Reconstructing Ancestral Puebloan Diets in the Middle San Juan River,
New Mexico through Stable Isotope Analysis
Beau R. DeBoer – Eastern New Mexico Universityand
Robert H. Tykot – University of South Florida
Tommy Site
Mine Canyon Site
Hypotheses
• First, that there is no evidence of any dietary differences between the sexes at the Tommy Site.
• Second, that there is no evidence of any dietary differences between the sexes at the Mine Canyon Site.
• Third, that there will be a difference in the sample ratios through time between the Tommy Site and Mine Canyon Site.
Stable Isotope Analysis• Carbon isotope analysis is used to identify CCarbon isotope analysis is used to identify C3 and C and C4 plant life. plant life.• Collagen and apatite used together allow for a fairly complete Collagen and apatite used together allow for a fairly complete
representation of carbon intake.representation of carbon intake.• Nitrogen isotope Nitrogen isotope analysis is used to identify the trophic level of is used to identify the trophic level of
the organism consumed and indicates the amount of animal the organism consumed and indicates the amount of animal products consumed.products consumed.
Distinguishing C3 and C4 Plants
C3 Plants• Wheat• Rice• Beans• Tubers• Nuts
C4 Plants• Maize• Teosinte• Amaranth• Sugar cane• Sorghum• Some millets
(DeNiro 1987:184)
Analysis Samples• Fifty samples were collected, thirty-eight from the Tommy Site
and twelve from the Mine Canyon Site.• Results were obtained for nearly all samples, values produced
carbon and nitrogen ratios for collagen, and carbon and oxygen isotopes for apatite.
• Samples were prepared and analyzed at the University of South Florida by stable isotope mass spectrometry facilities.
Table 1. Isotopic Results Site Sample # d13Cco d15N d13Cap d18OapTommy Site TS-2 -5.9 7.6 -2.0 -7.1Tommy Site TS-4 -7.0 7.5 -2.8 -7.7Tommy Site TS-6 8.1 -2.8 -8.9Tommy Site TS-8 -7.0 7.1 -3.6 -8.6Tommy Site TS-9 -7.2 6.9 -3.0 -7.6Tommy Site TS-10 -8.1 8.1 -2.8 -8.4Tommy Site TS-15 -6.7 8.7 -3.4 -5.8Tommy Site TS-21 -6.8 7.4 -3.5 -8.4Tommy Site TS-24 -7.0 7.8 -4.5 -6.5Tommy Site TS-25 -7.0 8.7 -3.7 -7.3Tommy Site TS-26 -6.9 7.5 -2.5 -8.2Tommy Site TS-28 -4.5 -8.2Tommy Site TS-29 -7.4 8.0 -3.8 -9.0Tommy Site TS-30 -7.3 7.5 -3.1 -7.1Tommy Site TS-32 -6.5 7.1 -3.3 -8.3Tommy Site TS-34 -7.8 6.4 -3.7 -7.3Tommy Site TS-35 -7.0 6.5 -2.5 -7.7Tommy Site TS-38 -7.4 7.3 -3.3 -8.3Tommy Site TS-39 -6.6 8.6 -2.8 -7.7Tommy Site TS-40 -6.7 8.0 -2.3 -7.6Tommy Site TS-44 -7.4 6.9 -3.0 -6.9Tommy Site TS-47 -3.5 -8.1Tommy Site TS-49 -7.5 8.1 -2.9 -6.9Tommy Site TS-50 -6.9 7.1 -2.3 -6.3Tommy Site TS-51 -7.0 8.8 -2.3 -7.2Tommy Site TS-56 -7.0 8.0 -2.6 -7.7Tommy Site TS-65 -6.6 7.4 -3.9 -8.2Tommy Site TS-69 -7.1 8.7 -3.4 -7.6Tommy Site TS-72 -7.0 8.7 -3.4 -7.7Tommy Site TS-74 -3.7 -7.2Tommy Site TS-78 -6.8 7.4 -3.6 -6.4Tommy Site TS-79 -7.1 8.5 -3.1 -6.6Tommy Site TS-80 -6.9 7.9 -2.7 -6.6Tommy Site TS-83 -6.9 9.4 -3.1 -8.1Tommy Site TS-84 -7.1 8.4 -3.1 -6.8Tommy Site TS-92 -6.8 8.0 -2.3 -6.6Tommy Site TS-96 -7.1 8.1 -3.3 -8.4Tommy Site TS-98 -7.0 8.1 -3.2 -8.0
