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Hypothetical phylogeny of the Hominini. Boldface marks species for which stable carbon isotope observations are available. Observations for early Homo have thus far been presented without reference to species. Broken bars indicate probable as opposed to directly established time spans.
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Citations
... The use of stable carbon isotope ratios in bioapatite of tooth enamel (δ 13 C enamel ) indicates the proportion of plants that employ C 3 or C 4 photosynthetic processes and are ingested by herbivores and carnivores' prey (Klein, 2013). In regions classified as the tropics and subtropics, like Southeast Asia, where most of terrestrial biomes are dominated by various types of rainforests, with the absence or scarcity of grasslands, the canopy effect phenomenon caused by low light and respired CO 2 significantly drives stable carbon isotope variation in forest-dwelling plant biomass and animals, i.e. closed versus open forest conditions (Vogel, 1978;Ehleringer et al., 1987;van der Merwe and Medina, 1989). ...
Two archaeological sites, Tham Lod and Ban Rai rockshelters, in highland Pang Mapha, Mae Hong Son Province in northwestern Thailand have yielded several late Pleistocene to Holocene human and animal remains associated with the Hoabinhian technocomplex. Previously, stable carbon isotope compositions of human and faunal tooth enamel samples from Tham Lod Rockshelter have suggested a forest-grassland mosaic as being a Hoabinhian-related habitat in the region during the late Pleistocene. Although zooarchaeological data have implied rainforest specialization for early to mid-Holocene Hoabinhian hunter-gatherers, the extent and degree of human reliance on rainforest resources in the region have not yet been investigated in detail. To refine the timing of dietary changes and ecological adaptations of Hoabinhian hunter-gatherers in the region, we measured stable carbon isotope compositions of tooth enamel of humans and associated mammals from the early Holocene of Ban Rai Rockshelter and from several other Iron Age log-coffin sites in highland Pang Mapha, dated between 10,000 and 650 cal yr BP, in comparison with previously analyzed isotope data from the nearby late Pleistocene site of Tham Lod Rockshelter. The isotopic results from Ban Rai Rockshelter have revealed that the hunter-gatherers had a dietary shift to more exclusive C3 food items starting at around the early Holocene or probably during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, despite the availability of open canopies and no clear evidence of lithic technological changes. Since that time, a succeeding human subsistence strategy with more emphasized rainforest occupation, in response to more homogeneous and closed environments and wetter climate, has possibly remained unalterable in the region. This study documents the late emergence of specialized rainforest hunter-gatherers in the highland of northwestern Thailand, compared to archaeological findings in neighboring regions. Our findings highlight the asynchronous initialization of an ecological adaptation among hunter-gatherers as a reaction to environmental changes across different geographical regions during the late Pleistocene and Holocene.
... The use of stable carbon isotope ratios in bioapatite of tooth enamel (δ 13 C enamel ) reflects the proportion of plants, using either C 3 or C 4 photosynthetic pathways, consumed by herbivores and preys eaten by carnivores (Klein 2013). In tropical and subtropical regions such as Southeast Asia, where most terrestrial biomes are dominated by various types of rainforests, with the absence of grasslands, the canopy effect phenomenon as a result of low light and respired CO 2 has significantly driven stable carbon isotope variation in forest-dwelling plant biomass and animals, i.e. closed versus open forest conditions (Vogel 1978;Ehleringer et al. 1987;van der Merwe et al. 1989). ...
