Metadata of the chapter that will be visualized online

Chapter Title

Isotopic Studies of Foragers Diet: Environmental Archaeological

Approaches

Copyright Year

2013

Copyright Holder

Springer Science+Business Media New York

Corresponding Author

Family Name

Barberena

Particle
Given Name

Ramiro

Suffix
Division/Department

CONICET, Laboratorio de Geoarqueologa,

Facultad de Filosofa y Letras

Organization/University

Universidad Nacional de Cuyo

Street

Parque General San Martn

Postcode

5500

City

Mendoza

Country

Argentina

Email

ramidus28@gmail.com

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Title Name: EGA

Isotopic Studies of Foragers Diet:

Environmental Archaeological
Approaches
Ramiro Barberena
CONICET, Laboratorio de Geoarqueologa,
Facultad de Filosofa y Letras, Universidad
Nacional de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina

Introduction
The introduction of stable isotopes into archaeological research began in the 1970s and
revolutionized the ways in which several key
issues are studied, including early hominin
diets, subsistence and spatial organization of forager societies, and individual life histories (Price
& Burton 2011; Schwarcz & Schoeninger 2011).
Isotopic analysis of bones, teeth, and other
organic tissues is a tool for the quantitative reconstruction of past human diets, providing an
archaeological measure of subsistence that
complements studies in zooarchaeology and
archaeobotany.
Isotopic research is based on the premise that
you are what you eat, in other words, that the
isotopic composition of an organisms tissues
is a function of the composition of its diet.
Nevertheless, isotopic values do not have direct
dietary meaning and need to be analyzed in an
environmental context. The isotopic values
for the vegetal and animal foods potentially

available for forager populations in a given environment, known as the isotopic ecology, provide the context for the interpretation of past
foragers diets.

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Definition

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The different chemical elements that constitute

all organic tissues (e.g., carbon, nitrogen,
oxygen) are defined by the number of protons in
their nucleus, which varies among elements and
is unique to each of them. For example, carbon
has six protons, nitrogen seven, and oxygen eight.
An isotope is a variety of a chemical element
defined by the number of neutrons in its nucleus.
For instance, carbon has three isotopes used in
archaeology: 12C, 13C, and 14C, possessing six,
seven, and eight neutrons in the nucleus, respectively (Fig. 1). These carbon isotopes have
different atomic masses that condition whether
isotopes are stable, like 12C and 13C, or radioactive, like 14C. Stable isotopes do not change in
abundance through time after an organism dies,
whereas radioactive isotopes decay at a constant
rate and are therefore useful as a radiometricdating tool.
Stable isotope values are a ratio between the
heavier and the lighter isotope of each element
(13C/12C, 15N/14N). Since absolute abundances of
these isotopes are very small, this ratio is standardized by comparison to international
reference material (Vienna-Peedee Formation

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Belemnitella americana -V-PDB- for 13C and

atmospheric N2 -AIR- for 15N), producing d
values, and then multiplied
1,000 () as
follows:
d Rsample=Rstandard  1 1; 000

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R is the ratio of the heavier to the lighter

isotope.
Isotopic Fractionation
The process of incorporating and metabolizing
nutrients involves chemical reactions in which
nutrients are the dietary input or substrate of
the reactions, an organisms tissue (e.g., bone) is
the product, and the excreta (urine, feces) are
the output. Lighter isotopes of a given chemical
element undergo reactions at faster rates than
heavier isotopes, since bonds between the lighter
isotopes are broken more easily than those
between the heavy isotopes: for example,
12
C reacts faster than 13C. In the case of animals,
the differences in reaction rates produce
a concentration of molecules of the lighter isotopes in the excreta, resulting in impoverished
d13C values, while the tissues that constitute
a living organism are enriched in the heavier
isotope (Wolf et al. 2009). This effect is called
isotopic
fractionation
and
produces
a systematic isotopic enrichment in every step
along trophic chains. In the case of d13C,
fractionation is on the order of +1.5 and +3
for d15N, although there is interspecific variability (Schwarcz & Schoeninger 2011). Isotopic
fractionation provides the basis for assessing
paleodiets. Without it, all the organisms
inhabiting a region would have the same isotopic
abundances and thus provide no paleodietary
information. This is actually the case with chemical elements with large atomic weight and small
inter-isotope differences, characterized by negligible fractionation (e.g., 87Sr/86Sr, see below).
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d C: A Marker of Photosynthetic Pathways

