| 1. |
- Soncin, Silvia, et al.
(författare)
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High-resolution dietary reconstruction of victims of the 79 CE Vesuvius eruption at Herculaneum by compound-specific isotope analysis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Science Advances. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 2375-2548. ; 7:35
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The remains of those who perished at Herculaneum in 79 CE offer a unique opportunity to examine lifeways across an ancient community who lived and died together. Historical sources often allude to differential access to foodstuffs across Roman society but provide no direct or quantitative information. By determining the stable isotope values of amino acids from bone collagen and deploying Bayesian models that incorporate knowledge of protein synthesis, we were able to reconstruct the diets of 17 adults from Herculaneum with unprecedented resolution. Significant differences in the proportions of marine and terrestrial foods consumed were observed between males and females, implying that access to food was differentiated according to gender. The approach also provided dietary data of sufficient precision for comparison with assessments of food supply to modern populations, opening up the possibility of benchmarking ancient diets against contemporary settings where the consequences for health are better understood.
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| 2. |
- Robson, Harry K., et al.
(författare)
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Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values in freshwater, brackish and marine fish bone collagen from Mesolithic and Neolithic sites in central and northern Europe
- 2016
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Ingår i: Environmental Archaeology. - 1461-4103. ; 21:2, s. 105-118
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this research is to examine the isotopic characterisation of archaeological fish species as it relates to freshwater, brackish and marine environments, trophic level and migration patterns, and to determine intraspecies variation within and between fish populations in different locations within central and northern Europe. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis was undertaken on collagen extracted from 72 fish bone samples from eight Mesolithic and Neolithic archaeological sites in this region. Thirty-six (50%) of the specimens analysed produced results with acceptable carbon to nitrogen atomic ratios (2·9–3·6). The fish remains encompassed a wide spectrum of freshwater, brackish and marine taxa (n = 12), which were reflected in the δ13C values (−24·5 to −7·8‰). The freshwater/brackish fish (pike, Esox lucius; perch, Perca fluviatilis; zander, Sander lucioperca) had δ13C values that ranged from −24·2 to −19·3‰, whereas the brackish/marine fish (spurdog, Squalus acanthias; flatfish, Pleuronectidae; codfish, Gadidae; garfish, Belone belone; mackerel, Scomber scombrus) ranged from −14·9 to −9·4‰. Salmonidae, an anadromous taxon, and eel (Anguilla anguilla), a catadromous species, had carbon isotope values consistent with marine origin, and no evidence of freshwater residency (−12·7 to −11·7‰). The δ15N values had a range of 6·2‰ (6·5–12·7‰) indicating that these fish were on average feeding at 1·7 trophic levels higher than their producers in these diverse aquatic environments. These results serve as an important ecological baseline for the future isotopic reconstruction of the diet of human populations dating to the late Mesolithic and early Neolithic of the region.
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| 3. |
- Boethius, Adam, et al.
(författare)
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Mesolithic Scandinavian foraging patterns and hunting grounds targeted through laser ablation derived 87Sr/86Sr ratios at the Early-Mid Holocene site of Huseby Klev on the west coast of Sweden
- 2022
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Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791 .- 1873-457X. ; 293
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mobility is one of the most fundamental aspects of a foraging society. Since prehistoric mobility is often difficult to identify in the archaeological record, our understanding is largely based on comparison with ethnographic communities. In recent years the application of 87Sr/86Sr isotope analysis has, however, greatly broadened our knowledge of mobility in the past. Despite this, few studies have been undertaken on faunal remains to explore their mobility patterns and infer human exploitation patterns with more precision. In this contribution we sampled 28 mammal teeth from three different occupation phases at the Early to Mid-Holocene coastal site of Huseby Klev, Sweden. We first established the local baseline for seven geographical areas in the region surrounding Huseby Klev. Then, by applying laser ablation-multi collector-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry to the selected teeth, we identified the likely origins of a range of terrestrial and marine fauna, and the possible human mobility patterns required in their exploitation. Overall, our results demonstrate that the prehistoric communities inhabiting Huseby Klev undertook both short- and long-distance forays for the exploitation of particular species. By relating inferences on hunting grounds, derived from strontium isotope data, to zooarchaeological evidence from the site and ethnographic human mobility patterns, we establish and discuss the prerequisites for landscape utilization. Lastly, we demonstrate that glacial meltwater may have temporally affected the local oceanic Sr ratios – suggesting significantly increased soil and bedrock weathering may influence the Sr values in aquatic ecosystems and, consequently, should be considered in such regions and at times of melting glaciers. By applying the method to additional sites and assemblages in the future, our understanding of prehistoric mobility will be greatly enhanced.
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| 4. |
- Broushaki, Farnaz, et al.
(författare)
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Early Neolithic genomes from the eastern Fertile Crescent.
- 2016
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 353:6298
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We sequenced Early Neolithic genomes from the Zagros region of Iran (eastern Fertile Crescent), where some of the earliest evidence for farming is found, and identify a previously uncharacterized population that is neither ancestral to the first European farmers nor has contributed substantially to the ancestry of modern Europeans. These people are estimated to have separated from Early Neolithic farmers in Anatolia some 46,000 to 77,000 years ago and show affinities to modern-day Pakistani and Afghan populations, but particularly to Iranian Zoroastrians. We conclude that multiple, genetically differentiated hunter-gatherer populations adopted farming in southwestern Asia, that components of pre-Neolithic population structure were preserved as farming spread into neighboring regions, and that the Zagros region was the cradle of eastward expansion.
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| 5. |
- Lucquin, Alexandre, et al.