Controversy exists as to whether the Pleistocene vegetation in northern Sundaland was dominated by lowland tropical grasslands or rainforests, due to limited palaeoecological evidence recorded from the region. We describe a new Pleistocene large mammal fauna from Tham Kra Duk, a cave in the Tham Phedan mountain, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province in Peninsular Thailand, with emphasis on its palaeoecological and palaeoenvironmental investigations using the stable isotope analysis of mammalian tooth enamel. The fossil site has yielded at least nine mammalian taxa almost comparable to late middle to latest Pleistocene faunas in the mainland, thus suggesting the same biogeographic mammal elements with a range extension south of the Kra Isthmus. The stable isotope results indicate that mixed woodland to grassland ecosystems were dominated by C4 vegetation in the area. This supports the assumption that the expansion of Pleistocene tropical savanna ecosystems might have held the key to facilitating the southward distribution range of grazing mammals such as gaurs and Himalayan gorals into the Thai-Malay Peninsula. The presence of the Tham Kra Duk fauna was probably linked to some major biogeographic events of Pleistocene hominin and mammal migration through the land-bridge peninsula into the islands of Southeast Asia during a period of glaciation.
... Confrontational scavenging must have been intermingled with primary scavenging, hunting of smaller prey, and gathering [40]. A long-lasting trend of disappearing fruits and the dry periods of climatic variability [41] were factors likely to have selected for the first habit. Even endurance running, speeding up carrion acquisition, could have appeared with the scavenging habit, to limit the duration of bacterial growth in the carcass and transported, butchered meat [42]. ...
A dynamic model and an agent-based simulation model implementing the assumptions of the confrontational scavenging hypothesis on early protolanguage as an adaptive response of Homo erectus to gradual change in their habitat has been developed and studied. The core assumptions of the hypothesis and the model scenario are the pre-adaptation of our ancestors to occupy the ecological niche that they constructed for themselves by having evolved displaced communication and a rudimentary tool manufacture, two features allowing them to use a new, concentrated and abundant resource—megafauna carrion—on the savannahs replacing arboreal habitats owing to the drying climate of East Africa at about 2 Ma. The shift in diet required coordinated cooperation by the hominin scavengers confronted with concurrent predators. Power scavenging compelled displaced symbolic communication featuring a limited semantic range; syntax was not yet required. We show that phenotypic evolution on the accuracy of information transfer between cooperating hominins is a necessary and sufficient condition for the population of agents to survive the diet shift. Both the individual and the group fitness of the hominin horde increased with the accuracy of their protolanguage, with decreasing time allocated to foraging and thus more time left for culture.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘Human socio-cultural evolution in light of evolutionary transitions’.
... Ma) incorporated significantly more C 4 foods in their diets. The robust australopith, Paranthropus boisei (n = 27; ~ 2.0-1.5 Ma), and early Homo (n = 24; ~ 2.1-1.5 Ma) were found to have the highest C 4 consumption (Klein, 2013;Sponheimer et al., 2013;Cerling et al., 2013;Wynn et al., 2013). After the publication of these studies, the site of Woranso-Mille in Ethiopia's lower Awash Valley yielded hominin remains analyzed for stable isotopes as Hominini indet. . ...
Archaeological applications of stable isotope data have become increasingly prevalent, and the use of these data continues to expand rapidly. Researchers are starting to find that recovering data for multiple elements provides additional insight and quantitative data for answering questions about past human activities and behaviors. Many stable isotope studies in archaeology, however, rarely move beyond comparisons of descriptive statistics such as mean, median, and standard deviation. Over the last decade, ecologists have formalized the concept of isotopic niche space, and corresponding isotopic niche overlap, to incorporate data from two or more isotopic systems into a single analysis. Additionally, several methods for quantifying isotopic niche space and overlap are now available. Here, I describe the evolution of the isotopic niche space concept and demonstrate the usefulness of it for archaeological research through three case studies using the recently developed rKIN package that allows for a comparison of different methods of isotopic niche space and overlap estimations. Two case studies apply these new measures to previously published studies, while a third case study illustrates its applicability to exploring new hypotheses and research directions. The benefits and limitations of quantifying isotopic niche space and overlap are discussed, as well as suggestions for data reporting and transparency when using these methods. Isotopic niche space and overlap metrics will allow archaeologists to extract more nuanced information from stable isotope datasets in their drive to understand more fully the histories of the human conditions.
