Diet and status at Chalcatzingo: Some empirical and technical aspects of strontium analysis

Determination of the levels of particular trace elements preserved in bone provides a potential pathway for reconstructing the diet of extinct primate species and archaic human groups. Strontium is one of the most useful trace elements for dietary reconstruction but several empirical properties of strontium must be considered during the interpretation of results. (1) Strontium is distributed unevenly throughout the physical environment. (2) Plants, in general, do not discriminate against strontium. (3) During ionic transfer across biological membranes, strontium is discriminated against by terrestrial vertebrates. (4) It is unlikely that strontium would be selectively removed from bone mineral during diagenesis. A particular difficulty in trace element analysis is caused by interaction between analytical technique and sample matrix. To assess this problem the skeletal population from Chalcatzingo was analyzed by two techniques: atomic absorption spectrometry and neutron activation analysis. The results from the two techniques compared favorably indicating that the pattern of bone strontium levels could be accepted as an accurate reflection of the distribution of bone strontium within the population. After demonstrating the internal accuracy of the results, the bone strontium level and position of social rank within Chalcatzingo were compared. Ethnographic and archaeological evidence on chiefdoms and states indicate that dietary differences in the amount of meat consumed occur between social ranks. The relative social ranks were reconstructed by using a “pattern analysis” of the burial goods accompanying each individual. The individuals accompanied by jade had the lowest mean bone strontium level (X¯=532). Those individuals buried with a shallow dish had a slightly higher level (X¯=635). A third group, which had no grave goods, had the highest mean bone strontium level (X¯=700) which suggests that their diet contained less meat than was available to the rest of the community.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/37597/1/1330510302_ftp.pd

Effect of mollusc eating on human bone strontium levels

Empirical aspects of the movement of strontium through the food chain suggest that the level of bone strontium can be used as an indicator of the percentage of meat in human diet. In general, skeletal remains from agricultural peoples are expected to have high bone strontium levels relative to hunter-gatherers from the same geographical region because plants contain relatively higher amounts of strontium when compared with animal products. The results of the study described in this paper, however, indicate that the inclusion of molluscs as a component of the diet may produce the opposite of the expected strontium values. Burials from an Archaic (c. 2500 BC) hunting-gathering population excavated from Luo25, an archaeological site in northern Alabama, USA, exhibit a mean bone strontium level ( atomic absorption; neutron activation) that is higher than the mean level from an agricultural Mississippian (c. AD 1400) population ( atomic absorption; neutron activation) that was buried at the same site. The samples were analysed by two techniques (atomic absorption spectrometry and neutron activation analysis) and the results compared favourably; therefore, the results can be accepted as valid rather than being due to technique error. We propose that the ingestion of molluscs, whose meat is known to contain large amounts of strontium, has produced this reversal from expected results.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24184/1/0000443.pd

Regional Variation in the Pattern of Maize Adoption and Use in Florida and Georgia

Dietary reconstruction using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes from archaeological human bone samples from coastal Georgia and northern and Gulf Coast Florida dating between 400 B.C. and A.D. 1700 serves to illustrate the complexity of the agricultural transition in that region. Isotope analysis of 185 collagen samples drawn from early prehistoric, late prehistoric, and contact-period mortuary sites encompasses two major adaptive shifts in the region, namely the adoption of maize agriculture in late prehistory and the increased emphasis on maize during the mission period. Prior to European contact—and especially before the establishment of Spanish missions among the Guale, Yamasee, Timucua, and Apalachee tribal groups—diet was strongly influenced by local environmental factors. Before contact, coastal and inland populations had different patterns of food consumption, as did populations living in Georgia and Florida. Coastal populations consumed more marine and less terrestrial foods than inland populations. In general, maize was adopted during the eleventh century A.D. by virtually all Georgia populations. However, with the exception of the Lake Jackson site, a major Mississippian center in northern Florida, Florida populations show little use of maize before contact. Following European contact, maize became wide-spread, regardless of location or habitat within the broad region of Spanish Florida. Missionization appears to have been an important factor in the convergence of native diets toward agriculture and away from foraging. This increased emphasis on maize contributed to a decline in quality of life for native populations

Foraging strategies and diet composition of Hadza children

Among the Hazda hunter-gatherers of Tanzania, children are active foragers and collect various types of wild plant foods and hunt small sized prey animals. The collection effort of Hazda children is reported to have a positive effect on a mother’s foraging yield (Bulurton-Jones et at. 1994, Journal of Anthropological Research 50(3): 217; Hawkes et al. 1995, Current Anthropology 36(4): 688), yet few quantitative data are available on the caloric values of children’s foods and the ways in which children distribute their own foraging yield. Here, we report on foraging return rates, consumption data, and the compositional values for several of the plant foods collected by children. Due to predator pressure, it is not safe for children to wander far from camp without adult supervision, therefore they typically focus on foods that are close to camp and easy to collect and process. We calculated the caloric content for the following foods: baobab fruit (346 kcal/100g dry matter (DM)), berries (320 kcal/100g DM), legumes (311 kcal/100g DM), drupes (325 kcal/100g DM), and figs (365 kcal/100g DM). Legumes, drupes, and figs have not been previously analyzed; our values for baobab and berries agree with previous analyses (Murray et al. 2001, Journal of Food Consumption and Analysis 14: 3). In addition, we calculated foraging return rates and daily consumption values for children. Our results suggest that they collect a significant portion of their daily caloric intake and act as allomothers providing caloric contributions to other children. Support: National Science Foundation, Regents of the University of California San Diego, Friends of the International Center at the University of California San Diego, and Harvard University.AnthropologyHuman Evolutionary Biolog

