Cyler Conrad

Palaeoecology and Forager Subsistence Strategies during the Pleistocene – Holocene Transition: A Reinvestigation of the Zooarchaeological Assemblage from Spirit Cave, Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand

abstract: This reanalysis uses the zooarchaeological assemblage recovered from Spirit Cave to understand hunter-gatherer use and occupation at the site during the Pleistocene – Holocene transition. We analyze bone fragmentation, sample size, and relative abundance to establish the preservation and overall composition of the remaining fauna. Identification of several new taxa, including roundleaf bats (Hipposideros larvatus and bicolor), elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata), black marsh turtle (Siebenrockiella crassicollis), Burmese hare (Lepus cf. peguensis) and a potential red junglefowl (Phasianidae — ?Gallus gallus) provide insights into hunter-gatherer occupation, palaeoecology, and subsistence strategies between 12,000 and 7000 years b.p. Our results indicate that Spirit Cave was occupied more sporadically than originally suggested; additionally, we identify new evidence for landscape disturbance during the early Holocene. Although this Spirit Cave zooarchaeological assemblage is incomplete, it remains an important component of Southeast Asian prehistory, providing evidence for human adaptations during a period of climatic change and instability.

STABLE OXYGEN ISOTOPE SOURCING OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL FAUNA FROM CHACO CANYON, NEW MEXICO

Modern datasets provide the context necessary for accurate interpretations of isotopic data from archaeological faunal assemblages. In this study, we use the oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O) of modern small mammals from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, to quantify expected isotopic variation in a local population. The δ18O values of local, modern small mammals encompass a broad range (−6.0‰ to 4.8‰ VPDB), which is expected given the extreme seasonal variation in the δ18O of precipitation on the Colorado Plateau (−11‰ to −3‰ VPDB). Isotopic ratios of small mammals obtained from excavated archaeological sites in Chaco Canyon (ca. AD 800 to 1200) show no significant differences with their modern counterparts, suggesting that there is no difference in the origins of the archaeological small-mammal collection and the modern, local Chaco Canyon small-mammal collection. In contrast, δ18O values of large mammals from Chaco archaeological sites are significantly different from those of modern specimens, reflecting a nonlocal, but also nonspecific, source in the past. Los datos isotópicos de los animales modernos pueden proporcionar información importante para la interpretación de los datos isotópicos procedentes de conjuntos faunísticos arqueológicos. En este estudio utilizamos las proporciones de isótopos de oxígeno (δ18O) de pequeños mamíferos modernos en Chaco Canyon, Nuevo México, para cuantificar la variación esperada para una única población local. El rango de valores de δ18O de los pequeños mamíferos locales en Chaco Canyon es amplio (-6,0‰ a 4,8‰ VPDB). Esto no es sorprendente, dada la considerable variación estacional de δ18O ligada a la precipitación en la meseta del Río Colorado (-11‰ a -3‰ VPDB). Las proporciones isotópicas de los pequeños mamíferos arqueológicos procedentes de los sitios excavados en Chaco Canyon (ca. 800–1200 dC) no difieren de manera significativa de las de los animales modernos. Esto sugiere que no hay diferencias de procedencia entre la colección arqueológica de pequeños mamíferos y los mamíferos locales modernos de Chaco Canyon. En cambio, los valores de δ18O de los mamíferos grandes de los sitios arqueológicos de la zona son muy distintos de los valores de mamíferos grandes modernos. Esto sugiere que los especímenes de mamíferos grandes arqueológicos tienen origen diferente y no local, aunque no especulamos sobre dónde pudo haber sido ese lugar.