Human palaeodiet at Zamostje 2, central Russia: Results of radiocarbon and stable isotope analyses. (10th March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Meadows, John; Lozovskaya, Olga; Bondetti, Manon; Drucker, Dorothée G.; Moiseyev, Vyacheslav
• Is Part Of: Quaternary international. Volume 541(2020)
• Page Start: 89
• Page End: 103
• Publication Date: 2020-03-10
• Subjects: Radiocarbon -- Dietary stable isotopes -- Mesolithic -- Human remains -- Fauna -- Flora; Geology, Stratigraphic -- Quaternary -- Periodicals; Stratigraphie -- Quaternaire -- Périodiques; 551.79
• DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2019.07.017
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1040-6182

Abstract

Abstract: Only 21 human remains have been identified at Zamostje 2, despite extraordinarily good conditions for organic preservation, and the recovery of thousands of animal bones from layers dating from the Late Mesolithic to the Middle Neolithic (c.6500–4000 cal BC). Almost all the human remains are fragments of the cranium, maxilla, mandible, which are potentially reworked from earlier depositions, uphill or upstream of Zamostje 2, or isolated teeth. Disregarding naturally shed deciduous teeth, these remains have been attributed to between 5 and 14 individuals, ranging in age from 6 to 7 years to mature adult. We report AMS radiocarbon ( 14 C) dating and dietary stable isotopes, δ 13 C and δ 15 N, for all the human bones, and δ 13 C and δ 15 N values from 63 prehistoric animal bones from Zamostje 2, including 18 fish and 7 dogs. Using the faunal isotope data, we construct isotope signatures for different food groups, which we use to interpret the human δ 13 C and δ 15 N values. Based on 14 C ages and dietary stable isotopes, we propose that the human bones represent 10–12 individuals, most of whom date to the Late Mesolithic occupation at Zamostje 2; one is somewhat earlier in the Mesolithic, one (probably from the nearby site, Zamostje 1) may date to the Middle Neolithic, and two (one from Zamostje 1, one unprovenanced) date to the Late Neolithic or Eneolithic. The earliest and latest individuals may have obtained most of their dietary protein intake from fish, but Late Mesolithic individuals probably had more mixed diets. Palaeodiet reconstruction is complicated by unusual δ 13 C and δ 15 N values for local fish in the Late Mesolithic, which are reflected in δ 13 C and δ 15 N values from dogs.