Elemental signatures of human diets from the Georgia Bight

Multielement analysis was performed on bone samples extracted from the femora of 39 adults from three mortuary sites (Johns Mound, Santa Catalina de Guale, and Santa Catalina de Guale de Santa Maria) and time periods (late preagricultural, early contact, and late contact) in the Georgia Bight. This study was used to investigate whether elemental analysis would support or contradict other lines of data regarding diets and dietary change previously generated for the region. The data are in agreement with an earlier interpretation, based on stable isotopes, that dietary maize increases through time but fails to support the idea that marine resources decreased in importance. Rather, it appears that the wild plant food component of the diets decreases as maize increases in importance; throughout the sequence, marine resources comprise a significant portion of the diets.