Compound-specific amino acid isotopic proxies for distinguishing between terrestrial and aquatic resource consumption (original) (raw)
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American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2012
Using a sample of published archaeological data, we expand on an earlier bivariate carbon model for diet reconstruction by adding bone collagen nitrogen stable isotope values (d 15 N), which provide information on trophic level and consumption of terrestrial vs. marine protein. The bivariate carbon model (d 13 C apatite vs. d 13 C collagen ) provides detailed information on the isotopic signatures of whole diet and dietary protein, but is limited in its ability to distinguish between C 4 and marine protein. Here, using cluster analysis and discriminant function analysis, we generate a multivariate diet reconstruction model that incorporates d 13 C apatite , d 13 C collagen , and d 15 N holistically. Inclusion of the d 15 N data proves useful in resolving protein-related limitations of the bivariate carbon model, and splits the sample into five distinct dietary clusters. Two significant discriminant functions account for 98.8% of the sample in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).
A simple carbon isotope model for reconstructing prehistoric human diet
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2007
A compilation of experimental animal data shows that neither d 13 C collagen nor d 13 C apatite nor D 13 C CO-AP indicate diagnostic reconstructions of diet, diet energy and diet protein. In contrast, plots of d 13 C collagen against d 13 C apatite provide a model of three regression lines (C 3 , C 4 , and marine diet protein) where position on each line indicates the energy source (C 3 , C 4 , or mixed). Neither body size nor trophic position appears to affect these relationships. Modern free-ranging, terrestrial fauna do not fit the model perhaps because they, unlike the experimental fauna, mainly use fermentation rather than digestion during energy metabolism. Archaeological humans fall as expected based on associated floral and faunal evidence. Foraging people plot at positions expected from associated C 3 fauna and plants. Those from Cahokia plot, as expected, from associated deer, nuts,
International Journal of …, 2004
Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios in fossil bone collagen have been used as evidence for an increase of diet breadth between Middle Palaeolithic Neanderthals and Early Upper Palaeolithic anatomically modern humans. In this paper, we revisit the rules of palaeodietary reconstruction using collagen stable isotopes and reassess the possible isotopic signatures of potential protein resources available to prehistoric humans. It appears that the interpretation of the human's isotopic signature does not necessarily imply a significant proportion of aquatic-derived protein in the diet neither for Neandertal nor for first anatomically modern humans in Europe. Exploitation of aquatic ecosystems by humans needs to be supported by further zooarchaeological evidence. Nevertheless, isotopic biogeochemistry of fossil human collagen can be very useful in palaeodietary reconstructions provided that basic rules are followed while selecting samples of coeval fauna, in order to establish the end members of different food resources. Significant progress investigating the evolution of subsistence strategies in fossil hominids is expected from a combination of zooarchaeological and isotopic data.
Stable carbon isotopes in the bone collagen of prehistoric humans are valuable tools for determining human diet. We studied carbon isotopes in individual amino acids (IAA) in plants and collagen from herbivores and humans from North American prehistoric sites in order to determine whether more specific dietary information about Indians could be predicted. The 13 C of plant amino acids ranged extensively, whereas 13 C values of each amino acid from the C 3 (nϭ3) and C 4 (nϭ3) plant species were linearly related with a slope of 0.8. Essential amino acids from herbivores had 13 C values that were completely different from those measured in either C 3 or C 4 plants, suggesting metabolic resynthesis in the gut by microflora. The 13 C of essential amino acids from prehistoric North Americans, who had diets ranging from primarily maize-based (C 4 ) to hunter-gathers (C 3 ) subsistence, were highly correlated with 13 C values of herbivore essential amino acids. There was no significant correlation of 13 C in IAA from humans with those of plants. The 13 C of nonessential amino acids in human bone collagen can distinguish the presence of maize in the diet, whereas the 13 C of essential amino acids were transparent to a maize-derived carbon signal. Compound specific isotopic data on IAA distinguish between total carbon intake versus total protein intake and are useful for discerning the extent and nature of omnivory.
