Human dietary assessment in the Pre-colonial Lesser Antilles: New stable isotope evidence from Lavoutte, Saint Lucia

A Multi-Isotope Investigation of Human and Dog Mobility and Diet in the Pre-Colonial Antilles

“…Similar observations of intra-population homogeneity in stable isotope values (i.e. the lack of dietary distinctions between locals and nonlocals) had previously been reported for other pre-colonial Antillean communities, such as Lavoutte, St. Lucia (Laffoon, Hoogland et al 2016), and including the Anse à la Gourde human population based on collagen data (Laffoon and de Vos 2011) but it was unclear if this pattern reflected similarities in diets between locations or simply that nonlocals adapted their diets to local practices over time. The enamel data from this study seems to support the former interpretation at least for these specific populations but this generalisation cannot be extended to the entire Caribbean, as there is tentative evidence for distinct dietary differences between locals and nonlocals at other sites in the broader region including Tutu, St. Thomas ; Maisabel, Puerto Rico (Laffoon 2016); and El Chorro de Maíta, Cuba (Valcárcel Rojas et al 2011).…”

“…This point bears further elaboration, given ongoing debates amongst Caribbean archaeologists concerning the relative importance of maize (a C 4 crop) versus root crops such as manioc (C 3 plants). The data presented here provides further support to the observation that despite the early and widespread presence of maize in the pre-colonial Antilles (Mickleburgh and Laffoon 2017;Mickleburgh and Pagán-Jiménez 2012;Newsom and Wing 2004;Pagan Jiménez 2011Pagán-Jiménez et al 2015), its overall contribution to diet for most individuals was not substantial (Laffoon, Hoogland et al 2016;Pestle 2010). In other words, despite the presence of maize and the associated knowledge concerning cultivation and processing of this plant crop, Amerindian communities in the Caribbean seemed to incorporated maize into a broad spectrum food economy, rather than relying on it as a staple crop.…”

“…Previous research (e.g. Chinique de Armas et al 2015Armas et al , 2016Krigbaum, Fitzpatrick, and Bankaitis 2013;Laffoon 2016;Laffoon, Hoogland et al 2016;Pestle 2010;Stokes 1998) has documented that collagen stable isotope data in particular display clear spatial patterning with populations from smaller islands generally possessing both enriched δ reliance on marine protein sources amongst the smaller islands of the Lesser Antilles (Stokes 1998).…”

“…Numerous isotopic studies in the Caribbean region have revealed substantial insights on indigenous human paleodiet (Buhay et al 2013;Chinique de Armas et al 2015; Keegan and DeNiro 1988;Krigbaum, Fitzpatrick, and Bankaitis 2013;Laffoon and de Vos 2011;Laffoon, Hoogland et al 2016;Norr 2002;Pestle 2010Pestle , 2013Stokes 1998) and human paleomobility (e.g. Booden et al 2008;Laffoon 2012Laffoon , 2013Valcárcel Rojas et al 2011) practices.…”

“…It has been previously demonstrated that human collagen isotope data from a large number of circum-Caribbean populations display clear spatial patterning, likely reflecting biogeographical principles and variable resource availability (Chinique de Armas et al 2016;Laffoon 2016;Laffoon, Hoogland et al 2016;Pestle 2010;Stokes 1998). Nevertheless, the extant bone and enamel apatite datasets (Krigbaum, Fitzpatrick, and Bankaitis 2013;Laffoon, Valcárcel Rojas, and Hofman 2013;Norr 2002;Pestle 2010;Stokes 1998), including the newly generated human and dog data presented here, show much less clustering in δ 13 C than the collagen data.…”