Anthropology Commons^™

The Life Histories Of Aztec Sacrifices: A Stable Isotope Study (C, N, And O) Of Offerings From Tlatelolco And The Templo Mayor Of Tenochtitlan, Diana K. Moreiras Reynaga

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation investigates the dietary and residential patterns, using stable carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotope analyses, of human sacrifices from the Mexica’s (Aztec) Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan and the Templo R of Tlatelolco (in Mexico City), and a non-sacrificial Mexica group from Ecatepec (Mexico State). These skeletal collections date to the Postclassic period (A.D. 900–1520). This work uses a biocultural approach by incorporating bioarchaeological, archaeological, isotopic, and ethnohistorical evidence to examine the life histories of the sacrifices.

The phosphate oxygen isotope analysis revealed that the individuals from Ecatepec were locals to the Basin of Mexico. Similarly, the Templo R sacrifices …

Isotopic Anthropology Of Rural German Medieval Diet: Intra- And Inter-Population Variability, Karyn C. Olsen, Christine D. White, Fred J. Longstaffe, Frank J. Rühli, Christina Warinner, Domingo S. Salazar-Garcia

Earth Sciences Publications

This study investigates the diet of an 11th century CE parish community located in northwestern Germany. We assessed the isotopic compositions of human (n = 24) and faunal (n = 17) bone collagen (δ¹³C_col, δ¹⁵N_col) and human structural carbonate (δ¹³C_sc) using skeletal material recovered from the Dalheim cemetery. Traditional interpretation of the isotopic data indicates that Dalheim residents likely relied on a C₃ plant-based diet and consumed some terrestrial animal products without evidence of marine resource input in the diet. Bivariate and multivariate models used as an additional …

A Multi-Isotope Investigation Of Two Medieval German Populations: Insight Into The Relationship Among Diet, Disease, And Tissue Isotopic Compositions, Karyn C. Olsen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis investigates the relationship between disease and bone collagen isotope compositions, and uses isotopic analyses of human and faunal bone to examine the diet and geographic associations of two medieval (9th to 16th century) German communities derived from urban (Regensburg, n=111) and rural (Dalheim, n=24) contexts.

The first goal of this research was to determine the reliability of bone collagen isotopic compositions to characterize diet in unhealthy individuals. Examples of bone pathology were selected from two medieval samples and one modern/historic skeletal collection (n=49) in order to measure the extent to which pathology influences intra-skeletal isotopic variability. The carbon- …