We investigated the contribution of freshwater resources to the diet of seven Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers (ca. 5300–7000 BC) from Northern France and Luxembourg using stable isotope ratios. In addition to the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ 13 C, δ 15 N), we explored the potential of the sulphur isotopic ratios (δ 34 S) to detect and quantify the proportion of protein derived from aquatic foodstuff. In only two sites, animal remains from an associated settlement were available and subsequently examined to decipher the isotopic differential between terrestrial and freshwater resources. The quantification of their relative contribution was simulated using a Bayesian mixing model. The measurements revealed a significant overlap in δ 13 C values between freshwater and terrestrial resources and a large range of δ 15 N values for each food category. The δ 34 S values of the aquatic and terrestrial animals were clearly distinct at the settlement in the Seine valley, while the results on fish from Belgium demonstrated a possible overlap in δ 34 S values between freshwater and terrestrial resources. Local freshwater ecosystem likely contributed to ca. 30–40 % of the protein in the diet of the individuals found in the Seine settlement. Out of this context, the isotopic signature and thus contribution of the available aquatic foods was difficult to assess. Another potential source of dietary protein is wild boar. Depending on the local context, collagen δ 34 S values may contribute to better assessment of the relative contribution of freshwater and terrestrial resources.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2004
The inherent sampling and preservational biases of the archaeological record make it difficult to quantify prehistoric human diets, especially in coastal settings, where populations had access to a wide range of marine and terrestrial food sources. In certain cases, geochemical proxies such as stable isotope ratios may be utilized to provide robust estimates on the relative proportions of various food resources consumed by prehistoric populations. The Harkins Slough archaeological site (SCR-60/130) is an early to middle Holocene coastal assemblage located on Monterey Bay in central CA. The carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope composition of human burials and associated archaeofauna excavated from the site were measured for input into a concentration-dependent isotope mixing model that is able to statistically discriminate among multiple (>3) food sources. The human burials segregate into two distinct groups, an early (∼7000 bp) and middle (∼4500 bp) Holocene population with significant dietary differences. Stable isotope analyses indicate a 70–84% marine food source contribution for the early Holocene group (EHG), but only a 48–58% marine dietary contribution for the middle Holocene group (MHG). Results also suggest that pinnipeds were an important marine food source for both groups. Modeling results are in agreement with archaeological evidence from southern CA, suggesting that early Holocene coastal populations were highly dependent on marine resources, with the ability to procure both littoral and pelagic species. Further, the use of terrestrial plant sources likely increased over time, with the feasible contribution range doubling from the EHG (4–30%, mean 19%) to MHG (10–52%, mean 38%). This trend is supported by regional archaeological evidence for the advent of technological innovations linked to intensive terrestrial plant processing beginning in the middle Holocene. Methodologically, this work demonstrated the utility of a concentration-dependent stable isotope mixing model in an iterative framework to provide feasible ranges of dietary contribution when the number of food sources is too high to allow a unique solution.
A global carbon and nitrogen isotope perspective on modern and ancient human diet
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2021
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses are widely used to infer diet and mobility in ancient and modern human populations, potentially providing a means to situate humans in global food webs. We collated 13,666 globally distributed analyses of ancient and modern human collagen and keratin samples. We converted all data to a common “Modern Diet Equivalent” reference frame to enable direct comparison among modern human diets, human diets prior to the advent of industrial agriculture, and the natural environment. This approach reveals a broad diet prior to industrialized agriculture and continued in modern subsistence populations, consistent with the human ability to consume opportunistically as extreme omnivores within complex natural food webs and across multiple trophic levels in every terrestrial and many marine ecosystems on the planet. In stark contrast, isotope dietary breadth across modern nonsubsistence populations has compressed by two-thirds as a result of the rise of industrialized agriculture and animal husbandry practices and the globalization of food distribution networks.
A late Neolithic vertebrate food web based on stable isotope analyses
International Journal of …, 2006
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of bone collagen, and stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of the bone's structural carbonate, were performed on 120 individuals representing 33 vertebrate species, including a single human bone find, collected from the Late Neolithic settlement at Pestenacker, Bavaria, Germany. We were thus capable of reconstructing a rather complex food web and could also address particular issues, such as whether humans influenced the diet of their domestic animals as opposed to their wild relatives, or whether humans perhaps had to compete over food with their domesticates. A rather unexpected result was that freshwater fish, which could be captured in the nearby river Lech, a major tributary of the Danube, contributed to the human diet only occasionally. As for mammals, it was also possible to recognise different trophic levels for birds and aquatic vertebrates, applying stable isotope analyses to both bone collagen and structural carbonate. In the case of fish, 18 O values at least revealed a physiological regularity in terms of temperature preference, besides diet. Conceivably, variability of 18 O in surface water as reflected, for example, by species that avoided human settlements, may help to characterise past ecosystems and to define site catchment exploited by Neolithic man in the course of food acquisition.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2010
Nitrogen stable isotopes analysis of individual bone collagen amino acids was applied to archeological samples as a new tool for assessing the composition of ancient human diets and calibrating radiocarbon dates. We used this technique to investigate human and faunal samples from the Kitakogane shell midden in Hokkaido, Japan (5,300-6,000 cal BP). Using compoundspecific nitrogen isotope analysis of individual amino acids, we aimed to estimate i) the quantitative contribution of marine and terrestrial protein to the human diet, and ii) the mean trophic level (TL) from which dietary protein was derived from marine ecosystems. Data were interpreted with reference to the amino acid trophic level (TL AA) model, which uses empirical amino acid d 15 N from modern marine fauna to construct mathematical equations that predict the trophic position of organ
PLOS ONE, 2025
Franchthi Cave, in the Greek Peloponnese, is a well-known Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic site, with several human burials. In many parts of Europe there is clear evidence from archaeological and isotopic studies for a diet change between the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. This is especially the case in coastal contexts where there is often a shift from predominantly marine food diets in the Mesolithic to terrestrial (presumably domesticated) foods in the Neolithic. However, at Franchthi Cave previous isotope research did not show changes in diets between these two periods, and also showed relatively little input from marine foods in diets in either time period, despite the coastal location of the site and the presence of marine shellfish and fish, including tuna. High-resolution compound specific amino acid isotope analysis reported here from humans from the Lower Mesolithic and Middle Neolithic periods confirms the previous bulk isotope results in showing little or no consumption of marine foods in either time period. However, it is important to note that our isotopic sample does not come from episodes when tuna is abundant and therefore do not cover the whole range of known diets from the site. Conversely, in our sample there is some evidence of marine food consumption (likely seaweed) by sheep in the Neolithic period. We also report here five direct AMS radiocarbon dates for the five analyzed humans from the site.