Ancient Beringian paleodiets revealed through multiproxy stable isotope analyses

Carrin M Halffman; Ben A Potter; Holly J McKinney; Takumi Tsutaya; Bruce P Finney; Brian M Kemp; Eric J Bartelink; Matthew J Wooller; Michael Buckley; Casey T Clark; Jessica J Johnson; Brittany L Bingham; François B Lanoë; Robert A Sattler; Joshua D Reuther

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abc1968

Ancient Beringian paleodiets revealed through multiproxy stable isotope analyses

Sci Adv. 2020 Sep 4;6(36):eabc1968. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abc1968. Print 2020 Sep.

Authors

Carrin M Halffman¹, Ben A Potter², Holly J McKinney³, Takumi Tsutaya⁴, Bruce P Finney⁵, Brian M Kemp^{6

7}, Eric J Bartelink⁸, Matthew J Wooller^{9

10}, Michael Buckley¹¹, Casey T Clark^{12

13}, Jessica J Johnson¹⁴, Brittany L Bingham⁶, François B Lanoë^{15

16}, Robert A Sattler¹⁷, Joshua D Reuther^{3

16}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA. cmhalffman@alaska.edu rhovanion25@gmail.com.
² Arctic Studies Center, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng City, Shandong Province, China. cmhalffman@alaska.edu rhovanion25@gmail.com.
³ Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
⁴ Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Research Institute for Marine Resources Utilization, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan.
⁵ Departments of Biological Sciences and Geosciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, USA.
⁶ Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, Norman, OK, USA.
⁷ Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
⁸ Department of Anthropology, California State University, Chico, CA, USA.
⁹ Alaska Stable Isotope Facility, Water and Environmental Research Center, Institute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
¹⁰ Marine Biology Department, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
¹¹ Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
¹² Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
¹³ Water and Environmental Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Biology and Wildlife/Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
¹⁵ Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ, USA.
¹⁶ Archaeology Department, University of Alaska Museum of the North, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
¹⁷ Tanana Chiefs Conference, Fairbanks, AK, USA.

Abstract

The earliest Native Americans have often been portrayed as either megafaunal specialists or generalist foragers, but this debate cannot be resolved by studying the faunal record alone. Stable isotope analysis directly reveals the foods consumed by individuals. We present multi-tissue isotope analyses of two Ancient Beringian infants from the Upward Sun River site (USR), Alaska (~11,500 years ago). Models of fetal bone turnover combined with seasonally-sensitive taxa show that the carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of USR infant bone collagen reflects maternal diets over the summer. Using comparative faunal isotope data, we demonstrate that although terrestrial sources dominated maternal diets, salmon was also important, supported by carbon isotope analysis of essential amino acids and bone bioapatite. Tooth enamel samples indicate increased salmon use between spring and summer. Our results do not support either strictly megafaunal specialists or generalized foragers but indicate that Ancient Beringian diets were complex and seasonally structured.

Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.