Table 1. Isotopic Results (continued)Site Sample # d13Cco d15N d13Cap d18OapMine Canyon Site MCS-C -6.7 7.7 -3.0 -8.7Mine Canyon Site MCS-D -7.6 6.5 -2.9 -6.5Mine Canyon Site MCS-E -7.0 7.9 -2.5 -6.9Mine Canyon Site MCS-F -6.8 8.6 -3.3 -6.4Mine Canyon Site MCS-H -7.1 8.5 -3.3 -7.8Mine Canyon Site MCS-J -6.6 7.3 -2.5 -6.9Mine Canyon Site MCS-K -6.5 7.1 -2.9 -4.6Mine Canyon Site MCS-L -6.6 7.4 -2.9 -6.4Mine Canyon Site MCS-N -7.0 8.4 -3.8 -7.9Mine Canyon Site MCS-S -6.8 8.1 -3.8 -7.5Mine Canyon Site MCS-T -7.5 8.3 -3.1 -5.1Mine Canyon Site MCS-Z -7.1 8.3 -4.3 -7.3
Lone Kiva Site LK-4 -7.7 6.7 -4.4 -7.5
Results• The first hypothesis, that there is no evidence of any
dietary differences between the sexes at the Tommy Site, is not rejected.
• We found no statistically significant difference in the values.
Female Male
-8.0
-7.5
-7.0
-6.5
-6.0
d13Cco
49
6
Figure 1. Tommy Site 13Cco Values by Sex
Results• The second hypothesis, that there is no evidence of any dietary
differences between the sexes at the Mine Canyon Site, is not rejected.
• We found no statistically significant difference in the values.
Female Male
-8.0
-7.5
-7.0
-6.5
-6.0
d13Cco
Figure 2. Mine Canyon Site 13Cco Values by Sex
Results• The third and final hypothesis, that there will be a
difference in the sample ratios through time between the Tommy Site and Mine Canyon Site, is rejected.
• We found no distinction in the values.
Tommy Mine Canyon
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
d15N
Figure 5. 15N Values for Tommy Site and Mine Canyon Site
Tommy Mine Canyon
-4.5
-4.0
-3.5
-3.0
-2.5
-2.0d13Cap
Figure 4. 13Cap Values for Tommy Site and Mine Canyon Site
Tommy Mine Canyon
-8.0
-7.5
-7.0
-6.5
-6.0
d13Cco
16
1
6
Figure 3. 13Cco Values for Tommy Site and Mine Canyon Site
Results• Nitrogen isotope values for the Tommy Site and Mine
Canyon Site values have been combined, and while not statistically significant it does appear that females may have consumed slightly more animal products than males.
Female Male
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
d15N
Figure 6. Tommy Site and Mine Canyon Site Combined 15N
Regional Comparisons• Based on the Decker and Tieszen (1989) estimates,
individuals from the Tommy Site and Mine Canyon Site had C4 diets composed of at least 70 to 80 percent C4 plant life.
• Like Spielmann et al. (1990) the Tommy Site and Mine Canyon Site had little isotopic change through time, and suggest that a large portion of the diet was reserved for C4 plants.
• Using the ranges provided by Matson and Chisholm (1991), at least 80 percent of the Tommy Site and Mine Canyon Site diet is made up of C4 plants.
• Compared to Ambrose et al. (2003) samples, the Tommy Site and Mine Canyon Site samples had diets significantly higher in C4 plant life.
Cahokia Ambrose et al. (2003)
Mesa Verde Decker and Tieszen
(1989)
Pecos Pueblo Spielman et al.
