Infant and child diet in Neolithic hunter-fisher-gatherers from Cis-Baikal, Siberia: intra-long bone stable nitrogen and carbon isotope ratios

Analysis of stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes (δ(15) N and δ(13) C) from subadults and adults allows for assessment of age-related dietary changes, including breastfeeding and weaning, and adoption of an adult diet. In one of the first studies of hunter-fisher-gatherer subadults from Eurasia, three Neolithic (8,800-5,200 calBP) mortuary sites from southwestern Siberia are analyzed to evaluate hypothesized differences in weaning age between Early versus Late Neolithic groups. An intra-individual sampling methodology is used to compare bone formed at different ages. Collagen samples (n = 143) from three different growth areas of long bones-the proximal metaphysis, diaphysis, and distal metaphysis-were obtained from 49 subadults aged birth to 10 years. In infants (birth to 3 years, n = 23) contrasting the δ(15) N values of the metaphysis, which contains newer bone, to the δ(15) N values of the diaphysis, which contains older bone, permits a more precise determination of breastfeeding-weaning status. In Early and Late Neolithic groups breast milk was the major protein source until the age of 2-3 years. However, there are differences in the age of weaning completion and duration: Early Neolithic groups weaned their infants at a later age and over a shorter amount of time. Differences may have affected infant morbidity and mortality, and female fecundity and inter-birth intervals. Stable isotope values in older subadults (4-10 years, n = 26) do not differ from adults suggesting the absence of age-based food allocation.     

Beyond the Levant: First Evidence of a Pre-Pottery Neolithic Incursion into the Nefud Desert,Saudi Arabia

Pre-Pottery Neolithic assemblages are best known from the fertile areas of the Mediterranean Levant. The archaeological site of Jebel Qattar 101 (JQ-101), at Jubbah in the southern part of the Nefud Desert of northern Saudi Arabia, contains a large collection of stone tools, adjacent to an Early Holocene palaeolake. The stone tool assemblage contains lithic types, including El-Khiam and Helwan projectile points, which are similar to those recorded in Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B assemblages in the Fertile Crescent. Jebel Qattar lies ∼500 kilometres outside the previously identified geographic range of Pre-Pottery Neolithic cultures. Technological analysis of the typologically diagnostic Jebel Qattar 101 projectile points indicates a unique strategy to manufacture the final forms, thereby raising the possibility of either direct migration of Levantine groups or the acculturation of mobile communities in Arabia. The discovery of the Early Holocene site of Jebel Qattar suggests that our view of the geographic distribution and character of Pre-Pottery Neolithic cultures may be in need of revision.     

相近社会等级先民的食物结构差异——以山西聂店遗址为例

一般认为,先民食物结构的差异是人类不同社会等级的重要表现形式之一。然而,对于考古学资料中未见明显等级差异的先民来说,其是否存在食物结构上的差别,仍需认真加以探讨。为此,本文对山西聂店遗址墓葬(基本无随葬品或随葬品较少)中出土的人骨进行了C、N稳定同位素分析,研究结果表明:先民的食物结构,体现了典型中国北方农业经济的特点,即以粟作农业和家畜饲养为生。此外,尽管在考古学意义上聂店先民的等级相近,但其在食物资源的获取上却显示出明显差异,且这种差异与先民的性别、年龄和随葬品的种类和多寡无关。因此,在社会等级较为模糊的人类社会,先民对食物资源的获取,很可能更多地受到人群组成、生活习惯等因素的影响,而与社会等级的相对高低无关。     

新疆巴里坤东黑沟遗址出土人骨的碳氮同位素分析

本文以新疆巴里坤东黑沟遗址出土的人骨为研究对象, 测定骨中的碳、氮同位素比值, 揭示该地区古代先民的食谱特征, 探索当时人们的生活与生产方式、经济形态等历史信息。研究结果发现: 人骨样品的δ13C值分布在-18.96‰~-17.74‰范围内, 样品的δ15N值均较高, 分布在12.64‰~14.33‰范围内, 表明新疆巴里坤东黑沟遗址先民的食物结构是肉类食物在日常饮食生活占有相当大的比例。根据考古发掘出土的动植物遗存, 肉类的获取应来源于驯养的牛、羊等或部分狩猎所得的鹿等动物, 植物性食物主要来源于大麦、小麦等C3类作物, 这与其生活的环境和以游牧为主, 农业和狩猎为辅的经济形态密切相关; 男性与女性的食物结构相同。     

