Stable Isotope Chemistry, Population Histories and Late Prehistoric Subsistence Change in the Aleutian Islands
Aleut population history has been a topic of debate since the earliest archaeological investigations in the region. In this paper, we use stable isotope chemistry to evaluate the hypothesis that two distinct groups of people, Paleo- and Neo-Aleut, occupied the eastern Aleutians after 1000 BP. This s...
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ftmissouristuniv:oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:articles-chpa-1258 2023-05-15T13:14:14+02:00 Stable Isotope Chemistry, Population Histories and Late Prehistoric Subsistence Change in the Aleutian Islands Byers, David A. Yesner, David R. Broughton, Jack M. Coltrain, Joan Brenner 2011-01-01T08:00:00Z text/html https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/articles-chpa/259 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.09.005 unknown BearWorks https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/articles-chpa/259 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.09.005 College of Humanities and Public Affairs stable isotopes Aleut Aleutian Islands linear mixing model text 2011 ftmissouristuniv https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.09.005 2022-02-28T19:41:53Z Aleut population history has been a topic of debate since the earliest archaeological investigations in the region. In this paper, we use stable isotope chemistry to evaluate the hypothesis that two distinct groups of people, Paleo- and Neo-Aleut, occupied the eastern Aleutians after 1000 BP. This study focuses on 80 sets of directly dated eastern Aleutian burial assemblages from Chaluka midden, Shiprock Island and Kagamil Island. We use a linear mixing model informed by isotopic analysis of two large Aleut faunal assemblages to address temporal and spatial variation in human carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data from these sites. The patterning we report addresses both Aleut demographic and economic prehistory, illustrating a transition in both at ca. 1000 BP. Our results suggests that the Chaluka diet, dominated by Paleo-Aleut inhumations, differed in both trophic level and foraging location from the other two sites for much of the past 4000 years. Trends in our data also suggest that individuals from Shiprock and Kagamil burial caves, primarily Neo-Aleuts, had enough access to higher trophic level foods to differentiate their bone chemistries from those buried in Chaluka midden. These trends in diet, recently reported genetic differences, as well as the introduction of novel mortuary practices at ca. 1000 BP, suggest that Neo-Aleuts do represent a population new to the eastern Aleutians. Text aleut Chaluka Aleutian Islands Missouri State University: BearWorks Journal of Archaeological Science 38 1 183 196 |
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Missouri State University: BearWorks |
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topic |
stable isotopes Aleut Aleutian Islands linear mixing model |
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stable isotopes Aleut Aleutian Islands linear mixing model Byers, David A. Yesner, David R. Broughton, Jack M. Coltrain, Joan Brenner Stable Isotope Chemistry, Population Histories and Late Prehistoric Subsistence Change in the Aleutian Islands |
topic_facet |
stable isotopes Aleut Aleutian Islands linear mixing model |
description |
Aleut population history has been a topic of debate since the earliest archaeological investigations in the region. In this paper, we use stable isotope chemistry to evaluate the hypothesis that two distinct groups of people, Paleo- and Neo-Aleut, occupied the eastern Aleutians after 1000 BP. This study focuses on 80 sets of directly dated eastern Aleutian burial assemblages from Chaluka midden, Shiprock Island and Kagamil Island. We use a linear mixing model informed by isotopic analysis of two large Aleut faunal assemblages to address temporal and spatial variation in human carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data from these sites. The patterning we report addresses both Aleut demographic and economic prehistory, illustrating a transition in both at ca. 1000 BP. Our results suggests that the Chaluka diet, dominated by Paleo-Aleut inhumations, differed in both trophic level and foraging location from the other two sites for much of the past 4000 years. Trends in our data also suggest that individuals from Shiprock and Kagamil burial caves, primarily Neo-Aleuts, had enough access to higher trophic level foods to differentiate their bone chemistries from those buried in Chaluka midden. These trends in diet, recently reported genetic differences, as well as the introduction of novel mortuary practices at ca. 1000 BP, suggest that Neo-Aleuts do represent a population new to the eastern Aleutians. |
format |
Text |
author |
Byers, David A. Yesner, David R. Broughton, Jack M. Coltrain, Joan Brenner |
author_facet |
Byers, David A. Yesner, David R. Broughton, Jack M. Coltrain, Joan Brenner |
author_sort |
Byers, David A. |
title |
Stable Isotope Chemistry, Population Histories and Late Prehistoric Subsistence Change in the Aleutian Islands |
title_short |
Stable Isotope Chemistry, Population Histories and Late Prehistoric Subsistence Change in the Aleutian Islands |
title_full |
Stable Isotope Chemistry, Population Histories and Late Prehistoric Subsistence Change in the Aleutian Islands |
title_fullStr |
Stable Isotope Chemistry, Population Histories and Late Prehistoric Subsistence Change in the Aleutian Islands |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stable Isotope Chemistry, Population Histories and Late Prehistoric Subsistence Change in the Aleutian Islands |
title_sort |
stable isotope chemistry, population histories and late prehistoric subsistence change in the aleutian islands |
publisher |
BearWorks |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/articles-chpa/259 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.09.005 |
genre |
aleut Chaluka Aleutian Islands |
genre_facet |
aleut Chaluka Aleutian Islands |
op_source |
College of Humanities and Public Affairs |
op_relation |
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/articles-chpa/259 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.09.005 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.09.005 |
container_title |
Journal of Archaeological Science |
container_volume |
38 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
183 |
op_container_end_page |
196 |
_version_ |
1766262718383259648 |