Photosynthesis allows plants to synthesize
nutrients, including carbon, from sunlight and
atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). There are
three alternative photosynthetic pathways

(Ehleringer & Cerling 2001). The C3 or CalvinBenson pathway synthesizes CO2 in the form of
molecules with three-carbon atoms, with an
average d13C value of 25, which ranges
between 34 and 20. Diverse factors
produce variation in these values, such as the
existence of carbon reservoirs in closed forested
environments, known as the canopy effect. C3
plants include most species from temperate and
subarctic regions and high-altitude settings in
general. The C4 or Hatch-Slack pathway synthesizes atmospheric CO2 as four-carbon molecules
with an average d13C value of 12 and a range
of 10 to 14. This pathway is characterized by a smaller isotopic fractionation and
a more efficient use of nutrients, part of
a physiological adaptation to arid and warm
climates. C4 species include maize, sugarcane,
and tropical grasses. Finally, the Crassulacean
Acid Metabolism (CAM) pathway is characterized by the facultative capacity to alternate
between the C3 and C4 mechanisms according
to prevailing circumstances, producing an isotopic range that overlaps with that of both C3 and
C4 plants. It includes a small number of taxa, such
as succulents from desert environments.
Herbivores d13C values are positively correlated with those of their diet, providing evidence
of the plants consumed and, based upon this,
paleoecological conditions. On the other hand,
marine algae and plankton obtain their carbon
from dissolved inorganic carbon, enriched by
7 with respect to atmospheric CO2. Therefore,
tissues of marine animals are enriched in comparison to those from terrestrial ecosystems.
d13C values can be obtained from two main
components of bone: organic, or collagen, and
inorganic, or apatite. Experimental work has
demonstrated that the collagen isotopic signal
reflects an average of the sources of protein
consumed (e.g., meat), while the apatite signal
reflects an average of the total diet (proteins,
carbohydrates, and lipids). The integration of
d13C values from collagen and apatite provides
additional dietary information (Ambrose &
Norr 1993).

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d15N: A Marker of Trophic Position

In terrestrial ecosystems, nitrogen is ultimately
derived from soils. Soils from cool and moist
areas, such as forests, tend to have low d15N
values, whereas soils from warm and dry ecosystems, such as deserts, have high d15N values.
These values are passed on to herbivores, plus
ca. 3 due to isotopic fractionation. The stepwise increase in d15N values marks every step
within a food web and thus provides important
data on the trophic position of animals.
The d15N values of marine plants are about
4 higher than those of terrestrial ones. Additionally, marine food webs are usually longer
than those from terrestrial ecosystems, providing
more opportunities for isotopic fractionation and
trophic enrichment. Globally, marine animals
tend to have much higher values than terrestrial
animals.
Foragers and Isotopic Studies
The definition of foraging societies is not free
of ambiguity and discrepancy, given the
inherent complexity of human organization of
subsistence, and divergent theoretical views.
Nonetheless, it can be stated that foragers subsistence relies to varying extents on gathering
plants and hunting and fishing animals (Fig. 2).
They do not control the reproductive cycle of the
resources they consume to any great extent when
compared to farming and herding societies.
Generally, this is equivalent to the hunter-gatherer category (Kelly 1995; Politis 2007).
The combined use of d15N and d13C values
provides a means to quantify the main food classes consumed by foragers in various local
contexts around the world. Most importantly, it
provides subsistence data on the scale of the
individual, an analytical target that is usually
hard to reach, providing access to issues such as
subsistence variation by age and gender. In addition, subsistence can be studied at the population
level as well. Stable isotopes have contributed to
assessments of the dietary role of vegetal foods
(C3 or C4); terrestrial animals occupying diverse
trophic positions; marine animals including shellfish, fishes, and mammals; and freshwater
resources. On this basis, it is possible to evaluate

variation across time and space in behaviors

along the foraging spectrum (Kelly 1995).