Old stones' song: Use-wear experiments and analysis of the Oldowan quartz and quartzite assemblage from Kanjera South (Kenya)

Evidence of Oldowan tools by w2.6 million years ago (Ma) may signal a major adaptive shift in hominin evolution. While tool-dependent butchery of large mammals was important by at least 2.0 Ma, the use of artifacts for tasks other than faunal processing has been difficult to diagnose. Here we report on use-wear analysis ofw2.0 Ma quartz and quartzite artifacts from Kanjera South, Kenya. A use-wear framework that links processing of specific materials and tool motions to their resultant use-wear patterns was developed. A blind test was then carried out to assess and improve the efficacy of this experimental use-wear framework, which was then applied to the analysis of 62 Oldowan artifacts from Kanjera South. Usewear on a total of 23 artifact edges was attributed to the processing of specific materials. Use-wear on seven edges (30%) was attributed to animal tissue processing,corroborating zooarchaeological evidence for butchery at the site. Use-wear on 16 edges (70%)was attributed to the processing of plant tissues, including wood, grit-covered plant tissues that we interpret asunderground storage organs (USOs), and stems of grass or sedges. These results expand our knowledge of the suite of behaviours carried out in the vicinity of Kanjera South to include the processing of materials that would be ‘invisible’ using standard archaeological methods. Wood cutting and scraping may represent the production and/or maintenance of wooden tools. Use-wear related to USO processing extends the archaeological evidence for hominin acquisition and consumption of this resource by over 1.5 Ma. Cutting of grasses, sedges or reeds may be related to a subsistence task (e.g., grass seed harvesting, cutting out papyrus culm for consumption) and/or a non-subsistence related task (e.g., production of ‘twine,’ simple carrying devices, or bedding). These results highlight the adaptive significance of lithic technology for hominins at Kanjera

Trophic Level Effects on 15N/14N and laC/12C Ratios in Bone Collagen and Strontium Levels in Bone Mineral

This study examines stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in bone collagen and the elemental concentrations of strontium in the bone mineral of terrestrial vertebrates fi'om a variety of ecosystems. Documentation of the separation oftrophic levels by these indices is essential for the assessment of the trophic position of prehistoric humans. Particular emphasis is given to carnivores in this study as they are generally underrepresented in most archeological assemblages. Nitrogen isotope ratios and strontium p.p.m. values can separate herbivores and carnivores depending upon the scale of the analysis. Separation is more pronounced the smaller the geographic area of the sample

The Agricultural "Revolution" : Its Effect on Human Diet in Prehistoric Iran and Israel

The reason that people accepted the responsibility of agriculture is still a subject of controversy. Most explanations include the inherent assumption that a change occurred in the subsistence base. This study investigated the dietary changes that accompanied the development of agriculture in the Middle East. Human and faunal bone samples were taken from three Epipaleolithic period levels at Kebara and el-Wad in the Levant and two Neolithic period sites (Ganj Dareh and Hajji Firuz) in Iran. The proportion of meat to vegetable materials in the diet was estimated by means of trace element analysis for strontium levels in bone. The trace element results from the Levantine sites indicate that human diet changed to include more plant products long before the development of agriculture. The results from the two Iranian sites indicate that the human diet contained relatively high amounts of meat in addition to cultivated plants. Considered together, the results suggest that agriculture did not provide a new food source, but rather, was an economic change which enabled human populations to continue, with increased control and reliability, subsistence systems that had been developed previously.Les raisons qui ont entraîné l'apparition de l'agriculture sont encore controversées, la plupart des explications font appel à un changement dans le mode principal de subsistance. Cette étude s'est attachée à rechercher les changements du régime alimentaire qui ont accompagné te développement de l'agriculture au Proche-Orient. Des échantillons d'ossements humains et animaux ont été prélevés dans trois couches de niveaux épipaléolithiques à Kébara et à el-Wad au Levant et dans deux sites néolithiques en Iran (Ganj Dareh et Hajji Firouz). Le rapport viande/ végétaux dans l'alimentation a été estimé grâce au dosage de la quantité de strontium dans les os. Les résultats pour les sites du Levant suggèrent que l'alimentation a changé pour inclure davantage de produits végétaux bien avant le développement de l'agriculture. En ce qui concerne les deux sites iraniens, le régime alimentaire contenait une relativement grande proportion de viande, en plus des plantes cultivées. Si l'on considère l'ensemble des résultats, on peut suggérer que l'agriculture n'a pas fourni des sources nouvelles de nourriture, mais a entraîné un changement d'économie permettant aux populations humaines de continuer à suivre, avec des possibilités de contrôle et de régularité accrues, les systèmes de subsistance adoptés auparavant.Schoeninger Margaret J. The Agricultural "Revolution" : Its Effect on Human Diet in Prehistoric Iran and Israel. In: Paléorient, 1981, vol. 7, n°1. pp. 73-91