Stable isotopic analysis of prehistoric human diet in the Mariana Islands, western Pacific

Dietary patterns during the late prehistoric/historic period in Cikobia island (Fiji): insights from stable isotopes and dental pathologies

“…Other investigations interpret in paleodietary terms results obtained on collagen with carbon/nitrogen ratios outside the range of 2.9e3.6 (e.g. [107]), although such a range is usually considered to be characteristic of unaltered collagen [33]. Thus, the only data on ancient human populations from south-western Pacific islands comparable to the data presented here are those from Ambrose et al [6].…”

“…[6,29,81,82,83,95,107]) but have not yet been applied to Fiji. Such investigations take advantage of the differences in the isotopic signatures of carbon, nitrogen, and sometimes sulphur, in terrestrial and marine dietary resources.…”

Investigating foetal and perinatal mortality in prehistoric skeletal samples: a case study from a 3000-year-old Pacific Island cemetery site

“…Palaeodietary studies using stable isotopes have been conducted on a variety of Pacific Island cemetery samples from the Marianas Archipelago (Ambrose et al, 1997) to Easter Island (Fogel et al, 1997) and a number of islands in between (Davidson and Leach, 2001;Leach et al, 1996;Leach et al, 2000;Leach et al, 2003;McGovern-Wilson and Quinn, 1996;Pate et al, 2001;Quinn, 1990;Valentin et al, 2006). However, none of these studies included subadults in their analyses, with the exception of Valentin et al (2006) who analysed the bone collagen of one eight year old individual.…”

Dynamics of Polynesian Subsistence: Insights from Archaeofauna and Stable Isotope Studies, Aitutaki, Southern Cook Islands

“…Although relatively new in the Pacific (Leach et al 1996, Ambrose et al 1997, Pate et al 2001, Valentin et al 2006, Beavan-Athfield et al 2008), several classic studies from elsewhere illustrate how stable isotope analysis of human and animal bones can inform on large-scale subsistence change, as for example, the transition to agriculture (Tauber 1981), the adoption of exotic food crops (e.g., Vogel andvan der Merwe 1977, Katzenberg et al 1995), variation in marine versus terrestrial dietary contributions (e.g., Schoeninger et al 1983), and trophic level shifts (e.g., Schoeninger and DeNiro 1984). The Aitutaki study utilizes both stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes.…”