Landscape Alteration by Pre-Pottery Neolithic Communities in the Southern Levant – The Kaizer Hilltop Quarry,Israel

This study focuses on Kaizer Hill, a quarry site located in the vicinity of the city of Modiin where remains of a single prehistoric cultural entity assigned to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A were discovered. A systematic survey revealed that large-scale quarrying activities have left damage markings on the bedrock of the Hilltop and its slopes. We aim to present here our findings from the Hilltop, which are concerned with the human impact on rock surfaces and the lithic artifacts retrieved during the survey. It is evident that the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A inhabitants of the area changed their landscape forever, “stripping” the caliche surface and penetrating it in search of flint bedded in the bedrock.     

Form and Function of Early Neolithic Bifacial Stone Tools Reflects Changes in Land Use Practices during the Neolithization Process in the Levant

For many, climate change is no longer recognized as the primary cause of cultural changes in the Near East. Instead, human landscape degradation, population growth, socioeconomic adjustments, and conflict have been proposed as the mechanisms that shaped the Neolithic Revolution. However, as Bar-Yosef noted, even if there is chronological correlation between climate changes and cultural developments, what is important is to understand how Neolithic societies dealt with these improving or deteriorating environments. Changes in bifacial stone tools provide a framework for examining some of these interactions by focusing on changing land use practices during the Neolithization process. The results of microwear analysis of 40 bifacial artifacts from early Pre-Pottery Neolithic (EPPNB) levels at Motza in the Judean hills document changes during the PPNA-PPNB transition at the onset of the Levantine Moist Period (ca. 8000 cal B.C.) when conditions for agriculture improved. EPPNB villagers added heavy-duty axes to a toolkit they had used for carpentry and began to clear forests for fields and grazing lands. Sustainable forest management continued for the duration of the PPN until the cumulative effects of tree-felling and overgrazing seem to have led to landscape degradation at end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C (PPNC), when a cold, dry climatic anomaly (6600-6000 cal B.C.) may have accelerated the reduction of woodlands. Early PPNB components at sites like Motza, with data from nearly five millennia of Neolithic occupations, show how complex hunter-gatherers and early food producers were able to establish sustainable resource management systems even as climate changed, population increased, and social relations were redefined.     

通过稳定同位素分析云南大阴洞遗址先民的生业经济方式

农业的起源和传播是人类历史上最重要的变革之一。本文通过对云南省文山州广南县大阴洞遗址出土的17例人骨标本的C、N稳定同位素分析,探索新石器时代晚期至青铜时代,滇东南地区先民的食物结构和生业经济。结果显示,大阴洞遗址居民的δ¹³C值范围为-20.2‰ ~ -17.5‰,主要以C₃类食物为主;δ¹⁵N值范围为9.2‰ ~ 10.7‰,所处的营养级别较高;两性之间存在食谱差异,大部分男性比女性摄入更多的动物蛋白。结合相关考古发现,大阴洞遗址居民可能主要经营稻作农业,兼营狩猎;对动物资源的利用可能具有多样性,并通过采集、渔猎及家畜饲养补充食物来源。考虑到云南作为农业向中南半岛传播的重要通道,进一步对云南地区新石器-青铜时代先民的生业策略选择的梳理发现,云南地区新石器时代不同区域的人群有不同的农业经营策略。到青铜时代,随着小麦的传入,农业经济的选择更为多元化,动物资源的获取技术也更加成熟多样。不同的农业策略选择除了受到自然条件的影响,也是与相邻地区文化互动的结果。     

Eating between the Lines: Mississippian Migration and Stable Carbon Isotope Variation in Fort Ancient Populations

ABSTRACT   Appreciating variation along the edges of traditional archaeological Culture Historical boundaries requires close consideration of social contexts associated with culture contact. We focus on dietary variation as a function of these concerns through a case study of Fort Ancient populations who, on average, consumed lower quantities of maize than their Mississippian neighbors as determined by stable carbon isotope ratios of bone collagen. However, this dichotomy is not as rigid as initially thought, with some Fort Ancient burials producing stable carbon isotope ratios similar to Mississippian cases. Detailed investigation of internal variation of carbon isotopes for human burials at the SunWatch site provides evidence that contact included small-scale Mississippian migrations to Fort Ancient sites. The main conclusion is that variation in diet and archaeological context can be a useful approach for examining prehistoric migration.     

