Coastal complexity: Ancient human diets inferred from Bayesian stable isotope mixing models and a primate analogue.

ABSTRACT: An extensive ecological literature applies stable isotope mixing models to derive quantitative dietary reconstructions from isotope ratios of consumer tissues. While this approach works well for some organisms, it is challenging for consumers with complex, varied diets, including humans; indeed, many archaeologists have avoided the use of mixing models because uncertainties in model outputs are sufficiently large that the findings are not helpful in understanding ancient lifeways. Here, we exploit an unparalleled opportunity to evaluate the feasibility of dietary quantification in a nutritionally and isotopically complex context on the Cape Peninsula, South Africa. Delta values (δ13C and δ15N) of 213 indigenous food samples enable us to characterise four food groups: terrestrial plants, te

SUBMITTER: Lewis MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6301609 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature