Strontium and diet at Hayonim Cave

Faunal and human bones from the Natufian and Aurignacian levels of Hayonim Cave, Israel, were analyzed for calcium, strontium, and phosphate, in order to investigate the efficacy of strontium measurements for determining the proportion of meat in human diets. This site in the western Galilee was appropriate for a test of the technique since a)herbivore and carnivore fauna were present in numbers from two different time periods, b) well-characterized human skeletons were also present in at least one of these levels, and c)the diets of the individuals examined were basically well understood. On the basis of Sr/Ca values, a large difference was observed between Natufian herbivore bones and carnivore bones in the manner predicted by the diets of these species. Sr/Ca values for the adult humans from the same level fell midway between the herbivore and carnivore ranges. However, a different pattern was observed for Aurignacian fauna; no difference could be found between Sr/Ca ratios of herbivore and carnivore bones. The findings suggest that, in certain circumstances, the technique may provide important new paleodietary information. However, at any given site or level, both herbivore and carnivore fauna should be analyzed before conclusions about human diets are drawn from it.     

姜寨遗址先民食谱分析

尽管通过C、N稳定同位素分析已对陕西临潼姜寨遗址先民的食物结构和粟作农业进行了初步探索,但研究中的一些重要问题,如不同时期先民食物结构的演变,姜寨与半坡、史家先民食物结构间的差异等,依然未能深入讨论。为此,本文对姜寨遗址出土的不同时期(一期、二期)人骨进行了C、N稳定同位素分析,试图揭示先民食物结构的演变历程,探索姜寨与半坡、史家先民食物结构间的差异,并初步探讨产生这种差异的可能原因。人骨的δ13C平均值(-9.7±1.0‰)和δ15 N平均值(8.5±0.5‰),表明粟类食物(包括粟类作物以及依赖于粟类作物的动物等)在姜寨先民食谱中占据主要地位,且动物资源在食物中的比例相对较低。两期先民的δ13C和δ15N值,无显著性差异,表明先民一直从事粟作农业以及家畜的饲养活动。食谱分析并未发现第二期先民食用更多野生动物的证据,这可能与先民样品量相对偏少、二期先民食用的野生动物比例上升较小、动物类食物在先民食谱中所占比例较小等原因有关。对比地理位置毗邻、文化年代相近的姜寨、史家、半坡遗址先民δ13C值,姜寨(-9.7±1.0‰,N=19)与史家(-10.0±0.7‰,N=9)接近,而远高于半坡(-14.8±1.9‰,N=5),表明半坡遗址粟作农业的种植规模要逊于姜寨和史家遗址。我们认为,不同遗址间先民δ13C值的差异,可能受半坡样品量偏少、遗址间小生态环境不同等因素的影响。     

Africa's wild C4 plant foods and possible early hominid diets

A small minority of Africa's wild plant foods are C4. These are primarily the seeds of some of the C4 grasses, the rootstocks and stem/leaf bases of some of the C4 sedges (especially papyrus), and the leaves of some of the C4 herbaceous dicots (forbs). These wild food plants are commonly found in disturbed ground and wetlands (particularly the grasses and sedges). Multiple lines of evidence indicate that C4 grasses were present in Africa by at least the late Miocene. It is a reasonable hypothesis that the prehistory of the C4 sedges parallels that of the C4 grasses, but the C4 forbs may not have become common until the late Pleistocene. CAM plants may have a more ancient history, but offer few opportunities for an additional C4-like dietary signal. The environmental reconstructions available for the early South African hominid sites do not indicate the presence of large wetlands, and therefore probably the absence of a strong potential for a C4 plant food diet. However, carbon isotope analyses of tooth enamel from three species of early South African hominids have shown that there was a significant but not dominant contribution of C4 biomass in their diets. Since it appears unlikely that this C4 component could have come predominantly from C4 plant foods, a broad range of potential animal contributors is briefly considered, namely invertebrates, reptiles, birds, and small mammals. It is concluded that the similar average C4 dietary intake seen in the three South African hominid species could have been acquired by differing contributions from the various sources, without the need to assume scavenging or hunting of medium to large grazing ungulates. Effectively similar dominantly dryland paleo-environments may also be part of the explanation. Theoretically, elsewhere in southern and eastern Africa, large wetlands would have offered early hominids greater opportunities for a C4 plant diet.     

Trace elements in ancient Peruvian mummy hair: A preliminary report

Hair samples of 46 prehistoric mummies from five different pre-Inca sites in Peru were analyzed for Ca, Sr, Ni, Mn, and Ba by DCP/AES. The five sites displayed differing burial customs: whereas the dead of Cahuachi (n=13), Huayuri (n=2) and Brujo (n=5) had been interred unwrapped in simple stone pits, the mummies of Las Trancas (n=17) and Pacatnamu (n=9) had been granted protection by fabrics and wooden coffins. At the sites with no protection, the hair samples contained extremely high concentrations of Ca and Sr which by far exceeded the usual physiological ranges. This can probably be explained by contamination from the surrounding soil. In contrast, the protected depositions of Las Trancas and Pacatnamu exhibited Ca and Sr concentrations within the present range of variation. This may indicate that favourable conditions had prevented contamination in these cases. For Mn the same trend can be observed, both Cahuachi and Huayuri samples showed markedly increased values. For Ni and Ba on the other hand no correlation with the type of interment was found. In the two non-contaminated series, the mean values of Mn, Ba, and Ni were considerably higher in Las Trancas than in Pacatnamu. As Mn, Ni, and Ba tend to occur in higher concentrations in vegetable than in animal food items, these differences may indicate a differential availability of animal protein at the two locations     

Holocene Adélie penguin diet in Victoria Land,Antarctica

Ornithogenic soils (N = 97) dated up to 7000 Before Present (bp) were sampled in 16 relict and modern breeding colonies of Adélie penguin along the Victoria Land coast (Ross Sea, Antarctica). Taxonomic identification of fish otoliths (N = 677) recovered in these soils allowed to identify the Antarctic silverfish as the most eaten prey (90.1%) throughout the investigated period. A morphometric analysis of the otoliths revealed that the Adélie penguin primarily selected prey averaging 67.23 ± 23 mm of standard length. Temporal distribution of Pleuragramma antarcticum showed a peak between 2,000 and 4,000 years bp, a period corresponding to the maximum spread of Adélie penguin in the Victoria Land. Possible explanations of the variations of the abundance of the fish prey in the diet are discussed in the context of the paleoclimatic events and as possible consequences of dietary shifts due to the temporal variation of prey availability in the Ross Sea ecosystem.     

俄罗斯远东地区特罗伊茨基靺鞨墓地人骨的稳定同位素分析

稳定同位素分析技术近年来发展为复原古代民族饮食结构、社会经济模式的有效手段。本文应用该技术首次对俄罗斯远东地区特罗伊茨基靺鞨墓地出土人骨中的C、N同位素比值进行了测定。结果显示,特罗伊茨基墓地古代靺鞨居民日常饮食习惯中保持着较高比例的动物性食物摄入,植物类食物的摄入中C3类植物的比重较高。结合其他相关资料,初步推测该组靺鞨居民已经有一定农业,渔猎业和饲养业在经济生活中占据重要地位,黑水靺鞨和粟末靺鞨的经济类型有所差别。本文的研究结果可以为复原古代民族的经济模式研究提供有益的线索。     

Temporal trends in stable isotopes for Nubian mummy tissues

From Meroitic to Christian times (350 B .C .–A .D . 1400), Sudanese Nubia experienced political, economic, cultural, and environmental upheaval. Change in any one of these aspects of ancient lifeways can affect subsistence. Dietary patterns from this period are reconstructed by measuring stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in tissue samples from 146 mummies excavated from five sites in the Wadi Halfa area. On average, δ¹³C values of bone collagen, muscle, and skin indicate high consumption levels of C₃ plants (presumably wheat or barley staples, mixed vegetables, and fruits) throughout the sequence. However, during the X-Group period (A .D . 350–550), there is a statistically significant increase in consumption of C₄ plants (millet or sorghum), which are predominant in both the archeological record and in modern crop production for most of the Northern Sudan. The X-Group period was also associated with a low Nile and political and economic restructuring. Increased use of C₄ plants on a seasonal basis is also indicated by shifting δ¹³C values along hair shafts for both X-Group and Christian periods. δ¹⁵N values suggest that the major source of protein for all time periods came from herbivorous animals. A small, but significant increase in ¹⁵N over the 1,000-year sequence could be the result of fertilization. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Hominins, sedges, and termites: new carbon isotope data from the Sterkfontein valley and Kruger National Park

