24 research outputs found
Craniofacial geometric morphometric analysis does not support a pre-contact Carib "invasion" of the northern Caribbean
Craniofacial morphology does not support a pre-contact Carib âinvasionâ of the northern Caribbean
Integrating isotopes and documentary evidence : dietary patterns in a late medieval and early modern mining community, Sweden
We would like to thank the Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University, Sweden and the Tandem Laboratory (Ă
ngström Laboratory), Uppsala University, Sweden, for undertaking the analyses of stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes in both human and animal collagen samples. Also, thanks to Elin Ahlin Sundman for providing the ÎŽ13C and ÎŽ15N values for animal references from VĂ€sterĂ„s. This research (BĂ€ckströmâs PhD employment at Lund University, Sweden) was supported by the Berit Wallenberg Foundation (BWS 2010.0176) and Jakob and Johan Söderbergâs foundation. The âSala projectâ (excavations and analyses) has been funded by Riksens Clenodium, Jernkontoret, Birgit and Gad Rausingâs Foundation, SAUâs Research Foundation, the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund, Berit Wallenbergs Foundation, Ă
ke Wibergs Foundation, Lars Hiertas Memory, Helge Ax:son Johnsonâs Foundation and The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Eating out or dining in: modeling diverse dietary strategies in the Middle Period, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
Recommended from our members
Eating out or dining in: modeling diverse dietary strategies in the Middle Period, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile
The Middle Period of the Atacama oases, North Chile, has been characterized as a time of peace, uniform abundance, and widespread access to exotic materials. In the present work, we test this notion through a comparison of Middle Period human isotopic data (ÎŽ13Cco, ÎŽ15Nco, and ÎŽ13Cap) representing two distinct ayllus, Solcor and Tchecar, in the San Pedro de Atacama oases. We employ Bayesian mixture modeling of individual-level isotopic data to quantify and compare dietary composition within and between the cemetery populations of these two contemporary locales. Ultimately, our research shows that dietary diversity, which we take as a proxy for differential levels of participation in long-distance exchange or the access to the products thereof, was unequally distributed, and that the supposedly uniform richness of the Middle Period was similarly discontinuous. While average isotopic values for the two ayllus were similar, variance within each differed significantly, as did variance in dietary composition arrived at through modeling. By all measures, the individuals interred in Solcor 3 had more varied diets, particularly in terms of carbohydrate-rich plants, than their contemporaries interred at Tchecar TĂșmulo Sur, suggesting that more individuals from Solcor 3 had greater participation in/access to long-distance exchange networks. Besides providing novel insights into the lived experience of the Middle Period residents of far northern Chile, this work also demonstrates the power of Bayesian mixture modeling for the reconstruction of individual paleodiet
Recommended from our members
Calate. from desolate space to an archaeological laboratory for the study of mobility and intercultural traffic in the Atacama desert (CA. 7000-550 BP)
Calate is one of the spaces in the Atacama desert that has passed unnoticed in archaeological research, most likely because it appears to be a wasteland, devoid of basic resources and therefore of no apparent interest for humans. However, as we elaborate here, this view is very far removed from the actual archaeological potential afforded by the zone, which has revealed itself as a privileged place to study human mobility and pre-Hispanic social relations. We have chosen it as a case study following a research strategy that initially hypothesized Calate as a space of socially dense mobility and today stands out as a true archaeological laboratory for understanding the archaeology of internodal movement in the southern Andes