Southern French Neolithic populations: Isotopic evidence for regional specificities in environment and diet

The Middle Neolithic of the Northwestern Mediterranean area (～4500–3500 BC cal) is characterized by the development of food production techniques as well as by increasing social complexity. These characteristics could have had an impact on human dietary patterns. To evaluate human dietary practices and lifeways of the Middle Neolithic populations from the South of France, stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis was carried out on 57 human and 53 faunal bones from seven archaeological sites located in the Languedoc and Garonne regions between 20 and 100 km from the Mediterranean Sea, respectively. Results show regional differences in carbon isotope values. Animal and human bones from the Languedoc region are significantly enriched in ¹³C relative to the Garonne. Conversely, human and dog bones from the Garonne region are significantly enriched in ¹⁵N compared to human and dog bones from the Languedoc region. These results highlight the importance of the local ecosystem in human and animal diet as well as a regional differentiation of palaeodietary behavior, which probably relates to economic and social factors. The comparison of stable isotope data with archaeological and biological evidence does not show any significant intra‐ or interpopulation differences. However, the presence of human outliers suggests that migration probably occurred, perhaps in relation to the trade of animals and/or materials. This study also highlights the importance of investigating local animal stable isotope values for the interpretation of human palaeodiet. Am J Phys Anthropol 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The isotopic ecology of East African mammals

Summary The stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of bone collagen have been used to trace diet and habitat selection of the larger mammals of East Africa. 238 individuals of 43 species from montane forests and grasslands in Kenya and Tanzania have been analyzed. The results show that carbon isotopes discriminate between (1) grazers and browsers in savanna grasslands, (2) forest floor and savanna grassland herbivores and (3) forest floor and forest canopy species. Nitrogen isotopes discriminate between (4) carnivores and herbivores, (5) forest and savanna grassland herbivores, and (6) water-dependent and drought-tolerant herbivores. This technique provides a quantitative approach to assessing long-term habitat and diet selection and the role of resource partitioning in animal community structure.Also Archaeology Program     

Stable isotope enrichment in laboratory ant colonies: effects of colony age,metamorphosis, diet,and fat storage

Ecologists use stable isotopes to infer diets and trophic levels of animals in food webs, yet some assumptions underlying these inferences have not been thoroughly tested. We used laboratory‐reared colonies of Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Solenopsidini) to test the effects of metamorphosis, diet, and lipid storage on carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios. Effects of metamorphosis were examined in ant colonies maintained on a control diet of domestic crickets and sucrose solution. Effects of a diet shift were evaluated by adding a tuna supplement to select colonies. Effects of lipid content on stable isotopes were tested by treating worker ants with polar and non‐polar solvents. δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of larvae, pupae, and workers were measured by mass spectrometry on whole‐animal preparations. We found a significant effect of colony age on δ¹³C, but not δ¹⁵N; larvae, pupae, and workers collected at 75 days were slightly depleted in ¹³C relative to collections at 15 days (Δδ¹³C = ?0.27‰). Metamorphosis had a significant effect on δ¹⁵N, but not δ¹³C; tissues of each successive developmental stage were increasingly enriched in ¹⁵N (pupae, +0.5‰; workers, +1.4‰). Availability of tuna resulted in further shifts of about +0.6‰ in isotope ratios for all developmental stages. Removing fat with organic solvents had no effect on δ¹³C, but treatment with a non‐polar solvent resulted in enriched δ¹⁵N values of +0.37‰. Identifying regular patterns of isotopic enrichment as described here should improve the utility of stable isotopes in diet studies of insects. Our study suggests that researchers using ¹⁵N enrichment to assess trophic levels of an organism at different sites need to take care not to standardize with immature insect herbivores or predators at one site and mature ones at another. Similar problems may also exist when standardizing with holometabolous insects at one site and spiders or hemimetabolous insects at another site.     