... Carbon stable isotopic values differentiate the two principal photosynthetic pathways used by tropical plants. In the tropics, the C 3 pathway is used by most trees, shrubs, forbs and non-grassy herbs, while the C 4 pathway is used by tropical grasses, sedges, and rare dicots that are often found in hot and arid conditions (Ambrose and DeNiro, 1986;Ehleringer and Monson, 1993;Koch, 1998;Schoeninger, 1995;Wynn, 2000;Ehleringer and Cerling, 2002;Hatté and Schwartz, 2003;Kohn, 2010;Cerling et al., 2013a;Klein, 2013). In the African tropics, a third photosynthesis pathway, Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), is used mostly by succulent plants and they have stable carbon isotopic values similar to C 4 plants. ...
The Awash Valley, Turkana Basin and lower Omo Valley of East Africa are three regions that have been particularly important for documenting the environment from the late Miocene to the Holocene, but these basins have never been compared throughout that large temporal sequence. In this context, we compare changes in the diet of herbivores with mixed diets (hippopotamids, elephantids, suids and bovids), the total large-vertebrate diet in the ecosystem, as well as water deficit from these three basins between 7.4 Ma and 10 ka to determine how they were different. Our sample consists of a compilation of more than 3000 published mammalian stable isotopic values. Our results show that the Awash valley becomes more arid through time, corresponding broadly with an increase in C4 plants, but that relationship is not clear in the other two basins. The Awash and Turkana are broadly similar in overall aridity while the lower Omo Valley is clearly more mesic between 4 and 2.5 Ma. However, the Turkana and Omo are similar in ecosystem values, while it is the Awash that presents a landscape with more C4 plants. When comparing the diets, the three basins are similar, with an increase in C4 plants after ~4 Ma (after 3.0–3.4 Ma in the lower OmoValley), with all taxa converging by 1.9–2.4 Ma on a similar diet with mostly C4 plants. Elephants vary little throughout the sequence when compared to the other taxa. Our data suggest that, except for elephantids, all taxa studied track the expansion of C4 plants in East Africa and that this expansion may be, in part, related to a general increase in aridity.
... This appears to be broadly comparable, both chronologically and in terms of mixing of cremated and unburnt remains, with other elaborate Irish passage tombs (Cooney 2017). From the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC there seems to be a shift towards a focus on the deposition of unburnt skull bone, a practice that may present similarities to the evidence from the Mound of the Hostages, Tara [H2]Isotope analyses The principles of archaeological isotope analysis (of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and strontium) have seen considerable discussion in the recent archaeological literature (Bentley 2006;Montgomery 2010;Schulting 2011;Chenery et al. 2012;Evans et al. 2012;Klein 2013;Ditchfield 2014;Snoek et al. 2016;Neil et al. 2017). In brief and simplified terms, the ratio between the strontium isotopes 87 Sr and 86 Sr found in human and animal remains relates to the composition and, especially, the age, of the underlying bedrock geology and the resulting strontium composition in the biosphere (Bentley 2006; Montgomery 2010). ...
... The carbon 13 ratio (expressed as δ 13 C) relates to diet. Measured on dental enamel carbonate (presented in Table 6), the δ 13 CC value reflects the blood bicarbonate reservoir and thus the total diet of an individual (Klein 2013;Ditchfield 2014) whereas when measured on bone collagen (presented in Table 3), δ 13 C is more sensitive towards dietary protein (Hedges 2003a;2003b;Richards & Schulting 2006). The nitrogen isotope ratio (expressed as δ 15 N), measured on collagen, is linked to the trophic level (position in the food chain) of the dietary proteins of foods consumed. ...
... A number of recent high-resolution studies combining palaeolimnological investigation with pollen and geochemical analyses of sediments in two nearby lakes -Templevanny Lough, c. 1 km south-west, and Loughmeenaghan, c. 3 km north-west of Carrowkeelhave identified evidence for Neolithic pastoral farming activity in the catchment areas of both lakes in several key phases (Stolze et al. 2012;2013;Taylor et al. 2016). The studies reveal that the most intensive evidence for (pastoral) farming dates to the Early Neolithic between c. 3750 and 3500 BC and wanes after this date. ...
