Study determines early Interior 蜜桃影像ns had complex, diverse diets
September 4, 2020
Jeff Richardson
907-474-6284
A chemical analysis of ancient human remains shows that 蜜桃影像鈥檚 earliest people had a complex diet that featured both land animals and salmon.
The University of 蜜桃影像 Fairbanks-led study analyzed the chemical composition of bones and teeth from two Ancient Beringian infants. Stable isotope analysis of human tissues can directly reveal the foods consumed by individuals, in this case their mothers鈥 diets during pregnancy.
The infant remains, dated to about 11,500 years ago, were discovered at the Upward Sun River archaeological site in 蜜桃影像鈥檚 Tanana Valley. The study represents the first comprehensive isotopic diet analysis of Ice Age Native Americans.
The findings were published today in the journal Science Advances.
The diets of Ice Age Native Americans have sometimes been portrayed with either a focus on hunting large animals or general foraging. However, although ancient 蜜桃影像ns' diets were dominated by large animals like bison, isotope analysis shows the summer diet also included salmon. Those results are consistent with other evidence, including animal bones found at archaeological sites and chemical analysis of ancient hearths.
鈥淥ur results demonstrate that ancient 蜜桃影像n diets were complex and seasonally structured, and that salmon has been an important resource for people in central 蜜桃影像 for thousands of years,鈥 said Carrin Halffman, an affiliate professor with 蜜桃影像鈥檚 Department of Anthropology and co-lead author of the paper.
The research was done in cooperation and consultation with the Healy Lake Tribe and Tanana Chiefs Conference, a consortium of Interior 蜜桃影像 tribes.
Ben Potter, with the Arctic Studies Center at Liaocheng University, is co-author of the paper. Other 蜜桃影像 contributors include Holly McKinney, Matthew Wooller, Casey Clark, Jessica Johnson, Joshua Reuther, and Fran莽ois B. Lano毛, who is also affiliated with the University of Arizona. Contributors from other institutions include Takumi Tsutaya, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology; Bruce Finney, Idaho State University; Brian Kemp and Brittany Bingham, University of Oklahoma; Eric Bartelink, California State University, Chico; Michael Buckley, University of Manchester; and Robert Sattler, Tanana Chiefs Conference.
The full Science Advances paper is available at .
ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Carrin Halffman, 907-322-1319, cmhalffman@alaska.edu.