应用古人骨的元素、同位素分析研究其食物结构

本文从原理和方法上对目前由人骨元素、同位素分析研究古人类食物结构的三个主要方面,即骨胶原碳十三、氮十五的分析,微量元素锶、钡分析以及同位素锶、铅的分析逐一做了介绍。在此基础上结合自己的工作将国内该研究领域中有关的研究现状和主要研究成果,特别是获得的新进展做了回顾和总结。     

Fractionation and turnover of stable carbon isotopes in animal tissues: Implications for δ13C analysis of diet

The use of stable carbon isotopes as a means of studying energy flow is increasing in ecology and paleoecology. However, secondary fractionation and turnover of stable isotopes in animals are poorly understood processes. This study shows that tissues of the gerbil (Meriones unguienlatus) have different δ¹³C values when equilibrated on corn (C₄) or wheat (C₃) diets with constant ¹³C/¹²C contents. Lipids were depleted 3.0‰ and hair was enriched 1.0‰ relative to the C₄ diet. Tissue δ¹³C values were ranked hair>brain>muscle>liver>fat. After changing the gerbils to a wheat (C₃) diet, isotope ratios of the tissues shifted in the direction of the δ¹³C value of the new diet. The rate at which carbon derived from the corn diet was replaced by carbon derived from the wheat diet was adequately described by a negative exponential decay model for all tissues examined. More metabolically active tissues such as liver and fat had more rapid turnover rates than less metabolically active tissues such as hair. The half-life for carbon ranged from 6.4 days in liver to 47.5 days in hair. The results of this study have important implications for the use of δ¹³C values as indicators of animal diet. Both fractionation and turnover of stable carbon isotopes in animal tissues may obscure the relative contributions of isotopically distinct dietary components (such as C₃ vs. C₄, or marine vs. terrestrial) if an animal's diet varies through time. These complications deserve attention in any study using stable isotope ratios of animal tissue as dietary indicators and might be minimized by analysis of several tissues or products covering a range of turnover times.     

湖北郧县青龙泉新石器时代居民牙齿磨耗及健康状况

位于湖北省郧县境内的青龙泉遗址出土有仰韶、屈家岭和石家河等不同文化类型遗存, 被认为是中国新石器时代南、北文化交流的过渡地带。有关学者通过考古发现和同位素测试分析认为, 生活在青龙泉遗址的新石器时代居民已经具有发达的农业、家畜饲养业和渔猎,稻粟农业和肉类对居民的食物构成都有贡献, 但并不确定农业或渔猎是否占主导地位。本文通过对87例个体1075枚青龙泉新石器时代居民牙齿的磨耗、龋齿病、牙齿生前脱落、颌骨粗壮程度的观察、分析和对比, 试图从另一个侧面提供当时居民食物构成和经济模式的信息。本研究发现, 相比于其他中国新石器时代人类, 青龙泉居民的牙齿磨耗程度总体偏轻、臼齿磨耗角度多呈倾斜状、龋齿病出现率高、与生活状态相关的牙齿生前脱落出现率低、颌骨粗壮程度不明显。这些发现提示居民的食物较精细,加工程度高, 富含碳水化合物。基于本文发现, 作者认为农业经济在距今5000年左右的长江中游地区已经比较发达, 在居民食物构成中居主导地位,居民可能已经具有较高的食物制作加工技术。     

Effects of elemental composition on the incorporation of dietary nitrogen and carbon isotopic signatures in an omnivorous songbird

The use of stable isotopes to infer diet requires quantifying the relationship between diet and tissues and, in particular, knowing of how quickly isotopes turnover in different tissues and how isotopic concentrations of different food components change (discriminate) when incorporated into consumer tissues. We used feeding trials with wild-caught yellow-rumped warblers (Dendroica coronata) to determine delta15N and delta13C turnover rates for blood, delta15N and delta13C diet-tissue discrimination factors, and diet-tissue relationships for blood and feathers. After 3 weeks on a common diet, 36 warblers were assigned to one of four diets differing in the relative proportion of fruit and insects. Plasma half-life estimates ranged from 0.4 to 0.7 days for delta13C and from 0.5 to 1.7 days for delta15N . Half-life did not differ among diets. Whole blood half-life for delta13C ranged from 3.9 to 6.1 days. Yellow-rumped warbler tissues were enriched relative to diet by 1.7-3.6% for nitrogen isotopes and by -1.2 to 4.3% for carbon isotopes, depending on tissue and diet. Consistent with previous studies, feathers were the most enriched and whole blood and plasma were the least enriched or, in the case of carbon, slightly depleted relative to diet. In general, tissues were more enriched relative to diet for birds on diets with high percentages of insects. For all tissues, carbon and nitrogen isotope discrimination factors increased with carbon and nitrogen concentrations of diets. The isotopic signature of plasma increased linearly with the sum of the isotopic signature of the diet and the discrimination factor. Because the isotopic signature of tissues depends on both elemental concentration and isotopic signature of the diet, attempts to reconstruct diet from stable isotope signatures require use of mixing models that incorporate elemental concentration.     