The first detailed investigation of the human remains from the Carrowkeel passage tomb complex since their excavation in 1911 has revealed several new and important insights about life, death, and mortuary practice in Neolithic Ireland. Osteological analysis provides the first conclusive proof for the occurrence of dismemberment of the dead at Irish passage tombs, practised contemporarily with cremation as one of a suite of funerary treatments. The research also highlights changes in burial tradition at the complex over the course of the Neolithic. Providing a chronology for these changes allows them to be linked to wider trends in monument construction, which may relate to changes in both land use and climate during the period. Multi-isotope analysis hints at the presence of non-local individuals among the interred and the possible existence of different food sourcing areas at the onset of the later Neolithic period. Preliminary results from ancient DNA sequencing of six individuals from Carrowkeel provide evidence for the genetic ancestry of Irish Neolithic populations, demonstrating their Anatolian origins and links along the Atlantic façade.
... A simplified diagram of the distribution of δ 13 C in ecosystems is shown in Figure 1. δ 13 C is also widely used for predicting the origin of diets through time and across space [26][27][28][29][30]. This is because animals are similar in isotopic compositions to their diets for carbon but heavier by 3-5 ‰ from dietary nitrogen. ...
... Recent studies of early hominin tooth enamel have challenged conventional ideas regarding the evolution of hominin diets and feeding behaviors (Cerling et al., 2011;Henry et al., 2012;Lee-Thorp et al., 2012;Cerling et al., 2013;Klein, 2013;Sponheimer et al., 2013;Wynn et al., 2013;Alemseged, 2015;Levin et al., 2015). These analyses have also raised new questions regarding interactions between early hominins and other species and their environments. ...
One approach to understanding the context of changes in hominin paleodiets is to examine the paleodiets and paleohabitats of contemporaneous mammalian taxa. Recent carbon isotopic studies suggest that the middle Pliocene was marked by a major shift in hominin diets, characterized by a significant increase in C4 foods in Australopithecus-grade species, including Australopithecus afarensis. To contextualize previous isotopic studies of A. afarensis, we employed stable isotopes to examine paleodiets of the mammalian fauna contemporaneous with A. afarensis at Hadar, Ethiopia. We used these data to inform our understanding of paleoenvironmental change through the deposition of the Hadar Formation. While the majority of the taxa in the Hadar fauna were C4 grazers, most show little change in the intensity of C4 food consumption over the 0.5 million-year interval sampled. Two taxa (equids and bovins) do show increases in C4 consumption through the Hadar Formation and into the younger, overlying Busidima Formation. Changes in the distributions of C4-feeders, C3-feeders and mixed-C3/C4-feeders in the sampled intervals are consistent with evidence of dietary reconstructions based on ecomorphology, and with habitats reconstructed using community structure analyses. Meanwhile, A. afarensis is one of many mammalian taxa whose C4 consumption does not show directional change over the intervals sampled. In combination with a wide range of carbon and oxygen isotopic composition for A. afarensis as compared to the other large mammal taxa, these results suggest that the C3/C4 dietary flexibility of A. afarensis was relatively unusual among most of its mammalian cohort.
... In studying pollen and phytolith remains recovered from plaque on teeth of A. sediba fossils, Henry et al. 54 found that their diet consisted wholly of leaves, fruits, the bark of trees, and herbaceous plants (C 3 vegetation). The diet of A. sediba is at odds with the diet of other hominin species (such as A. africanus) 55 in the CoH, including those from the same time period. 54 Therefore the location of Malapa, in a relatively sheltered valley near the confluence of two streams, might have provided the ideal riparian environment for A. sediba in an otherwise C 4 -dominated grassland. ...