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Historical Background

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Vogel and van der Merwe (1977) conducted the

first stable isotopes study in archaeology,
presenting an assessment of carbon isotopes in
collagen from human bones from the Woodland
period in Eastern North America. Around the
same time, DeNiro and Epstein (1978) presented
an isotopic study of organisms fed controlled
diets, lending definitive support to the assertion
that the diet determines the isotopic composition
of animal tissues. Tauber (1981) developed the
first isotopic test case for the consumption of
marine foods by foragers, focusing on the Danish
Mesolithic and Greenland Eskimos. Following
these pioneering studies, isotopic research
began to gain wide acceptance and, since the
end of the 1980s, has grown in scholarly scope,
as well as in geographical extent. The series of
Advanced Seminars on Paleodiet beginning in
1986 witnessed and encouraged much of the
methodological and theoretical growth visible in
the archaeological field today (see references
in Further Reading). Analysis of stable isotopes
has become a routine worldwide.

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Key Issues/Current Debates

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Isotopic Ecology: Studying the Foragers

Menu
Isotope data from human remains must be
interpreted in the context of the values of the
potentially consumed foods or the isotopic
ecology. This is an integral part of the
paleodietary study of forager societies, because
the values of human samples do not carry
a precise dietary meaning per se. For example,
a d13Ccollagen value of 15 from a human sample indicates an enriched signal, which may suggest the consumption of a certain amount of
protein from marine mammals, fluvial fishes, or
some terrestrial herbivores, among other likely
explanations. Interpretations must be adjusted

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by placing human values in the context of isotopic ecology. Usually, samples of archaeological
origin are analyzed as well as modern samples, in
order to widen the taxonomic range, in particular
for plants. When modern samples are included as
part of the context, it is fundamental to assess
whether the organisms may have ingested foods
that were not available in prehistoric times
(e.g., agricultural forage, domestic animals). It
is also necessary to correct the d13C values of
modern samples for the so-called industrial or
Suess effect (ca. +1.5), which has altered
global isotopic ratios by introducing carbon
derived from fossil fuels, depleted in 13C, to the
atmosphere.
A first step for building an isotopic ecology is
to define the foragers potential menu on the basis
of zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical evidences from the study area. This involves considering foods that might be unrecorded
archaeologically, which is especially important
for items with poor preservation potential
(e.g., plant foods). Indeed, one of the merits of
stable isotope research is that it permits inferences of past feeding behaviors that might otherwise be invisible.
The isotopic ecology must be local in terms
of the archaeological problem at hand, since all
vegetal and animal isotopic values vary with
regional and local conditions climate, nutrient
availability, type of substrate, the existence of
marine or terrestrial isotopic reservoirs, and
physiological adaptations (Koch 2007). There is
no magic number of samples providing
a confident reconstruction of the isotopic ecology
of a given region. The goal is to accurately characterize the isotopic variation of each of the main
food resources available for foragers, since the
use of inaccurate average and dispersion isotopic
values for the foods eaten by humans will lead to
wrong dietary interpretations. As a rule of thumb,
the more complex the ecosystems where foragers
make their living, the more extensive the isotopic
ecology sampling should be.
A large-scale project directed by Andrzej W.
Weber at the Lake Baikal region of Siberia,
Russian Federation, provides an exemplary case
of isotopic reconstruction of a complex