辽宁北票喇嘛洞遗址出土人骨稳定同位素分析

喇嘛洞遗址是我国北方地区一处以三燕文化墓葬为主的大型墓地,对其出土人骨进行C和N稳定同位素分析,可望了解先民的食谱,揭示其生活方式进而探索鲜卑与汉的相互联系。该遗址20个墓葬出土人骨的C、N含量以及C/N摩尔比反映了样品均保存较好,可用作食谱分析。人骨中骨胶原δ13C和δ15N分析显示,先民主要以C4类食物为食,且基本为素食,这当与发达的糜子和粟米农业密切相关,表明喇嘛洞遗址鲜卑生活方式已受到汉文化的强烈影响,由游猎为生转变为农业生产为主。对不同性别的先民食谱差异性进行t检验,发现男女食谱上不存在显著差异。样品BLM63和BLM99的δ15N值相对较高,揭示了其食物结构中含有一定量的肉类。     

Stable isotopic analysis of human diet in the Marianas Archipelago,Western Pacific

Proportions of marine vs. terrestrial resources in prehistoric human diets in the southern Mariana Islands (Guam, Rota, Saipan), Micronesia, have been estimated by analysis of stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in bone collagen and of carbon in apatite. The isotopic composition of marine and terrestrial food resources from the Marianas have also been determined. Experimental evidence shows that collagen carbon isotopes mainly reflect those of dietary protein sources and thus overestimate the contribution of marine animal foods. Marine protein consumption apparently ranges from ∼20% to ∼50% on these islands. Experiments also demonstrate the carbon isotope ratio of bone apatite carbonate accurately reflects that of the whole diet. Carbonate carbon isotope data suggest some individuals consumed significant amounts of ¹³C-enriched (C₄) plants or seaweeds. Sugar cane is an indigenous C₄ crop and seaweeds are eaten throughout the Pacific, but they have not been considered by archaeologists to have been prehistoric dietary staples. Apatite carbon isotope analysis has apparently identified previously unrecognized prehistoric dietary adaptations in the Mariana Islands, but this must be confirmed by archaeobotanical evidence. Am J Phys Anthropol 104:343–361, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Causes and consequences of variation in diet composition of nestling Canada jays

Diet quality during development can impact growth, physiology, behaviour and survival. The Canada jay is a resident boreal passerine that caches a wide variety of perishable food items in late summer and autumn for its over‐winter survival and late‐winter reproduction. A previous experiment found evidence that food supplementation of Canada jay pairs during the nestling period had a positive effect on the condition of their nestlings. However, given that foods cached by adults vary widely in nutritional content, the composition of nestling diets could also have an important influence on offspring development. In a population of Canada jays in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, we investigated the influence of environmental conditions before and during the breeding season on nestling diet composition and the consequences of nestling diet composition on the body condition of nestlings and on their subsequent survival. Using stable‐carbon (δ¹³C) and ‐nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotopes, we estimated the proportion of three food groups (vertebrates + human food, invertebrates and plants) in feathers from almost 200 nestlings. Nestling diet in March and April was influenced by environmental conditions 5–6 months prior to hatching, with warmer and more variable autumn temperatures associated with a greater proportion of vertebrate flesh and human food in the diet. However, the proportion of vertebrates and human food in the diet had no influence on nestling body condition or whether an individual was observed the following fall. Our results, in conjunction with previous work on Canada jays, suggest that the quantity of food available to a nestling during development may be more important than diet composition.     

Techniques et activités des hommes du Paléolithique supérieur sur le site de Wangfujing - Oriental Plaza, Pékin, Chine

More than 2000 pieces of cultural relics were unearthed from the Oriental Plaza site, including stone artifacts, bone artifacts, fossils, hematite powder, fire use remains and plant root and foliage. By analyzing these remains in refitting stone and bone artifacts, in experimentally producing some artifacts, and comparing with ethnologic data, it is concluded that the Oriental Plaza site is a seasonal human activity site, that humans had been making a life of hunting and collecting food, can make stone artifacts, bone artifacts to kill their quarries, use fire to cook their food, and at the same time they also conducted some religion activities.