Status and gender differences in diet at Mound 72, Cahokia, revealed by isotopic analysis of bone

Stable Isotope Chemistry of Bone Collagen and Carbonate Assessed by Bone Density Fractionation

“…All stable isotope results derived were summarized in Ccol vs. δ 1 5 Ncol from Roughground Farm. Ccol vs. δ 1 3 correspond to previous research, [15][16][17] where the larger isotopic spacing was reported in ruminants in comparison with the non-methanogenic animals.…”

“…1 On the other hand, diet-to-apatite carbonate carbon isotopic enrichment was reported as being 9.4‰, although that of ruminants was reported as being around 12-14‰, whereas that of non-methanogenic animals is about 9‰. [15][16][17] Therefore, additional isotopic information can be obtained from bone collagen and apatite carbonate together, compared to the results produced by collagen itself, because the δ 13 C value of bone carbonate neither overestimates-nor underestimates the proportions of carbon atoms from dietary components. 3 For example, the isotopic analysis of collagen may over-represent a δ 13 C enriched marine diet, and may also under-represent δ 13 C enriched plant foods such as maize.…”

Plant foods and the dietary ecology of Neanderthals and early modern humans

“…Nitrogen isotope values in particular can be misleading. First, because of the complex nonlinear relationship between food source and consumer, it is not possible to accurately estimate the proportion of meat versus plants in the diet, since large changes in the percentage of meat are indicated only by small increases in d 15 N values (Ambrose et al, 2003;Hedges and Reynard, 2007). Second, unlike herbivores that acquire all of their protein from plant leaves, foraging humans usually eat plants for their carbohydrate content, and therefore focus on the starch-and sugar-rich storage organs of plants, such as USOs and seeds (Lee, 1979;Marlowe, 2010).…”

Carbon isotope fractionation between diet, breath CO2, and bioapatite in different mammals

“…Specific applications include estimating the amount of C 4 plant food in diet [33] (including agricultural maize [1]), identifying closed-canopy habitats [10,26], evaluation of herd-management strategies of ancient pastoralists [6], and estimating age at weaning [40]. Many of these applications require a precise knowledge of the isotopic enrichment between diet and bioapatite.…”