Andrew D. Somerville

Diet and gender in the Tiwanaku colonies: Stable isotope analysis of human bone collagen and apatite from Moquegua, Peru

OBJECTIVES Gender and other facets of social identity play important roles in the organization of complex societies. This study reconstructs dietary practices within the Middle Horizon (AD 500-1000) Tiwanaku colonies in southern Peru to increase our knowledge of gendered patterns of consumption within this early expansive state. METHODS We use stable isotope analysis of 43 human bone samples representing 14 females, 20 males, 8 juveniles, and 1 indeterminate individual recovered from burial excavations at the sites of Rio Muerto and Omo in the Moquegua Valley. Data are contextualized by comparisons with previously published Tiwanaku isotope data from the period. RESULTS Our results find mean values of δ(13) Capatite = -7.3 ± 1.6% (N = 36, 1SD), δ(13) Ccollagen  = -12.3 ± 1.5% (N = 43, 1SD), and δ(15) Ncollagen  = 8.4 ± 1.6% (N = 43, 1SD). Between the sexes, Mann-Whitney U tests demonstrate significant differences in δ(13) Ccollagen (U = 74, P = 0.021), but no differences in δ(13) Capatite (U = 58, P = 0.095) or δ(15) Ncollagen (U = 116, P = 0.755) values. CONCLUSIONS These data indicate relatively high C4 plant consumption among the Tiwanaku colonies, and support paleobotanical and archaeological evidence that maize (Zea mays) was the staple crop. Dietary values are similar overall between the sexes, but significantly higher δ(13) Ccollagen values in males is consistent with a model of gendered norms of consumption similar to that of the later Inca (AD 1438-1533), where males consumed more maize than females, often in the form of beer (chicha). Results provide new insights on social dynamics within the Tiwanaku colonies and suggest the increased importance maize consumption for males during the Tiwanaku expansion.

Animal Management at the Ancient Metropolis of Teotihuacan, Mexico: Stable Isotope Analysis of Leporid (Cottontail and Jackrabbit) Bone Mineral.

Human-animal interactions have played crucial roles in the development of complex societies across the globe. This study examines the human-leporid (cottontail and jackrabbit) relationship at the pre-Hispanic (AD 1–550) city of Teotihuacan in the Basin of Mexico and tests the hypothesis that leporids were managed or bred for food and secondary products within the urban core. We use stable isotope analysis (δ13Capatite and δ18Oapatite) of 134 leporid specimens from five archaeological contexts within the city and 13 modern specimens from across central Mexico to quantify aspects of leporid diet and ecology. The results demonstrate that leporids from Oztoyahualco, a residential complex associated with a unique rabbit sculpture and archaeological traces of animal butchering, exhibit the highest δ13Capatite values of the sample. These results imply greater consumption of human-cultivated foods, such as maize (Zea mays), by cottontails and jackrabbits at this complex and suggest practices of human provisioning. A lack of significant differences in δ18Oapatite values between ancient and modern leporids and between Oztoyahualco and other locations within Teotihuacan indicates generally similar relative humidity from sampled contexts. Results of this study support the notion that residents provisioned, managed, or bred leporids during the height of the city, and provide new evidence for mammalian animal husbandry in the ancient New World.

Stable Isotopes and Zooarchaeology at Teotihuacan, Mexico Reveal Earliest Evidence of Wild Carnivore Management in Mesoamerica

From Roman gladiatorial combat to Egyptian animal mummies, the capture and manipulation of carnivores was instrumental in helping to shape social hierarchies throughout the ancient world. This paper investigates the historical inflection point when humans began to control animals not only as alimental resources but as ritual symbols and social actors in the New World. At Teotihuacan (A.D. 1–550), one of the largest pre-Hispanic cities, animal remains were integral components of ritual caches expressing state ideology and militarism during the construction of the Moon and the Sun Pyramids. The caches contain the remains of nearly 200 carnivorous animals, human sacrificial victims and other symbolic artifacts. This paper argues the presence of skeletal pathologies of infectious disease and injuries manifest on the carnivore remains show direct evidence of captivity. Stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) of bones and teeth confirms that some of these carnivores were consuming high levels of C4 foods, likely reflecting a maize-based anthropocentric food chain. These results push back the antiquity of keeping captive carnivores for ritualistic purposes nearly 1000 years before the Spanish conquistadors described Moctezuma’s zoo at the Aztec capital. Mirroring these documents the results indicate a select group of carnivores at Teotihuacan may have been fed maize-eating omnivores, such as dogs and humans. Unlike historical records, the present study provides the earliest and direct archaeological evidence for this practice in Mesoamerica. It also represents the first systematic isotopic exploration of a population of archaeological eagles (n = 24) and felids (n = 29).

