Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of diet and hair of Gidra-speaking Papuans

Abstract

The carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic composition of the scalp hair and diet of Gidra-speaking people in four villages in Papua New Guinea is presented. The isotopic composition of hair was measured, while that of the diet was estimated from food consumption survey data and the measured isotopic composition and protein and carbohydrate contents of food items. The average isotopic ratios of the hair samples and of the diet varied among the four study villages, which were selected because of their diverse ecological settings. Comparison was made between hair and calculated dietary isotopic compositions. Two of the four diet-hair enrichment values obtained for 13C (+1.8 and 2.2%) were similar to those previously reported (1.4-2.0%), but the other two values (3.7 and 4.8%) were greater than in earlier reports. 15N enrichment was systematically greater (by 1.0%) than reported values (4.3%) except for one village, where a much greater enrichment (6.9%) was found. The factors potentially relevant to these deviations are discussed. Possible errors in estimating the dietary isotopic composition and minor modifications of dietary habits revealed by food consumption surveys could explain most of the discrepancies. However, the great enrichment of 15N found in one of the villages remains unexplained.

Lapita subsistence strategies and food consumption patterns in the community of Teouma (Efate, Vanuatu)

“…Consequently, the d 13 C and d 15 N ratios of various food items can be used to construct a frame of reference for paleodietary reconstruction. Published data were used to generate the frame we have used in this study (Ambrose et al, 1997;Yoshinaga et al, 1996;Keegan and DeNiro, 1988;Fry et al, 1983;Collier and Hobson, 1987;Leach et al, 1996;Yoneda et al, 2004).…”

Nitrogen isotopes and the trophic level of humans in archaeology

“…The only published evaluation of D 15 N diet-keratin for humans is Yoshinaga et al (1996), who present D 15 N diet-keratin values of 3.8 to 6.9& although are more confident of values of 4e5& as most representative, based on calculated rather than measured diet. This is consistent with a value of D 15 N diet-keratin ¼ 4.1 AE 0.7& for Fijians (R Hedges, unpublished, again based on calculated rather than measured diet), and also approximately consistent with numerous published hair values where the isotopic composition of the diet was only roughly estimated (O'Connell and Hedges, 1999a;Petzke et al, 2005).…”

Dietary patterns during the late prehistoric/historic period in Cikobia island (Fiji): insights from stable isotopes and dental pathologies

“…2). Owing to its more positive d 13 C values and less positive d 15 N values, the canid from Korotuku may have consumed marine shellfish or terrestrial C 4 plants that were not present in significant proportions , with those of humans from three islands from the Marianas Archipelago [6], Japanese hunter-gatherers from Sakhaline and Hokkaido consuming marine mammals [98], and possible dietary resources for south Pacific islands (average isotopic data calculated from [6,81,159,160], where d 13 in the human diet. Owing to the lack of C 4 signature in the human diet and the canid isotopic values falling close to a line joining the collagen isotopic values of a consumer of terrestrial C 3 plants with those of a consumer of shellfish, it is more likely that this animal consumed a significant amount of shellfish.…”