Surf and turf: A dataset of stable isotope values of plants and animals from southern California.

This article presents baseline isotope values for plant and animal samples collected from across southern California. A total of 80 samples representing 50 species were collected and analyzed for this project. This original dataset includes 31 plant species, 13 finfish species, 3 mollusk species, 2 crustacean species, and 1 echinoderm. Plant samples were collected by the authors and an undergraduate research assistant in San Diego and Santa Barbara counties. Animal samples were procured from local fishers in San Diego and Santa Barbara. All samples were subjected to stable isotope analysis at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). In this paper we present our new δ13C and δ15N data alongside previously published values from three other studies [1], [2], [3]. The previously published values reproduced here were derived from a mix of modern and archaeological samples. Together, these data represent the most complete dataset currently available for southern California baseline stable isotope values. The full combined dataset can be found in the Supplemental Data included with this paper, while Table 1 presents a comparison of defatted and untreated faunal specimens. These data will be of use to archaeologists and ecologists conducting future isotope studies on the Pacific Coast of North America.

Animal Management at the Ancient Metropolis of Teotihuacan, Mexico: Stable Isotope Analysis of Leporid (Cottontail and Jackrabbit) Bone Mineral.

Human-animal interactions have played crucial roles in the development of complex societies across the globe. This study examines the human-leporid (cottontail and jackrabbit) relationship at the pre-Hispanic (AD 1-550) city of Teotihuacan in the Basin of Mexico and tests the hypothesis that leporids were managed or bred for food and secondary products within the urban core. We use stable isotope analysis (δ13Capatite and δ18Oapatite) of 134 leporid specimens from five archaeological contexts within the city and 13 modern specimens from across central Mexico to quantify aspects of leporid diet and ecology. The results demonstrate that leporids from Oztoyahualco, a residential complex associated with a unique rabbit sculpture and archaeological traces of animal butchering, exhibit the highest δ13Capatite values of the sample. These results imply greater consumption of human-cultivated foods, such as maize (Zea mays), by cottontails and jackrabbits at this complex and suggest practices of human provisioning. A lack of significant differences in δ18Oapatite values between ancient and modern leporids and between Oztoyahualco and other locations within Teotihuacan indicates generally similar relative humidity from sampled contexts. Results of this study support the notion that residents provisioned, managed, or bred leporids during the height of the city, and provide new evidence for mammalian animal husbandry in the ancient New World.

Environmental variables across Pan troglodytes study sites correspond with the carbon, but not the nitrogen, stable isotope ratios of chimpanzee hair.

Diet influences the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen (δ(13) C and δ(15) N values) in animal tissue; but here we explore the influences of particular aspects of the local environment on those values in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). In this article we present new δ(13) C and δ(15) N values in Gombe chimpanzees using hairs collected from night nests in 1989. Then, we explore the influence of environmental factors by comparing our Gombe data to those from eight additional Pan study sites with previously published stable isotope data. We compare chimpanzee δ(13) Chair and δ(15) Nhar values to specific characteristics of local site ecology (biome and ecoregion) and to local Mean Annual Precipitation (MAP) to test hypotheses based on known effects of these variables on the δ(13) C and δ(15) N values in plant tissues. The comparison shows that hair from chimpanzees living in savanna sites with lower MAP have higher δ(13) Chair values than do chimpanzees living in woodland and forested sites with higher MAP. These results demonstrate the potential of using δ(13) C values in primate tissue to indicate aspects of their local ecology in cases where the ecology is uncertain, such as samples collected early in the last century and in fossil hominins. In contrast to expectations, however, chimpanzee δ(15) Nhair values from some savanna sites with lower MAP are lower, not higher, than those living in more forested areas with higher MAP. It is likely that diet selectivity by chimpanzees affects δ(15) Nhair values to a greater extent than does the influence of precipitation on plants. Am. J. Primatol. 78:1055-1069, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Stable Isotopes and Zooarchaeology at Teotihuacan, Mexico Reveal Earliest Evidence of Wild Carnivore Management in Mesoamerica.