Environmental variables across Pan troglodytes study sites correspond with the carbon, but not the nitrogen, stable isotope ratios of chimpanzee hair

Diet influences the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen (δ13C and δ15N values) in animal tissue; but here we explore the influences of particular aspects of the local environment on those values in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). In this article we present new δ13C and δ15N values in Gombe chimpanzees using hairs collected from night nests in 1989. Then, we explore the influence of environmental factors by comparing our Gombe data to those from eight additional Pan study sites with previously published stable isotope data. We compare chimpanzee δ13Chair and δ15Nhar values to specific characteristics of local site ecology (biome and ecoregion) and to local Mean Annual Precipitation (MAP) to test hypotheses based on known effects of these variables on the δ13C and δ15N values in plant tissues. The comparison shows that hair from chimpanzees living in savanna sites with lower MAP have higher δ13Chair values than do chimpanzees living in woodland and forested sites with higher MAP. These results demonstrate the potential of using δ13C values in primate tissue to indicate aspects of their local ecology in cases where the ecology is uncertain, such as samples collected early in the last century and in fossil hominins. In contrast to expectations, however, chimpanzee δ15Nhair values from some savanna sites with lower MAP are lower, not higher, than those living in more forested areas with higher MAP. It is likely that diet selectivity by chimpanzees affects δ15Nhair values to a greater extent than does the influence of precipitation on plants. Am. J. Primatol. 78:1055–1069, 2016.

Exploring Patterns and Pathways of Dietary Change: Preferred Foods, Oral Health, and Stable Isotope Analysis of Hair from the Dani of Mulia, Papua, Indonesia

Interregional encounters frequently result in dietary, health, and cultural changes for participating groups. This paper investigates the patterns and pathways of dietary change among the Mulia Dani of highland western New Guinea, who at the time of data collection had been in contact with Christian missionaries and the global food market for 29 years. We explore three lines of data: food preferences (from survey responses), oral health (indicated by the percentage of carious and missing teeth), and dietary composition (from stable isotope ratios [δ13C and δ15N] of hair). We assess the results alongside categories of village affiliation, profession, age, and sex, finding that different demographic subsets within Mulia differentially adopted new foods and food preferences. Children and communities that had completely abandoned their traditional subsistence strategies appear to have been the segments of society most likely to exhibit dietary changes, and preferences for meat appear to have been influenced by the ability of a group to acquire animal products from the missionary settlement. Results of this study deepen our understanding of how new foods and ideas entered highland New Guinea and provide a model to understand processes of nutritional transitions in other times and regions.

Feeding Teotihuacan: integrating approaches to studying food and foodways of the ancient metropolis

This special issue of the Journal of Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences provides a broad overview of the foods and foodways at a premier example of urbanism in the pre-Hispanic New World, the ancient metropolis of Teotihuacan, Mexico. One of the grand challenges of reconstructing ancient urban foodways is determining the social, economic, political, and ideological factors that enabled the production, distribution, consumption, and discard of food. In this volume, we define foodways as a social process, reenacted via the daily interactions between individuals. By bringing together scholars of Teotihuacan that use diverse methods and scales of analysis, we are able to provide a synthetic review of Teotihuacan foodways by summarizing the findings of each of the contributors and contextualizing their results by embedding them within knowledge gained from the long history of investigation at the site.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUBSISTENCE EXCHANGE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: WAS WESTERN SEA-PURSLANE A CHANNEL ISLAND TRADE GOOD?

A popular model for social evolution in the Santa Barbara Channel region holds that, during times of resource stress, islanders would trade with mainlanders for plant foods in order to supplement island diets. Recently, western sea-purslane (Sesuvium verrucosum) has been suggested as a primary food product involved in this exchange. This report presents new caloric values for Sesuvium verrucosum and other plant foods that have been indicated as possible cross-channel trade goods. We argue that western sea-purslane is unlikely to have been a major trade item and suggest an alternate possibility for the presence of sea-purslane seeds in archaeological middens on Santa Cruz Island. While climate change may indeed have impacted social histories in the Channel Region, we argue that current data do not support the transportation of plant foods as having been a major component in this process. Un modelo popular sobre la evolución de la complejidad social en la región del canal de Santa Barbara sostiene que en épocas de estrés de recursos, los isleños negociarían con los habitantes de tierra firme para suplementar sus dietas con alimentos vegetales. Un estudio reciente sugiere que una planta en específico, Sesuvium verrucosum, fue un producto alimenticio primario involucrado en este intercambio. Este informe presenta nuevos valores calóricos para Sesuvium verrucosum y otros alimentos vegetales que han sido indicados como posibles productos de intercambio a través del canal. Se argumenta que no es probable que Sesuvium verrucosum fuera un recurso de intercambio importante. Sugerimos una posibilidad alternativa acerca de la presencia de semillas de Sesuvium verrucosum en los concheros arqueológicos de la isla de Santa Cruz. Aunque el cambio climático pudo haber impactado significativamente las historias sociales en la región del Canal, los datos actuales no sustentan la hipótesis que el intercambio de alimentos vegetales fuera un componente fundamental de este proceso.