¹³C values of prehistoric human diets in each zone. This information is used to interpret δ¹³C measurements on a series of archaeological human skeletons. The results are consistent with a model of prehistoric subsistence behaviour in which people living at the coast made intensive use of marine food resources throughout the Holocene, consuming such a large proportion of these foods that they must have spent much, if not all of their time at the coast. Inland skeletons reflect an almost entirely terrestrial diet. These results contradict hypotheses about seasonal population movements between the coast and the interior generated from excavated archaeological material. Considerable changes in many of our current views of the Late Stone Age of the south-western Cape will have to be made in order to accommodate these data

Stable dietary isotopes and mtDNA from Woodland period southern Ontario people: results from a tooth sampling protocol

AbstractBioarchaeological research must balance scholarly commitment to the generation of new knowledge, descendants' interests in their collective past, and the now common practice of rapid re-interment of excavated human remains. This paper documents the first results of a negotiated protocol built on the retention of one tooth per archaeologically derived skeleton, teeth that can then be used for destructive testing associated with ancient DNA and stable isotope investigations. Seven archaeological sites dating from the 13th to 16th centuries provided 53 teeth, 10 of which were subdivided between DNA and isotope labs. All tooth roots yielded haplogroup results, and five provided more detailed sequence results. Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen document heavy reliance on maize among all individuals, as well as reliance on a diverse range of fish. This work establishes baseline mtDNA information for Northern Iroquoians, and confirms the value of using dental tissues for dietary reconstruction. Particularly when human remains are fragmentary or co-mingled, this approach holds promise for ongoing incorporation of bioarchaeology into reconstructions of past peoples' lives

Presenting the AfriArch Isotopic Database

AfriArch is an archaeological and paleoenvironmental data community designed to integrate datasets related to human-environmental interactions in Holocene Africa. Here we present a dataset of bioarchaeological stable isotope (C/N/O) and radiocarbon measurements from African archaeological sites spanning the Holocene. Modern measurements, when reported together with archaeological data in original publications, are also included. The dataset consists of 5568 entries and covers the entirety of Africa, though most isotopic research has been concentrated in southern Africa. The AfriArch isotopic dataset can be used in paleodietary, paleodemography, paleoclimatic, and paleoenvironmental studies. It can also be employed to highlight data gaps across space and time and set future research agendas

Earliest stone-tipped projectiles from the Ethiopian Rift date to> 279,000 years ago

Projectile weapons (i.e. those delivered from a distance) enhanced prehistoric hunting efficiency by enabling higher impact delivery and hunting of a broader range of animals while reducing confrontations with dangerous prey species. Projectiles therefore provided a significant advantage over thrusting spears. Composite projectile technologies are considered indicative of complex behavior and pivotal to the successful spread of Homo sapiens . Direct evidence for such projectiles is thus far unknown from >80,000 years ago. Data from velocity-dependent microfracture features, diagnostic damage patterns, and artifact shape reported here indicate that pointed stone artifacts from Ethiopia were used as projectile weapons (in the form of hafted javelin tips) as early as >279,000 years ago. In combination with the existing archaeological, fossil and genetic evidence, these data isolate eastern Africa as a source of modern cultures and biology

Earliest evidence for the ivory trade in southern Africa : isotopic and ZooMS analysis of seventh-tenth century AD ivory from KwaZulu-Natal

KwaGandaganda, Ndondondwane and Wosi were major Early Farming Community settlements in what is today the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. These sites have yielded, among other remains, abundant evidence of ivory and ivory working dating to the seventh–tenth centuries ad, pre-dating by approximately 200 years the better-known ivory artefacts from sites in the Limpopo River Valley and surrounding regions. We report the results of carbon, nitrogen and strontium isotope analysis to explore the origins and procurement of this ivory, in combination with Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) to identify the species of animals from which it was derived. All of the ivory studied using ZooMS was elephant, despite the presence of hippopotamus remains on all three sites. Some ivory was probably obtained from elephant herds that lived close to the sites, in the densely wooded river valleys favoured by both elephants and early farmers. Other material came from savannah environments further afield. Ivory found at these three sites was drawn from different catchments, implying a degree of landscape/resource partitioning even at this early stage. These communities clearly invested substantial effort in obtaining ivory from across the region, which speaks to the importance of this commodity in the economy of the time. We suggest that some ivory items were for local use, but that some may have been intended for more distant markets via Indian Ocean trade

Coastal complexity: Ancient human diets inferred from Bayesian stable isotope mixing models and a primate analogue.

