Ancient Beringian paleodiets revealed through multiproxy stable isotope analyses.

Area of Science:

• Paleoecology
• Paleoanthropology
• Isotope Geochemistry

Background:

• Early Native American diets are debated, with theories of megafaunal specialization versus generalist foraging.
• Faunal records alone are insufficient to resolve dietary debates.
• Stable isotope analysis offers direct insight into consumed foods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the diets of Ancient Beringian infants using multi-tissue stable isotope analysis.
• To reconstruct maternal dietary patterns during fetal development.
• To test hypotheses about early Holocene foraging strategies in Alaska.

Main Methods:

• Stable isotope analysis (carbon and nitrogen) of infant bone collagen and tooth enamel.
• Multi-tissue analysis to differentiate between infant and maternal diets.
• Modeling of fetal bone turnover and seasonal resource availability.

Main Results:

• Maternal diets were primarily terrestrial but included significant salmon consumption.
• Carbon isotope analysis of essential amino acids and bone bioapatite confirmed the importance of salmon.
• Tooth enamel isotopes indicated increased salmon consumption from spring to summer.

Conclusions:

• Ancient Beringian diets were complex and seasonally structured, not fitting simple megafaunal specialist or generalist forager models.
• Isotope analysis provides crucial data for understanding prehistoric subsistence strategies.
• This study highlights the importance of marine resources in early Holocene Alaska.