Anthropology Commons^™

Stable Isotope Analysis Of Breastfeeding And Weaning Practices In 19th Century Montreal, Jess Sadlowski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A plethora of changes occurred in nineteenth century Montreal including industrialization, population growth, urbanization, and women in the workforce. These changes likely affected how infants and children were cared for, including breastfeeding and weaning practices. Using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of serial dentine sections of 21 teeth from a French-Canadian population interred at Saint Antoine (AD 1799-1854), this study reconstructs infant feeding practices from a low-middle socioeconomic status population. Adult female diet emphasized C₃ foods with variable terrestrial and aquatic protein. Lack of isotope results limited information about the diets of subadults. In one individual, weaning was …

An Exploration Of The Effects Of Taphonomy On Isotope Ratios Of Human Hair, Tiffany Bivens Saul

Doctoral Dissertations

Isotope analyses of human remains have been conducted with growing frequency over the past thirty years in anthropology, in both archaeological and forensic contexts. Analyses of isotope ratios of elements such as carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, and strontium from teeth, bones, and hair have provided information regarding individual diet and geographic movement during different life stages. Hair grows at a predictable rate and provides a serial recording of diet and travel history for the weeks and months just prior to death. What has not been systematically studied is whether postmortem decompositional changes to the body have an effect upon isotope …

The Bridge River Dogs: Interpreting Adna And Stable Isotope Analysis Collected From Dog Remains, Emilia Tifental

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Excavations at the Bridge River site have been on-going since 2003, increasing our understanding of the communities that inhabited the Middle Fraser Canyon, British Columbia over 1,000 years ago. The most recent excavation at Housepit 54 in the summer of 2014 supplied further data regarding relationships between people and their dogs. Dogs are well documented in the Middle Fraser Canyon through both archaeological excavations and traditional knowledge. A household's possession of a dog has been linked to other prestigious materials, and therefore been interpreted as an indicator of wealth and status. The present study was aimed at further investigation of …

Identification Of Ancient Maya Agriculture In The Periphery Of Motul De San José, Alexandra E. Smofsky

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Agricultural systems were investigated in the Motul de San José periphery, an ancient Maya polity in Guatemala, using soil geochemical techniques. The δ¹³C values of soil organic matter delineated areas of ancient maize agriculture at the satellite center of Kante’t’u’ul. A new method to locate areas of former cacao cultivation or processing was developed using HPLC to detect theobromine, an alkaloid of the cacao plant, preserved in soils. Extraction of spiked soils revealed that theobromine adsorption is inversely correlated with organic matter content of soils. Detection of naturally occurring theobromine was successful, demonstrating its utility as a tracer. …

Reconstructing Subsistence Practices Of Southwestern Ontario Late Woodland Peoples (A.D. 900-1600) Using Stable Isotopic Analyses Of Faunal Material, Zoe H. Morris

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Stable carbon–, nitrogen–, and oxygen–isotope analyses of animal bones and teeth from 28 archaeological sites are used to reconstruct human subsistence behaviour, i.e., increased maize horticulturalism, during the Late Woodland period (A.D. 1000–1650) in southwestern Ontario. The isotopic data provided dietary, seasonal, and geographic information, which was analysed within archaeological, symbolic, and ecological contexts and used to reconstruct the diets, hunting patterns, and animal processing practices of two neighbouring groups, the Ontario Iroquoian and Western Basin peoples.

Paleodietary and seasonality analyses focused on the following species: canids (domestic dogs, foxes, and wolves), wild turkeys and white-tailed deer, though additional fauna …

Multi-Isotope Analysis To Reconstruct Dietary And Migration Patterns Of An Avar Population From Sajópetri, Hungary, Ad 568-895, Liotta Desiree Noche-Dowdy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Avar were nomadic people from Central Asia who migrated into the Carpathian Basin in Central-Eastern Europe during the mid to late Migration Period (AD 568 - 895). Archaeological evaluation of grave goods and documentation of mortuary practices have been the primary means of understanding the Avar. However, this approach has largely neglected skeletal and biochemical analysis, in particular as these approaches relate to the biological variation, ancestry, and dietary patterns of the Avar.

There remains debate as to whether disparities existed among the socially stratified Avar population of ancient Hungary. It is argued by some that these disparities existed …

Diet At Medieval Alytus, Lithuania: Stable Carbon And Nitrogen Isotope Analysis Of Bone And Dentin Collagen, Katie Whitmore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Baltic region was a vibrant center of power and economic prosperity in medieval Europe; Lithuania in particular. Until now, little stable isotopic analysis has been utilized to assess diet in this region during this time period. The aim of this study was to undertake a preliminary assessment of the composition of diet at late medieval Alytus (late 14th to early 18th centuries) from bone (N=35) and dentin (N=38) collagen samples. The stable carbon isotopic data suggest a diet primarily comprised of C3 plants such as barley, rye, wheat, and flax, and animals consuming C3 plants. The stable nitrogen isotopic …

Exploring The Movement Of People In Postclassic And Historic Period Lamanai Using Stable Isotopes, Alicia E. Donis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The location of the Maya site of Lamanai on the New River Lagoon in northern Belize strategically situated it to participate in both coastal and inland trade routes and communication. This study of human burials at Lamanai examines the phosphate-oxygen isotope compositions of bone and enamel, which reflect drinking water and hence climatic zones, oxygen- and hydrogen-isotope compositions of modern local water, which provide a baseline for drinking water, and carbon- and nitrogen-isotope compositions of bone collagen, which reflect diet. The combination of isotopic, mortuary, osteological, and artifactual data is used to explore mobility at Lamanai during the Postclassic and …

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- …

A Proposed Methodology For Predicting The Carbon And Nitrogen Stable Isotope Measures Of K'Inich Yax K'Uk Mo', Copan Dynastic Founder, Keith Edwards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to show that stable isotope analysis can be used to predict K’inich Yax K’uk Mo’s stable isotope measures based on Stuart’s (2007) hypothesis that K’inich Yax K’uk Mo’, the dynastic founder of the Copan royal lineage, was a Caracol lord. There is significant and convincing evidence that K’inich Yak K’uk Mo’ had a non-Copanec origin. Stable isotope analysis is a tested and reliable method for detailing diets and migratory paths of ancient humans and this theory is applied as a predictor of the stable isotope measures of K’inich Yax K’uk Mo’, if he did …

Stable Carbon And Nitrogen Isotope Analyses Of Subfossil Rats From Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia), Kelly C. Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research study investigated the level of bone collagen preservation of rat femora from Liang Bua cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia, as well as conducted carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic analyses on well preserved samples. Although Flores is located in a hot intermediate tropical zone and the burial environment of the bone samples within the cave is considered less than optimal for collagen preservation, significant preservation of the bone collagen was found. Collagen yields, C:N ratio and carbon and nitrogen concentrations were investigated. However, this research study argues that carbon and nitrogen concentrations are an appropriate means to …