ecological system intended to frame a regional

study of forager populations inhabiting the area
during the Middle Holocene (Weber et al. 2011).
Two main food webs are present in the region: (a)
a terrestrial food web composed of C3 plants
consumed by herbivores (elk, red deer, hare), in
turn consumed by carnivores (black bear, fox,
dog), and (b) a freshwater food web of great
complexity, as the Baikal is one of the largest
freshwater ecosystems on Earth. The latter
includes different groups of detrivorous and
omnivorous fishes, fed on by seals (Fig. 3).
Plots (a) and (b) from Fig. 3 represent the
terrestrial food web, and plots (c) and (d) depict
the aquatic food webs from fluvial and lacustrian
contexts. The d15N data show that most of the
aquatic species are enriched with values above
10. On the other hand, most of the terrestrial
species have d15N values below 10 with two
exceptions: the herring gull, which includes fish
in its diet, and the dog. As the authors suggest,
Since in most prehistoric societies, dogs are
expected to feed mostly on human leftover food,
dog stable isotope signatures are frequently
accepted as a good measure of human diet at
a group level. . . (Weber et al. 2011: 542). The
Baikal freshwater isotope ecology is extremely
complex, in particular regarding d13C values.
High variability in lake bathymetry, sunlight
access, and availability of nutrients all produce
a wide isotopic range (Fig. 3c) that stands in
sharp contrast to the homogeneous C3 terrestrial
environment (Fig. 3a).
To summarize, the success of the Baikal
isotope ecology project lies in having thoroughly
characterized the isotopic ranges of the alternative food classes available for foragers from
terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. On this
basis, the authors are able to discriminate two
main types of diet, Game-Fish and GameFish-Seal, each related to different ecosystems.
This study accentuates the need for archaeologists to determine the foraging menu via
consideration of available food items; these
provide the isotopic ecological context from
which past forager diets can be reconstructed.

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Isotopic Visibility of Feeding Behaviors: How

Much is Enough?
Isotopic results from human samples provide an
average of the values of the foods consumed
during a given period of time. Therefore, isotopes
do not provide a record of rare feeding events.
Beyond this, it is fair to ask how much of a given
food must be eaten for it to be visible in the
isotopic record. Currently, some of the main variables that determine the isotopic visibility of
ancient feeding practices are known, while others
remain unknown. The target of isotopic analyses
is usually that of classes of foods grouped by
similarities in their d13C and d15N isotopic ranges
(e.g., C3 or C4 vegetal species, ungulates from
open vs. forested environments, marine vs.
terrestrial protein). This is a kind of taxon-free
approach like that applied in Paleontology, where
the relevant variable is the niche that a species or
population occupies. Correspondingly, the scale
of analysis of isotopic research does not usually
reach the level of individual species, since different species occupying similar niches may present
similar isotopic signals, as recorded for Baikal
fish (Fig. 3d).
Figure 4 illustrates a simple dietary reconstruction with two stable isotope systems (d13C
and d15N from collagen) where two classes of
foods are present: proteins from marine and
terrestrial mammals. It shows that three individuals consumed these two dietary sources in the
following proportions: (A) 100 % terrestrial protein, (B) 50 % terrestrial and 50 % marine protein,
and (C) 100 % marine protein. In a simple situation such as this, with only two classes of food
(usually termed isotopic end members) that are
isotopically distinct, a Linear Mixing Model can
be used. Basically, the closer one sample falls to
an end member, the larger the dietary importance
of that end of the continuum (Schwarcz et al.
2010).
The d13C and d15N values of sample
A represent consumed terrestrial protein, plus
the isotopic fractionation affecting the relation
between substrate and product (diet and bone
collagen in this case). The same occurs with
sample C, which points to a 100 % marinebased diet. Finally, sample B falls halfway

along the theoretical mixing line, as might be

expected for a diet combining both sources of
protein in equal proportions. If isotopic variation
of the terrestrial and marine isotopic end members were small and the spacing between them
large, as in Fig. 4, a relatively small proportion of
either type of protein in the total diet (e.g., 15 %)
would be isotopically visible. As isotopic variation of the end members increases, the spacing
between them decreases, and larger inputs of the
minor protein source are necessary in order to be
visible. Therefore, the answer to How much is
enough? depends on the local isotope ecology,
which provides the average and dispersion values
for the isotopic end members.
In real cases, usually there are more than two
dietary sources present, increasing the complexity of the isotopic ecology and therefore of the
study of forager paleodiets (Weber et al. 2011).
The use of several isotopic proxies from organic
and inorganic bone phases increases resolution.
Recently developed dietary models, such as
IsoSource or SIAR, contribute to research on the
diversity of dietary combinations that can produce given isotopic values (Wolf et al. 2009).