From Roman gladiatorial combat to Egyptian animal mummies, the capture and manipulation of carnivores was instrumental in helping to shape social hierarchies throughout the ancient world. This paper investigates the historical inflection point when humans began to control animals not only as alimental resources but as ritual symbols and social actors in the New World. At Teotihuacan (A.D. 1-550), one of the largest pre-Hispanic cities, animal remains were integral components of ritual caches expressing state ideology and militarism during the construction of the Moon and the Sun Pyramids. The caches contain the remains of nearly 200 carnivorous animals, human sacrificial victims and other symbolic artifacts. This paper argues the presence of skeletal pathologies of infectious disease and injuries manifest on the carnivore remains show direct evidence of captivity. Stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) of bones and teeth confirms that some of these carnivores were consuming high levels of C4 foods, likely reflecting a maize-based anthropocentric food chain. These results push back the antiquity of keeping captive carnivores for ritualistic purposes nearly 1000 years before the Spanish conquistadors described Moctezuma's zoo at the Aztec capital. Mirroring these documents the results indicate a select group of carnivores at Teotihuacan may have been fed maize-eating omnivores, such as dogs and humans. Unlike historical records, the present study provides the earliest and direct archaeological evidence for this practice in Mesoamerica. It also represents the first systematic isotopic exploration of a population of archaeological eagles (n = 24) and felids (n = 29).

Diet and gender in the Tiwanaku colonies: Stable isotope analysis of human bone collagen and apatite from Moquegua, Peru.

OBJECTIVES: Gender and other facets of social identity play important roles in the organization of complex societies. This study reconstructs dietary practices within the Middle Horizon (AD 500-1000) Tiwanaku colonies in southern Peru to increase our knowledge of gendered patterns of consumption within this early expansive state. METHODS: We use stable isotope analysis of 43 human bone samples representing 14 females, 20 males, 8 juveniles, and 1 indeterminate individual recovered from burial excavations at the sites of Rio Muerto and Omo in the Moquegua Valley. Data are contextualized by comparisons with previously published Tiwanaku isotope data from the period. RESULTS: Our results find mean values of δ(13) Capatite = -7.3 ± 1.6% (N = 36, 1SD), δ(13) Ccollagen = -12.3 ± 1.5% (N = 43, 1SD), and δ(15) Ncollagen = 8.4 ± 1.6% (N = 43, 1SD). Between the sexes, Mann-Whitney U tests demonstrate significant differences in δ(13) Ccollagen (U = 74, P = 0.021), but no differences in δ(13) Capatite (U = 58, P = 0.095) or δ(15) Ncollagen (U = 116, P = 0.755) values. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate relatively high C4 plant consumption among the Tiwanaku colonies, and support paleobotanical and archaeological evidence that maize (Zea mays) was the staple crop. Dietary values are similar overall between the sexes, but significantly higher δ(13) Ccollagen values in males is consistent with a model of gendered norms of consumption similar to that of the later Inca (AD 1438-1533), where males consumed more maize than females, often in the form of beer (chicha). Results provide new insights on social dynamics within the Tiwanaku colonies and suggest the increased importance maize consumption for males during the Tiwanaku expansion.

Paleomobility in the Tiwanaku diaspora: biogeochemical analyses at Rio Muerto, Moquegua, Peru.

Paleomobility has been a key element in the study of the expansion of ancient states and empires, including the Tiwanaku polity of the South Central Andes (AD 500-1000). We present radiogenic strontium and oxygen isotope data from human burials from three cemeteries in the Tiwanaku-affiliated Middle Horizon archaeological site complex of Rio Muerto in the Moquegua Valley of southern Peru. At Rio Muerto, archaeological human enamel and bone values range from (87) Sr/(86) Sr = 0.70657-0.72018, with a mean of (87) Sr/(86) Sr = 0.70804 ± 0.00207 (1σ, n = 55). For the subset of samples analyzed for oxygen isotope values (n = 48), the data ranges from δ(18) Ocarbonate(VSMOW) = +18.1 to +27.0‰. When contextualized with other lines of archaeological evidence, we interpret these data as evidence for an archaeological population in which the majority of individuals had "local" origins, and were likely second-generation, or more, immigrants from the Tiwanaku heartland in the altiplano. Based on detailed life history data, we argue a smaller number of individuals came at different ages from various regions within the Tiwanaku polity. We consider whether these individuals with isotopic values consistent with "nonlocal" geographic origins could represent first-generation migrants, marriage exchange partners, or occupationally mobile herders, traders or other travelers. By combining isotopic life history studies with mortuary treatment data, we use a person-centered migration history approach to state integration and expansion. Isotopic analyses of paleomobility at the Rio Muerto site complex contribute to the role of diversity in ancient states by demonstrating the range of geographic origins rather than simply colonists from the Lake Titicaca Basin.