(författare)
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The impact of environmental change on the use of early pottery by East Asian hunter-gatherers
- 2018
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 115:31, s. 7931-7936
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The invention of pottery was a fundamental technological advancement with far-reaching economic and cultural consequences. Pottery containers first emerged in East Asia during the Late Pleistocene in a wide range of environmental settings, but became particularly prominent and much more widely dispersed after climatic warming at the start of the Holocene. Some archaeologists argue that this increasing usage was driven by environmental factors, as warmer climates would have generated a wider range of terrestrial plant and animal resources that required processing in pottery. However, this hypothesis has never been directly tested. Here, in one of the largest studies of its kind, we conducted organic residue analysis of >800 pottery vessels selected from 46 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites located across the Japanese archipelago to identify their contents. Our results demonstrate that pottery had a strong association with the processing of aquatic resources, irrespective of the ecological setting. Contrary to expectations, this association remained stable even after the onset of Holocene warming, including in more southerly areas, where expanding forests provided new opportunities for hunting and gathering. Nevertheless, the results indicate that a broader array of aquatic resources was processed in pottery after the start of the Holocene. We suggest this marks a significant change in the role of pottery of hunter-gatherers, corresponding to an increased volume of production, greater variation in forms and sizes, the rise of intensified fishing, the onset of shellfish exploitation, and reduced residential mobility.
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| 6. |
- Piličiauskas, Gytis, et al.
(författare)
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Strontium isotope analysis reveals prehistoric mobility patterns in the southeastern Baltic area
- 2022
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Ingår i: Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1866-9557 .- 1866-9565. ; 14:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We measured 87Sr/86Sr for all available human remains (n = 40) dating from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age (ca. 6400–800 cal BC) in Lithuania. In addition, local baselines of archaeological fauna from the same area were constructed. We identified significant and systematic offsets between 87Sr/86Sr values of modern soils and animals and archaeological animals due to currently unknown reasons. By comparing 87Sr/86Sr human intra-tooth variation with the local baselines, we identified 13 non-local individuals, accounting for 25–50% of the analysed population. We found no differences in the frequency of local vs. nonlocals between male and female hunter-gatherers. Six Mesolithic-Subneolithic individuals with 87Sr/86Sr values > 0.7200 may have come from southern Finland and/or Karelia. Two Mesolithic-Subneolithic individuals from the Donkalnis cemetery with 87Sr/86Sr values < 0.7120 likely came from the Lithuanian Baltic coast. These data demonstrate coastal-inland mobility of up to 85 km, which is also supported by archaeological evidence. The standard deviation in the intra-tooth 87Sr/86Sr indicates that mobility did not decrease with the adoption of pottery technology at ca. 5000 cal BC but rather slowly decreased during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. We interpret this as a result of the introduction and subsequent intensification of farming. The least mobile way of life was practised by Subneolithic coastal communities during the 4th millennium cal BC, although 87Sr/86Sr do not exclude that they migrated along the coastline.
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| 7. |
- Robson, Harry K, et al.
(författare)
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Organic residue analysis of Early Neolithic ‘bog pots’ from Denmark demonstrates the processing of wild and domestic foodstuffs
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Archaeological Science Reports. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-409X .- 1095-9238. ; 36
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ceramic containers, intentionally deposited into wetlands, offer detailed insights into Early Neolithic culinary practices. Additionally, they are key for ascertaining the Neolithisation process in Denmark since they appear to form a typo-chronological sequence. Here, we use a combination of organic residue analysis (ORA) of pottery alongside Bayesian chronological modelling of the radiocarbon dates obtained on these vessels to explore the initial stages of votive deposition in wetlands, a practice that stretches from the Mesolithic to the onset of Christianity in Northern Europe. We consider 34 Early-Middle Neolithic (c. 3900–2350 cal BC) ‘bog pots’ from Denmark, of which 20 have ORA data, and 26 have been dated directly. Carbonised surface residues and absorbed lipids from powdered sherds were analysed using a combination of bulk carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and GC-combustion-isotope ratio MS (GC-C-IRMS). The molecular and isotopic compositions of the analysed samples revealed the presence of aquatic, ruminant carcass and dairy fats as well as plant waxes with the majority containing mixtures thereof. Dairy fats were present from the onset of the Funnel Beaker culture, whilst aquatic foods, prevalent at the close of the preceding Mesolithic period, continued to be processed in pottery for the following thousand years.
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| 8. |
- Robson, Harry K., et al.
(författare)
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Walnuts, salmon and sika deer : Exploring the evolution and diversification of Jōmon “culinary” traditions in prehistoric Hokkaidō
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0278-4165 .- 1090-2686. ; 60
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The goal of this contribution is to stimulate a wider reflection on the role of food consumption practices throughout prehistory. We focussed on the Jmon communities of Hokkaid Island in Northern Japan since these mobile foragers underwent a process of economic diversification and intensification, eventually leading to higher levels of sedentism across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Moreover, dynamic social settings and expansion of the subsistence base at the start of the Holocene would have provided rich opportunities for novel food combinations, and potentially, the rise of diverse regional cuisines. We investigated tool kits and resource landscapes, and sampled pottery from a range of sites, phases and regions. We then applied organic residue analysis to confirm the actual spatiotemporal patterning in cuisine. Although we predicted that ruminants and nuts would have played a major role in local cuisine, especially in inland areas, our results indicate that aquatic resources were central to pottery-based cuisines across the island, and that other food groups had probably been processed in other ways. While organic residue analysis enabled us to reconstruct some major patterns in Jmon cuisine, we conclude that archaeologists will need to look beyond the cooking pot to fully appreciate the full diversity of local foodways.
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