The life-history of a late Mesolithic woman in Iberia: A sequential multi-isotope approach

Abstract

Multi-isotope analyses on diverse body tissues can offer valuable information on individual life-histories at different temporal resolutions. Here, we reconstruct the diet and mobility of a Late Mesolithic (ca. 5500 cal. BC) young woman buried in Aizpea rockshelter (Navarre, north-central Iberia). To this end, we combine δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotope analyses of bone collagen, together with sequential δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotope analyses of tooth dentine and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr analysis of tooth enamel from the permanent maxillary right second molar. We also present results of bone collagen measurements for a wide range of coeval faunal remains, including terrestrial ungulates, freshwater fish and birds, and plant remains (i.e. carbonized pome fruits and hazelnut shells) to characterize baseline isotopic signatures. Results suggest a broadspectrum diet with a relatively high and stable protein intake during early childhood and significant changes in diet during late childhood, including two marked dips in δ 15 N at 8.5 and 11.5 years old, and a progressive decrease in δ 13 C and δ 15 N from adolescence onwards. The dips may relate to metabolic processes related to growth or, more probably, to age-related subsistence practices, particularly supplementation by children of the parentally provisioned diet, while the sustained drop in isotope values may be associated with a progressively higher dietary contribution from plants that extends into adulthood. Strontium isotope data supports relatively restricted mobility from age 2.5 to 8 (i.e. the approximate time-span covered by enamel formation in the permanent maxillary second molar), consistent with the high degree of territoriality attributed to the last hunters-gatherers in northern Iberia.

FRUITS of the sea? A cautionary tale regarding Bayesian modelling of palaeodiets using stable isotope data

“…: 1275) at Carding Mill Bay is unwarranted. Fernandes et al (2015) recommend human diet-to-collagen enrichment factors of +4.8 ± 0.5‰ for  13 C and +5.5 ± 0.5‰ for  15 N. These values have been widely used in modelling (e.g., Fernández-Crespo et al 2020;Pickard and Bonsall 2020;Sjögren 2017). If anything, it is the high  15 Ndiet-collagen enrichment factor that is more controversial.…”

Paleomobility in Iberia: 12 years of strontium isotope research

“…To date, our database includes 1635 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isotopic values from 33 publications ( Alt et al 2016;Albizuri et al 2019;Balsera et al 2016;Carvalho et al 2015, Carvalho et al 2019Díaz-del-Río et al, 2017a;Díaz-del-Río et al, 2017b;Díaz-Zorita Bonilla et al 2009;Díaz-Zorita Bonilla, 2013;Díaz-Zorita Bonilla et al 2018;Díaz-Zorita Bonilla et al, 2021;García-Rivero et al 2020;Fernández-Crespo et al 2020a, Fernández-Crespo et al 2020bGuede et al 2017, Guede, 2018Lillios et al 2015;MacRoberts et al 2020;Merner, 2017;Ortega et al 2013;Prevedorou et al 2010;Saragoça et al 2016;Sarasketa-Gartzia et al 2018, Sarasketa-Gartzia et al 2019Valenzuela-Lamas et al 2016, Valenzuela-Lamas et al 2018Valenzuela-Suau et al 2021;Valera et al 2020, Villalba-Mouco et al 2020Waterman, 2012;Wright et al 2019;Žalait ė, 2016, Žalait ė et al 2018. The bulk (80 %) have been published since 2017 (Fig.…”

“…All of them have large enough sample size to allow for a reasonably robust approach to local/regional paleomobility (e.g. Fernández-Crespo et al, 2020b).…”

“…Torres-Martínez et al 2021) is mostly a consequence of the generalization of cremation as a funerary rite and the limited preservation of teeth. Finally, the only 6 Mesolithic samples belong to the same individual, a young woman buried at the Aizpea rock shelter (Fernández Crespo et al, 2020b) and is thus anecdotal.…”

Life history of a high‐class noblewoman from the late Shu state in the Chengdu Plain during the Eastern Zhou period (770–221 BC): Childhood stresses and stable life

“…However, human lifestyles in late Shu culture period have not been extensively explored, as previous studies mainly focused on the Late Neolithic to early Shu culture stages (Lin et al, 2022;Yi et al, 2018;Yi et al, 2021). In recent years, various aspects of an individual's life from birth to death have begun to be revealed at a finer resolution by conducting multi-isotope analyses of skeletal and dentin serial sections or hair keratin representing different life stages (Wang, Wei, et al, 2022;Fernández-Crespo et al, 2020;Kaupová et al, 2020;Yi et al, 2019;Laffoon et al, 2018;Eerkens et al, 2017;Tsutaya et al, 2016;Frei et al, 2015;Lamb et al, 2014;Knudson et al, 2012).…”