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Early Hominin Foragers

Enamel tissue may preserve an isotopic signal of
diet over millions of years. This has made possible the reconstruction of the subsistence of
several species of early hominins including
Mio-Pliocene fossils (Ardipithecus), PlioPleistocene gracile and robust australopiths
(Australopithecus, Paranthropus), and early
members of the genus Homo (Homo habilis,
H. neanderthalensis). Carbon isotopes provide
information on the amount of C3 vis-a`-vis C4
vegetal foods eaten by early hominins,
suggesting the type of environments inhabited,
ranging from closed forest settings with a pure
C3 isotopic signature to open savannas with
a mixed C3/C4 signature. In conjunction with
data on dental microwear, this information contributes to assessing the timing and geographic
patterning of the evolution of arboreal and pedestrian adaptations by early hominins. Current
information indicates wide subsistence variability, challenging some long-held views in

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paleoanthropology (Ungar & Sponheimer 2011).

Additionally, isotopic data from Middle and Late
Paleolithic foragers are beginning to provide
quantitative information on the consumption of
terrestrial, marine, and freshwater foods by Homo
neanderthalensis and early Homo sapiens,
allowing assessment of changes in dietary
breadth and their relationship to demographic
processes (Richards 2009).
Forager Diet, Mobility, and Settlement
In forager societies, subsistence is tied to mobility and geographical organization (Kelly 1995;
Politis 2007). In this context, isotopically based
dietary studies may offer spatial insights, in particular in cases that involved the consumption of
foods with a spatially circumscribed availability
and a distinct isotopic signature. This is the case
with marine mammals and fishes, usually
enriched in both d13C and d15N (Schwarcz &
Schoeninger 2011). In some regions, this is also
the case for fluvial or lake-dwelling mammals
and fishes, enriched in d15N and usually depleted
in d13C, as shown in Baikal seals (Fig. 3d; see
Weber et al. 2011).
In a classic article, Sealy and van der Merwe
(1986) tested a hypothesis that suggested
a seasonal round between the coast and the
hinterland for forager societies inhabiting the
Cape of South Africa during the Late Holocene.
This seasonal model of spatial organization
inspired by historic records would produce
a homogeneous isotopic signature mixing marine
and terrestrial foods. Isotopic analyses of human
samples from both ends of this alleged seasonal
round showed at least two different types of diet:
people from coastal sites with marine-based diets
and inland people who consumed negligible
amounts of marine resources. This not only
contradicted the expectations derived from the
seasonal model but also suggested the existence
of restricted ranges of mobility for foragers consuming marine foods. Similar patterns of isotopic
coastal-inland differentiation have been recorded
for regions of Australia, Peru, Argentinean
Patagonia, and the Northwest Coast of North
America. These cases highlight the attraction of
productive coastal settings to foraging societies,

leading to spatially restricted home ranges and

high demographic densities. On the other hand,
wide territories integrating the coast and the
hinterland have been suggested for Mesolithic
Denmark, among other cases. This information
is well suited for the analysis of catchment areas
via the application of patch choice models
derived from foraging theory.
The Baikal Lake offers another important case
where different aspects of forager mobility and
settlement have been assessed. Evidence indicates that Middle Holocene forager ranges were
smaller than those suggested by ethnographic
data. In addition, there appears to be a marked
temporal stability in foraging patterns, despite the
changes documented in the culture history and
paleoenvironment. To summarize, a web of
diverse movements connecting the microenvironments of the Baikal is recorded. This geographic net is asymmetric, since some areas
received large numbers of migrants, whereas
others did not (Weber et al. 2011).
The results of these case studies help place
dietary information into a geographic context.
Isotopic reconstructions of forager diets are currently being developed to integrate diverse
aspects of cultural geography such as territorial
organization, foraging ranges, and logistical
spheres of mobility. This is enhanced by the use
of other isotope systems described below.