Stable carbon isotope analyses have shown that South African australopiths did not have exclusively frugivorous diets, but also consumed significant quantities of C4 foods such as grasses, sedges, or animals that ate these foods. Yet, these studies have had significant limitations. For example, hominin sample sizes were relatively small, leading some to question the veracity of the claim for australopith C4 consumption. In addition, it has been difficult to determine which C4 resources were actually utilized, which is at least partially due to a lack of stable isotope data on some purported australopith foods. Here we begin to address these lacunae by presenting carbon isotope data for 14 new hominin specimens, as well as for two potential C4 foods (termites and sedges). The new data confirm that non-C3 foods were heavily utilized by australopiths, making up about 40% and 35% of Australopithecus and Paranthropus diets respectively. Most termites in the savanna-woodland biome of the Kruger National Park, South Africa, have intermediate carbon isotope compositions indicating mixed C3/C4 diets. Only 28% of the sedges in Kruger were C4, and few if any had well-developed rhizomes and tubers that make some sedges attractive foods. We conclude that although termites and sedges might have contributed to the C4 signal in South African australopiths, other C4 foods were also important. Lastly, we suggest that the consumption of C4 foods is a fundamental hominin trait that, along with bipedalism, allowed australopiths to pioneer increasingly open and seasonal environments.     

Strengthening of the East Asian summer monsoon revealed by a shift in seasonal patterns in diet and climate after 2-3 Ma in northwest China

To examine climate variability in northwest China in the late Cenozoic and to test hypotheses regarding the development of C₄ ecosystems and the dynamics of the Asian monsoons, the carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of 32 bulk and 368 serial tooth enamel samples from herbivores in the Linxia Basin (Gansu Province), ranging in age from 25 Ma to the present, were determined. The results corroborate and improve the record previously obtained from the area, showing that all mammals in the Linxia Basin lived in habitats consisting primarily of C₃ vegetation prior to 2-3 Ma and that C₄ grasses did not become a significant component of local ecosystems until the Quaternary. The data also show that shifts in climate to drier and/or warmer conditions after about 14, 9.5, 7, and 2.5 Ma, as indicated by positive δ¹⁸O excursions in the bulk enamel-δ¹⁸O record, were accompanied by increased seasonality; whereas negative δ¹⁸O shifts in the bulk data after about 11, 6, and 1.2 Ma, which indicate shifts to wetter and/or cooler climate, were associated with decreases in seasonality. Intra-tooth δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O profiles reveal significant changes in the seasonal patterns of diet and climate after ~ 2-3 Ma. Prior to ~ 2-3 Ma, there was little or no seasonal variation in herbivores' diets and all herbivores fed on C₃ vegetation year around. After that time, the data show a significant seasonal variation in the diets of horses and bovids, ranging from a pure C₃ to a mixed C₃/C₄ diet (with C₄ plants accounting for up to ~ 60% of the diet). An inverse relationship (or negative correlation) between δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values within individual teeth — a pattern characteristic of the summer monsoon regime — is observed in younger (< 2-3 Ma) horses and bovids but not in older fossils. These changes in intra-tooth isotopic patterns provide strong evidence for an enhanced monsoon climate since about 2-3 Ma.     

早期鲜卑人和动物骨骼的稳定同位素分析

本文对呼伦贝尔地区扎赉诺尔、团结和东乌珠尔早期鲜卑墓地出土的人和动物骨骼进行了稳定同位素分析,以期揭示早期鲜卑的食物结构和生计方式。C、N稳定同位素分析结果表明,早期鲜卑人的食物来源兼具C_3类和C_4类,其中C_4类食物很可能来自其从事的少量粟作农业。人具有较高的δ~(15)N值,且与动物的δ~(15)N值差异较大,表明人的营养级较高,肉食资源在食物结构中占据较大比重,这可能来自于早期鲜卑人所从事的游牧及狩猎经济的贡献。C、N、S稳定同位素分析结果表明,动物和人的食物来源来自于当地的陆生系统,而个体马(DW M3(1))具有较高的δ~(13)C和δ~(15)N值以及明显不同于其他样品的异常高的δ~(34)S值,说明此个体可能属于来自于其他地质环境的"外来者"。