An extensive ecological literature applies stable isotope mixing models to derive quantitative dietary reconstructions from isotope ratios of consumer tissues. While this approach works well for some organisms, it is challenging for consumers with complex, varied diets, including humans; indeed, many archaeologists have avoided the use of mixing models because uncertainties in model outputs are sufficiently large that the findings are not helpful in understanding ancient lifeways. Here, we exploit an unparalleled opportunity to evaluate the feasibility of dietary quantification in a nutritionally and isotopically complex context on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Delta values (δ13C and δ15N) of 213 indigenous food samples enable us to characterise four food groups: terrestrial plants, terrestrial vertebrates, marine invertebrates and marine vertebrates. A recent study of baboons that consumed marine and terrestrial foods provides insight into the relationship between such foods and consumer tissue isotopes. We use this information to refine our interpretation of δ15N and especially δ13C in bone collagen from 35 archaeological hunter-gatherers, achieving better estimates of the relative importance of marine and terrestrial foods in the diet than has hitherto been possible. Based on Bayesian stable isotope mixing model (SIMM) outputs, we infer that the trophic enrichment factor (TEF) for δ13Cbone collagen in these coastal humans is closer to +3 than +5‰. In the most 13C- and 15N-rich individuals, 65-98% of bone collagen (95% credible intervals) derived from marine foods. Conversely, in 13C and 15N-poor individuals, 7-44% of bone collagen derived from marine foods. The uncertainties discussed here highlight the need for caution when implementing SIMMs in studies of consumers with complex diets. To our knowledge, this work constitutes the most detailed and most tightly constrained study of this problem to date

First evidence for onshore Marine Isotope Stage 3 aeolianite formation on the southern Cape coastline of South Africa

The southern Cape coast of South Africa boasts an impressive suite of Plio-Pleistocene aeolian dune deposits (aeolianite). Previous research has shown that in this region onshore dune accumulation was generally focused around interglacial sea level highstands, with the locus of coastal dune accumulation shifting onto the adjacent continental shelf during glacial sea level lowstands. Here, using new luminescence dating results, we present the first evidence for preserved onshore glacial age dunes. Specifically, on the Robberg Peninsula, a rocky headland 28 km east of Knysna, two phases of aeolianite formation are identified, corresponding to early (45–60 ka) and late (35–30 ka) marine isotope stage (MIS) 3. Subsequently, during the Holocene, all substantive dune accumulation occurred between 10.2 and 7.0 ka, forming cliff-fronting dunes and filling the limited accommodation space on the headland, including an archaeological rock-shelter. Combining these ages with bathymetric data, we infer that this distinct onshore glacial age aeolianite record reflects: 1) restricted accommodation space during sea level highstands; 2) a regional narrowing of the continental shelf, and 3) liberation of sediments lying on a prominent −45 to −60 m offshore terrace, which would have been exposed during MIS 3. This demonstrates that despite broad regional-scale trends in the timing of coastal aeolian activity - driven by commonalities in relative sea level trends and climate - distinct local variations in late Quaternary coastal evolution can be identified. This is ascribed to local controls on preservation (accommodation space) and sediment supply (shoreline position and antecedent offshore sediment supplies). Such findings may have wider implications for interpretations of site context/resource availability at several notable coastal archaeological sites, and more broadly suggest that local offshore or onshore geologic contexts can at times assume greater influence on a preserved coastal aeolianite record than the regional-scale trends in sea level and climate