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Future Directions

505

Overcoming Analytical Limitations:

Compound-Specific Isotope Analyses
Isotopic analysis at the level of specific compounds of bone, including amino acids, fatty
acids, and cholesterol, is a new technique that
allows a high-resolution alternative to bulk tissue
analysis of d13C and d15N (Evershed et al. 2007).
Compound-specific studies provide a means to
assess the dietary contribution of particular food
classes, overcoming some limitations of forager
paleodietary reconstruction, such as the d13C
overlap of C4 plants and marine resources and
the 15N enrichment prevalent in arid environments. Bone cholesterol in particular has been

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shown to reflect the whole diet, playing an analogous role to apatite and contributing to assess its
preservation.
Dietary Changes and Life History
Stable isotope analyses can be performed on different organic tissues: bone, teeth, and soft tissues
such as hair and nails. Bones are remodeled
throughout life, whereas teeth, hair, and nails
have incremental growth patterns and do not
remodel once formed. The isotopic signal
retrieved from each tissue reflects an average of
the diet during the period of its formation. In the
case of bones, the remodeling process is on the
order of a decade and is active until the death of
the individual, offering an isotopic signal that
averages the diet during the last years of life.
Teeth, on the other hand, form only during the
first years of life, providing an evidence of diet
during different stages of childhood. Hair and
nails form rapidly and incrementally, providing
dietary information on very brief periods of life,
offering monthly dietary resolution. In fact, the
incremental formation of tooth dentine, hair, and
nails allows production of serial dietary reconstructions (Schwarcz & Schoeninger 2011).
The combined analysis of different tissues
from a single individual provides the basis for
a life history approach to dietary studies
(Katzenberg 2008). On this basis, several key
issues of forager social organization and subsistence have been addressed, particularly age of
weaning, life history traits by gender, and
changes in subsistence throughout the life of
foragers.
Isotopic Signatures of Forager Geography:
Oxygen Isotopes and Trace Elements
Following the lead of research on complex
societies such as the Maya and Tiwanaku, recent
studies of forager subsistence are progressively
including isotopic markers of geographic residence (Bentley 2006; Schwarcz et al. 2010;
Price & Burton 2011). Two isotope systems are
at the forefront of this methodological advance:
oxygen isotopes (18O/16O) and trace elements
like strontium (87Sr/86Sr).

The use of 18O/16O ratios as markers of place

of origin is based on two central facts: (a) Isotopic
ratios in meteoric precipitations vary geographically according to altitude, humidity, temperature, and distance from the ocean and (b)
isotopic ratios in human tissues depend on the
water imbibed and, to a lesser extent, oxygen in
air and food sources. Thus, oxygen values from
human remains contain an averaged record of the
places where a person lived during the period of
time represented in the sampled tissue.
Strontium isotopes (87Sr and 86Sr) have large
atomic masses and differ little from each other.
Therefore, rates of chemical reaction are very
similar and isotopic fractionation between substrate and product is negligible. In this case, all of
the organisms in a given region present the same
isotopic abundances determined by the chemical
signatures in the local geology, which are passed
on to soils, circulating water, plants, animals, and
humans (Bentley 2006).
These two isotope systems must be used in the
context of different frames of reference: isotope
values in water sources in the case of d18O and
biologically available Strontium in the case of
d87Sr. The natural variation in isotopic abundances between different regions will determine
the resolution that can be achieved in archaeological reconstructions (i.e., which regions have an
isotopically distinct signature). Since these
isotope systems are independent from each
other and may offer complementary insights,
their combined use is the best strategy.
Since their introduction in Archaeology
35 years ago, stable isotope analysis has provided
a tool for the quantitative reconstruction of
forager subsistence, thereby enlarging the range
of topics addressed. Currently, the isotopic field
has grown to include studies of isotopic ecology
in complex ecosystems, forager diet, and geographical issues including foraging ranges, territories, and migrations, with a potential resolution
reaching the scale of individual life histories. The
theoretical and methodological limits of the isotopic revolution in archaeology lie still far ahead.

