Dietary reconstruction

Aufderheide, A.C., Kelley, M.A., Rivera, M., Gray, L., Tieszen, L.L., Iversen, E., Krouse, H.R. and Carevic, A. 1994 Contributions of chemical dietary reconstruction to the assessment of adaptation by ancient highland immigrants (Alto Ramirez) to coastal conditions at Pisagua, North Chile. o/ Archaeological Science 2V. 515-524. 

Van Klinken, GJ. 1991 Dating and Dietary Reconstruction by Isotopic Analysis of Amino Acids in Fossil Bone Collagen—with Special Reference to the Caribbean. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Groningen, The Netherlands. 

Figure 14.11 813C values of cholesterol recorded by GC C IRMS from a wide range of skeletal members and teeth confirming the consistency of the signals and potential utility for palaeo dietary reconstruction... 

The well-known saying you are what you eat has been taken almost literally in archaeology for the past 40 years, and dietary reconstruction has been attempted using trace element levels in bone mineral, and stable isotope studies... 

DIETARY RECONSTRUCTION FROM TRACE ELEMENTS IN BONE MINERAL... 

ISOTOPIC DIETARY RECONSTRUCTION FROM HUMAN BONE... 

We have alluded above to the fact that dietary reconstruction from bone can be no more than a relatively long-term average, since in life bone is constantly remodelled. In general, a dietary reconstruction based on bone collagen is likely to represent the average diet of that individual over the last few years of life -perhaps up to as much as ten years before death, depending on the particular bone used. An extension of the isotopic dietary method is to use the differential information available within a single skeleton to study human lifetime mobility. This technique has been developed and exploited most clearly on historic material from South Africa (Sealy et al., 1995 Sealy, 2001 Cox et al., 2001). 

Antoine, S.E., Dresser, P.Q., Pollard, A.M. and Whittle, A.W.R. (1988a). Bone chemistry and dietary reconstruction in Prehistoric Britain examples from Wessex. In Science and Archaeology, Glasgow 1987, ed. Slater, E.A. and Tate, J.O., BAR British Series 196, British Archaeological Reports, Oxford, pp. 369 380. 

Diet and stable isotopes, western Mediterranean prehistory, 118-120 Dietary reconstruction from coprolites, human mtDNA extraction, Hinds Cave, Texas, 81 Dietary research through stable isotopes, principles and interpretation, 115-117 Dikgatlampi workings, Botswana, specularite sourcing, 465 Discriminant function analysis, INAA geochemical data, 466,469-477/... 

Archaeologists are often interested in dietary considerations, but normally have only bone to represent the human organism, the soft tissues having decomposed Dietary reconstruction using... 

Bone tissue is created from the minerals and organic molecules that entered the body through drinking water and food and the chemistry of human bone holds information on the diet and life history of the deceased individual. Both the elemental and the isotopic composition of bone are important in studies concerned with dietary reconstruction. Elemental analyses focus on the mineral portion of bone, while isotopic studies are usually aimed at the organic part. Isotopic analyses are also used to study place of origin and past climate as recorded in tooth and bone. The role of archaeological chemistry in the study of prehistoric bones is discussed in further detail in Chap. 4 on Methods, and several examples are provided in Chap. 7, Environment and Diet. 

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