We report δ13C and δ18O results from carbonate-cemented cave sediments at Malapa in South Africa. The sediments were deposited during a short-period magnetic reversal at 1.977±0.003 Ma, immediately preceding deposition of Facies D sediments that contain the type fossils of Australopithecus sediba. Values of δ13C range between -5.65 and -2.09 with an average of -4.58±0.54‰ (Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite, VPDB) and values of δ18O range between -6.14 and -3.84 with an average of -4.93±0.44‰ (VPDB). Despite signs of diagenetic alteration from metastable aragonite to calcite, the Malapa isotope values are similar to those obtained in two previous studies in South Africa for the same relative time period. Broadly, the Malapa δ13C values provide constraints on the palaeovegetation at Malapa. Because of the complex nature of the carbonate cements and mixed mineralogy in the samples, our estimates of vegetation type (C4-dominant) must be regarded as preliminary only. However, the indication of a mainly C4 landscape is in contrast to the reported diet of A. sediba, and suggests a diverse environment involving both grassland and riparian woodland.
... Based on the premise that isotopic signatures of foods are transferred to consumer's tissues upon ingestion and assimilation, stable isotope analysis (SIA) of bodily tissues can be used in paleo and modern human diet reconstruction to determine variations in food consumption patterns along regional and socioeconomic lines. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] For instance, analysis of the stable isotope ratio of nitrogen (δ 15 N value) is used to determine meat intake of individuals and populations due to the elevated δ 15 N values of animal foods, [8][9][10] while analysis of the stable isotope ratio of carbon (δ 13 C value) can be used to determine dietary introduction of agriculturally important C4 grasses due to their distinct isotope signatures. [11] Recent developments involve the use of stable isotopes as intake biomarkers of specific foods relevant to public health research, including fish [12,13] and added sugars [14][15][16][17][18] (See Jahren et al. [19] for a review of the added sugar biomarker). ...
Rationale
Isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) is used extensively to reconstruct general attributes of prehistoric and modern diets in both humans and animals. In order to apply these methods to the accurate determination of specific intakes of foods/nutrients of interest, the isotopic signature of individually consumed foods must be constrained. For example, 86% of the calories consumed in the USA are derived from processed and prepared foods, but the relationship between the stable isotope composition of raw ingredients and the resulting products has not been characterized.
Methods
To examine the effect of common cooking techniques on the stable isotope composition of grain‐based food items, we prepared yeast buns and sugar cookies from standardized recipes and measured bulk δ ¹³ C and δ ¹⁵ N values of samples collected throughout a 75 min fermentation process (buns) and before and after baking at 190°C (buns and cookies). Simple isotope mixing models were used to determine if the isotopic signatures of 13 multi‐ingredient foods could be estimated from the isotopic signatures of their constituent raw ingredients.
Results
No variations in δ ¹³ C or δ ¹⁵ N values were detected between pre‐ and post‐baked yeast buns (pre: –24.78‰/2.61‰, post: –24.75‰/2.74‰), beet‐sugar cookies (pre: –24.48‰/3.84‰, post: –24.47‰/3.57‰), and cane‐sugar cookies (pre: –19.07‰/2.97‰, post: –19.02‰/3.21‰), or throughout a 75 min fermentation process in yeast buns. Using isotopic mass balance equations, the δ ¹³ C/δ ¹⁵ N values of multi‐ingredient foods were estimated from the isotopic composition of constituent raw ingredients to within 0.14 ± 0.13‰/0.24 ± 0.17‰ for gravimetrically measured recipes and 0.40 ± 0.38‰/0.58 ± 0.53‰ for volumetrically measured recipes.
Conclusions
Two common food preparation techniques, baking and fermentation, do not substantially affect the carbon or nitrogen isotopic signature of grain‐based foods. Mass‐balance equations can be used to accurately estimate the isotopic signature of multi‐ingredient food items for which quantitative ingredient information is available. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
