Isotopic Evidence for Long-Distance Connections of the AD Thirteenth-Century Promontory Caves Occupants
The Promontory caves (Utah) and Franktown Cave (Colorado) contain high-fidelity records of short-term occupations by groups with material culture connections to the Subarctic/Northern Plains. This research uses Promontory and Franktown bison dung, hair, hide, and bone collagen to establish local bas...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2020.116 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S000273162000116X |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/aaq.2020.116 2024-06-09T07:49:50+00:00 Isotopic Evidence for Long-Distance Connections of the AD Thirteenth-Century Promontory Caves Occupants Metcalfe, Jessica Z. Ives, John W. Shirazi, Sabrina Gilmore, Kevin P. Hallson, Jennifer Brock, Fiona Clark, Bonnie J. Shapiro, Beth 2021 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2020.116 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S000273162000116X en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ American Antiquity volume 86, issue 3, page 526-548 ISSN 0002-7316 2325-5064 journal-article 2021 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2020.116 2024-05-15T13:17:29Z The Promontory caves (Utah) and Franktown Cave (Colorado) contain high-fidelity records of short-term occupations by groups with material culture connections to the Subarctic/Northern Plains. This research uses Promontory and Franktown bison dung, hair, hide, and bone collagen to establish local baseline carbon isotopic variability and identify leather from a distant source. The ankle wrap of one Promontory Cave 1 moccasin had a δ 13 C value that indicates a substantial C 4 component to the animal's diet, unlike the C 3 diets inferred from 171 other Promontory and northern Utah bison samples. We draw on a unique combination of multitissue isotopic analysis, carbon isoscapes, ancient DNA (species and sex identification), tissue turnover rates, archaeological contexts, and bison ecology to show that the high δ 13 C value was not likely a result of local plant consumption, bison mobility, or trade. Instead, the bison hide was likely acquired via long-distance travel to/from an area of abundant C 4 grasses far to the south or east. Expansive landscape knowledge gained through long-distance associations would have allowed Promontory caves inhabitants to make well-informed decisions about directions and routes of movement for a territorial shift, which seems to have occurred in the late thirteenth century. Article in Journal/Newspaper Subarctic Cambridge University Press American Antiquity 86 3 526 548 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
The Promontory caves (Utah) and Franktown Cave (Colorado) contain high-fidelity records of short-term occupations by groups with material culture connections to the Subarctic/Northern Plains. This research uses Promontory and Franktown bison dung, hair, hide, and bone collagen to establish local baseline carbon isotopic variability and identify leather from a distant source. The ankle wrap of one Promontory Cave 1 moccasin had a δ 13 C value that indicates a substantial C 4 component to the animal's diet, unlike the C 3 diets inferred from 171 other Promontory and northern Utah bison samples. We draw on a unique combination of multitissue isotopic analysis, carbon isoscapes, ancient DNA (species and sex identification), tissue turnover rates, archaeological contexts, and bison ecology to show that the high δ 13 C value was not likely a result of local plant consumption, bison mobility, or trade. Instead, the bison hide was likely acquired via long-distance travel to/from an area of abundant C 4 grasses far to the south or east. Expansive landscape knowledge gained through long-distance associations would have allowed Promontory caves inhabitants to make well-informed decisions about directions and routes of movement for a territorial shift, which seems to have occurred in the late thirteenth century. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Metcalfe, Jessica Z. Ives, John W. Shirazi, Sabrina Gilmore, Kevin P. Hallson, Jennifer Brock, Fiona Clark, Bonnie J. Shapiro, Beth |
spellingShingle |
Metcalfe, Jessica Z. Ives, John W. Shirazi, Sabrina Gilmore, Kevin P. Hallson, Jennifer Brock, Fiona Clark, Bonnie J. Shapiro, Beth Isotopic Evidence for Long-Distance Connections of the AD Thirteenth-Century Promontory Caves Occupants |
author_facet |
Metcalfe, Jessica Z. Ives, John W. Shirazi, Sabrina Gilmore, Kevin P. Hallson, Jennifer Brock, Fiona Clark, Bonnie J. Shapiro, Beth |
author_sort |
Metcalfe, Jessica Z. |
title |
Isotopic Evidence for Long-Distance Connections of the AD Thirteenth-Century Promontory Caves Occupants |
title_short |
Isotopic Evidence for Long-Distance Connections of the AD Thirteenth-Century Promontory Caves Occupants |
title_full |
Isotopic Evidence for Long-Distance Connections of the AD Thirteenth-Century Promontory Caves Occupants |
title_fullStr |
Isotopic Evidence for Long-Distance Connections of the AD Thirteenth-Century Promontory Caves Occupants |
title_full_unstemmed |
Isotopic Evidence for Long-Distance Connections of the AD Thirteenth-Century Promontory Caves Occupants |
title_sort |
isotopic evidence for long-distance connections of the ad thirteenth-century promontory caves occupants |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2020.116 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S000273162000116X |
genre |
Subarctic |
genre_facet |
Subarctic |
op_source |
American Antiquity volume 86, issue 3, page 526-548 ISSN 0002-7316 2325-5064 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2020.116 |
container_title |
American Antiquity |
container_volume |
86 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
526 |
op_container_end_page |
548 |
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1801382712366333952 |