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Isotopic Studies of Foragers Diet: Environmental Archaeological Approaches

Cross-References
Archaeology of Hunter-Gatherers
Bone Chemistry and Ancient Diet
Hunter-Gatherer Settlement and Mobility
Hunter-Gatherer Subsistence Variability and
Intensification
Radiocarbon Dating Methods in Archaeology
Zooarchaeology

618

References

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AMBROSE, S.H. & L. NORR. 1993. Relationship of carbon

isotope ratios of whole diet and dietary protein to those
of bone collagen and carbonate, in J. Lambert &
G. Grupe (ed.) Prehistoric human bone: archaeology
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BENTLEY, R.A. 2006. Strontium isotopes from the earth to
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EVERSHED, R.P., I.D. BULL, L.T. CORR, Z.M. CROSSMAN,
B.E. VAN DONGEN, C.J. EVANS, S. JIM, H.R. MOTTRAM,
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isotopes in ecology and environmental science:
480-540. 2nd edn. Boston: Blackwell Publishing.
KATZENBERG, M.A. 2008. Stable isotope analysis, a tool for
studying past diet, demography, and life history, in
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anthropology of the human skeleton: 413-42. Hoboken: Wiley-Liss.
KELLY, R.L. 1995. The foraging spectrum. Diversity in
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PRICE, T.D. & J.H. BURTON. 2011. An introduction to

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SCHWARCZ, H.P., C.D. WHITE & F.D. LONGSTAFFE. 2010.
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Further Reading

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AMBROSE, S.H. 1993. Isotopic analysis of paleodiets:

methodological and interpretive considerations, in
M K. Sandford (ed.) Investigations of ancient human
tissue Chemical analysis in anthropology: 59-130.
Pennsylvania: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers.
AMBROSE, S.H. & M.A. KATZENBERG. (ed.) 2000. Biogeochemical approaches to paleodietary analysis
(Advances in Archaeological and Museum Science 5).
New York: Kluwer Academics-Plenum Press.
BARBERENA, R., A. GIL, G. NEME & R. TYKOT. (ed.) 2009.
Special Issue: Stable isotopes and archaeology in
southern South America. Hunter-gatherers, pastoralism, and agriculture. International Journal of
Osteoarchaeology 19(2).

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HEDGES, R.E.M., R.E. STEVENS & P.L. KOCH. 2006.

Isotopes in bones and teeth, in M.J. Leng (ed.) Isotopes
in paleoenvironmental research 10: 117-45. New
York: Springer.
KOCH, P.L. & J. BURTON. (ed.) 2003. Special Issue: Bone
chemistry. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
13(1-2).

WEBER, A.W., M.A. KATZENBERG & T. SCHURR. (ed.) 2010.

Prehistoric hunter-gatherers of the Baikal region,
Siberia: bioarchaeological studies of past lifeways.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

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Isotopic Studies of Foragers Diet: Environmental Archaeological Approaches

Isotopic Studies of Foragers Diet: Environmental Archaeological Approaches, Fig. 1 Atoms of the three
carbon isotopes used in archaeology

Isotopic Studies of
Foragers Diet:
Environmental
Archaeological
Approaches,
Fig. 2 South American
foragers: (a) Hoti family
returning from a fishing and
gathering trip (Venezuela);
(b) Nukak man fishing with
a bow and harpoon
(Colombia) (Photographs
courtesy of Gustavo G.
Politis)

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Au1

Isotopic Studies of Foragers Diet: Environmental

Archaeological Approaches, Fig. 3 Isotopic ecology
of the Baikal Region (Source: Weber et al. 2011: Fig. 2.

11

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 30 (4). Reprinted

with permission from Elsevier. Courtesy of Andrzej W.
Weber)

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Isotopic Studies of Foragers Diet: Environmental

Archaeological Approaches, Fig. 4 Dietary reconstruction based on a Linear Mixing Model with two
end members: terrestrial and marine protein

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