(1990) adapted from range
Cedar Mesa Matson and Chisholm
(1991)
Tommy Site and Mine Canyon Site DeBoer and Tykot
(2007)
-20.0
-17.5
-15.0
-12.5
-10.0
-7.5
-5.0
Figure 7. Regional Comparisons
dCco
llag
en
Incr
ease
in C
4 C
onsu
mpt
ion
Dog Isotope Analysis• Collected one dog sample for stable isotope analysis in order to
test whether its values matched human values.• Believed to be a dog because of its intact burial, located close to
human burials.• Results indicate a diet that is nearly identical isotopically to the
human samples.
Conclusions
• The people living at the Tommy Site and Mine Canyon Site had a diet that was very high in C4 plant life, the likely cause being maize.
• Although the species of fauna changed at some sites in this region, nitrogen values for the two sites indicate the same trophic level of animal product consumption.
• Isotopically, the diet of these prehistoric individuals remained the same through time.
References Cited
Decker, Kenneth W. and Larry L. Tieszen1989 Isotopic Reconstruction of Mesa Verde Diet from Basketmaker III to Pueblo III. Kiva 55(1):33- 47.
DeNiro, Michael J.1987 Stable Isotopy and Archaeology. American Scientist 75(2):182-191.
Durand, Kathy Roler and Stephen R. Durand2006 Variation in Economic and Ritual Fauna at Salmon Ruins. In Thirty-Five Years of Archaeological Research at Salmon Ruins, New Mexico. Volume Three: Archaeobotanical Research and Other Analytical Studies, edited by Paul F. Reed, pp. 1079-1100. Center for Desert Archaeology, Tucson and Salmon Ruins, Museum, Bloomfield, New Mexico.
Katzenberg, M. Anne (editor)2000 Stable Isotope Analysis: A Tool for Studying Past Diet, Demography, and Life History. In Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton, edited by M. Anne Katzenberg and Shelley R. Saunders, pp. 305-327. Wiley-Liss, New York.
Matson, R. G.1991 The Origins of Southwestern Agriculture. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson & London.
Matson, R.G., and Brian Chisholm1991 Basketmaker II Subsistence: Carbon Isotopes and Other Dietary Indicators from Cedar Mesa, Utah. American Antiquity 56(3):444-459.
Ambrose, Stanley H., Jane Buikstra, and Harold W. Krueger2003 Status and Gender Differences in Diet at Mound 72, Cahokia, Revealed by Isotopic Analysis of Bone. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 22:217-226.
Spielmann, Katherine A., Margaret J. Schoeninger, and Katherine Moore1990 Plains-Pueblo Interdependence and Human Diet at Pecos Pueblo, New Mexico. American Antiquity 55(4):745-765.
Slatter, Shannon T.2000 Exploration of Craniometric Characters Used in the Analysis and Classification of Recovered Canid Specimens. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology and Applied Archaeology, Eastern New Mexico University.
Tykot, Robert H.2004 Stable isotopes and diet: You are what you eat. Proceedings of the International School of Physics “Enrico Fermi” Course CLIV, M. Martini, M. Milazzo and M. Piacentini (Eds.) pp. 433-444 IOS Press, Amsterdam.
Tykot, Robert H. 2006 Isotope Analyses and the Histories of Maize. In Histories of Maize: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Prehistory, Linguistics, Biogeography, Domestication, and Evolution of Maize, edited by John E. Staller, Robert H. Tykot, and Bruce F. Benz, pp. 1-17. Elsevier.
Akins, Nancy J.1985 Prehistoric Faunal Utilization in Chaco Canyon: Basketmaker III Through Pueblo III. In Environment and Subsistence of Chaco Canyon, edited by F.J. Mathien, pp. 305-445. Publications in Archaeology, 18E, Chaco Canyon Studies. National Park Services, U.S. Department of the Interior, Santa Fe.
Munro, Natalie D.1994 An Investigation of Anasazi Turkey Production in Southwestern Colorado. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank Mr. Tommy Bolack for access to these collections. The University of South Florida’s Laboratory for Archaeological Science for its access to sample preparation and analysis facilities. Dr. Kathy Roler Durand and Dr. Stephen Durand for their funding in support of this research. Eastern New Mexico University Graduate School Research Grants and Graduate Student Association Grants in support of this research.
