Starch analysis and isotopic evidence of consumption of cultigens among fisher–gatherers in Cuba: the archaeological site of Canímar Abajo, Matanzas

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

“…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.…”

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

“…Furthermore, with the possible exception of Punta Candelero, Puerto Rico, where a temporal shift in diet has been reported (Pestle, 2010a;Pestle, 2013b), these spatial dietary patterns seem to persist over long periods of time. Whether this chronological consistency in stable isotope results, and presumably dietary practices, extends into earlier time periods is difficult to assess owing to a general lack of data from Pre-Ceramic (Archaic Age) contexts in the circum-Caribbean, although recent studies have begun to address this deficiency (Buhay et al, 2013;Chinique de Armas et al, 2015;Mickleburgh and Laffoon, in press). Overall, the available stable isotope evidence indicates a high degree of temporal conservatism in dietary behavior (Stokes, 1998) that contrasts with zooarcheological (Carlson and Keegan, 2004;Fitzpatrick et al, 2008) and dental anthropological (Mickleburgh, 2013(Mickleburgh, , 2014 evidence for changes to human food-ways during this period, and the rather largescale cultural, social, environmental, and climatic changes that occurred throughout the Ceramic Age (~2500-500 BP) (Burney et al, 1994;Curet and Oliver, 1998;Curtis et al, 2001;Hodell et al, 1991;Hofman, 2013;Keegan, 2000;Lane et al, 2011;Rouse, 1992;Siegel, 2010).…”

“…In terms of dietary assessment, results of stable isotope analyses in addition to starch grain analyses of residues on ceramics, lithics, and in human dental calculus have called into question several aspects of the traditional model of pre-colonial subsistence in the Caribbean Pearsall, 2000, 2008;Chinique de Armas et al, 2015;Mickleburgh and Pagán Jiménez, 2012;Pagán-Jiménez, 2011;Pagán Jiménez, 2013;Pagán-Jiménez and Oliver, 2008;Pagán-Jiménez and Rodríguez Ramos, 2007;Pearsall, 2002). First, overall convergence of multiple lines of evidence indicates that most, if not all, Ceramic Age communities relied on a broad spectrum of plant and animal resources.…”

“…Recent starch grain studies have revealed the presence of maize (Zea mays) starch grains in a wide range of substrates (ceramics; lithic, coral and shell tools; and human dental calculus) at a large number of pre-colonial sites with a broad geographic distribution in the circumCaribbean (summarized in, Pagán Jiménez, 2013). Evidence of maize consumption has even been recovered from Archaic Age individuals that were previously thought to predate the arrival of maize to the insular Caribbean (Chinique de Armas et al, 2015;Mickleburgh and Pagán Jiménez, 2012;. Importantly, in terms of overall abundance and distribution, maize starch grains are just as, if not more, widespread and ubiquitous as those of roots crops (Pagán Jiménez, 2013).…”